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Document Details :

Title: The Goodness of Being
Author(s): AERTSEN, Jan A.
Journal: Recherches de Théologie et Philosophie Médiévales
Volume: 78    Issue: 2   Date: 2011   
Pages: 281-295
DOI: 10.2143/RTPM.78.2.2141895

Abstract :
This essay in honour of Carlos Steel examines a fundamental thesis behind the medieval metaphysics of the good, namely the «goodness of being» thesis, according to which everything that is is good. The basic text used is a Quodlibet disputed by the Parisian master Gerard of Bologna at the beginning of the fourteenth century, in which he discusses various determinations of the nature (ratio) of the good. This discussion reveals the difficulties to which the metaphysics of the good can lead: is it really the case that every being is good?

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