Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologiae - Love, Dilection, Charity, and Friendship - Sadler's Lectures

09/11/2025 15 min
Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologiae - Love, Dilection, Charity, and Friendship - Sadler's Lectures

Listen "Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologiae - Love, Dilection, Charity, and Friendship - Sadler's Lectures"

Episode Synopsis

This lecture discusses key ideas from the medieval Christian philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologiae, 1st part of the second part, question 26 "Of Love", and examines his discussions in articles 3-4, which center on different senses or modalities of love (amor). He makes a distinction between four terms: love, dilection (dilectio), friendship (amicitia) and charity (caritas), and discusses the differences in their application, and then examines the distinction between love of friendship and love of concupiscence (which also applies to friendships based on pleasure or utility)

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