Ethica Thomistica, Revised Edition

McInerny offers a fine introduction to the ethics of Thomas Aquinas in this volume. While not a large book by any means, it is packed with information that is very valuable for one trying to understand the ethical principles of Aquinas. McInerny discusses natural law and the alleged "naturalistic fallacy", the difference between real and apparent goods, the notion of the Ultimate End as argued by Aristotle and Aquinas, the Thomistic structure of the human act (a series of will-acts of both the order of intention and the order of execution)the role of ignorance in human action, the Cardinal Virtues, and finally how conscience plays into all of the above (a conscience always binds but doesn't always excuse). I have read this book over three times and find it very profitable. Having read this work first, I discovered that when I picked up Aquinas' Commentary on the Nicomachean Ethics, I was a "leg up" on the material and felt as if McInerny's work prepared me for it very well - as it summarizes the Nicomachean Ethics very nicely.

This book is a straight forward introduction to aquinian phylosophy. I was first introduced to it reading the autobiography of Pope Paul. Where it was refered to frequently. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the subject but doesn't want to get bogged down with a lot of details. Snt Thomas's phylosophy is Aristotal's concept of natural law from a Christian perspective.