Summa Made Simple Ep 45: The Argument Against Aquinas Part 2

An elderly couple can’t have children. Is their sexual relationship therefore sinful? If not, why would contraception be different?

Part 2 takes that apparent contradiction seriously and follows Aquinas’s reasoning all the way through. The key turns out not to be whether conception actually happens, but whether we deliberately stand in its way.

That distinction—between nature withholding an outcome and the will deliberately preventing it—opens up Aquinas’s entire argument about sex, pleasure, reproduction, and what it means to accept an action for what it actually is.

A note from the author: The article discussed in this episode is my own attempt to formulate how St. Thomas Aquinas might respond to some of the modern objections raised against his argument. It is not a text written by Aquinas, but a contemporary reconstruction written in the style of his Summa Theologica. Read the full article along with me via the link in the show notes.

I also encourage you to read Humanae Vitae (“On Human Life”) by St. Paul VI, which is also linked in the show notes. Whether or not you agree with its conclusions, it is worth reading the argument in its own words rather than relying on second-hand summaries.

NOTES

1. The source article: Whether sexual acts that cannot result in child-bearing are sinful?

2. On Human Life by Pope Paul VI

3. Read the relevant article of the Summa here: Summa Theologica. Part 2 of 2. Question 154. Article 1. Into what parts is lust divided?