Aristotle vs. Aquinas on Love
The Core Difference
Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas are remarkably close in their understanding of love, but Aquinas takes Aristotle’s philosophy and places it within a Christian framework centered on God and grace.
| Aristotle | Aquinas |
|---|---|
| Love is fundamentally wishing the good of another for their own sake. | Love is to will the good of another (velle bonum alterius), ultimately leading them toward God, their highest good. |
| The highest human love is friendship (philia) grounded in virtue. | The highest love is charity (caritas)—friendship with God that overflows into love of neighbor. |
| Love develops through shared life, mutual goodwill, and virtue. | Love also involves virtue but is elevated by grace, making supernatural friendship with God possible. |
| The goal is eudaimonia (human flourishing). | The goal is beatitude (union with God), which surpasses earthly flourishing. |
Aristotle: Love as Friendship
For Aristotle, love is not primarily a feeling.
In the Nicomachean Ethics, he teaches that:
A true friend is “another self.”
The highest form of love exists between two virtuous people who each desire the other’s flourishing. If your friend becomes wiser, healthier, more courageous, or more virtuous, that is good for their own sake, not simply because it benefits you.
Love is therefore an activity—a habit of consistently choosing another person’s good.
Aquinas: Love as Willing the Highest Good
Aquinas agrees with Aristotle but asks a deeper question:
What is the greatest good a person can receive?
His answer is:
God Himself.
Therefore, when Aquinas defines love as:
“To will the good of another.”
he means willing whatever truly brings that person toward their ultimate fulfillment—union with God.
This is why Christian charity extends even to enemies. One may not feel affection for them, but one can still genuinely desire and work for their ultimate good.
What About Emotion?
Neither philosopher believes love is merely an emotion.
Aristotle
Emotions matter, but they should be educated and governed by reason and virtue.
Aquinas
Emotions (the “passions”) are real and important, but love itself is fundamentally an act of the will.
You may not feel warmth toward someone, yet you can still love them by freely choosing what is truly good for them.
The Biggest Difference
Aristotle
Love perfects our human nature through virtue and friendship.
Aquinas
Love does all of that—but ultimately perfects us through communion with God.
Grace does not replace nature; it perfects it.
A Helpful Summary
Aristotle:
Love is wishing and choosing another person’s flourishing through virtuous friendship.
Aquinas:
Love is willing another person’s highest good, which is ultimately union with God.
Aquinas does not reject Aristotle’s philosophy of love. Rather, he builds upon it, arguing that the natural virtues and friendships Aristotle described are fulfilled and elevated by divine grace into the supernatural virtue of charity.