8.3 Aquinas on Blessedness
Aquinas thinks that to be blessed (beatus) is to be happy, but in a unique way. Latin has two words that can be rendered into English as “happiness.” These are felicitas and beatitudo, both of which are terms Aquinas frequently employs in his writings. Yet he takes them to flag significantly different concepts, though he sometimes writes as if he regards them as equivalent or synonymous. Primarily, Aquinas refers to felicitas when alluding to happiness that people can enjoy before they die—“earthly happiness,” as we might call it. So, Aquinas thinks that, all things being equal, felicitas can be obtained by enjoying food and drink, by being with friends, by having wealth, by having sex, by having good health, or by having the admiration of other people. By beatitudo, however, Aquinas has in mind perfect and unending happiness, or perfect fulfillment to which nothing can be added or removed. Beatitudo, for Aquinas, is the ultimate good for people, which he takes to be union with God after death by those enjoying the beatific vision, a knowledge of and delight in God not normally obtainable in the present life (see chapter 2, section 3.2 here). Aquinas does not claim to be able to demonstrate that there is any such thing as the beatific vision. He is quite clear that, until one has it, one can only adhere to belief in it on the basis of faith in divine revelation. Still, Aquinas does believe in the beatific vision, and he thinks that it is enjoyed by the saints in heaven who grasp God’s essence, albeit without completely comprehending it.5