In this lecture, I want to talk about the difficult topics of guilt and forgiveness,

but I want to try to understand them as they are connected to the topic of love.

And the account of love that I'm going to use is the account given by Thomas Aquinas,

because, in my view, it's the best account there is.

It's got the most power, the most depth, and most sophistication.

So Aquinas' account of love can be found in various of his works,

but especially in his great work, the Summa Teologi.

And for Aquinas, you can think about it this way.

Love requires two interconnected desires, the desire for the good of the beloved,

and the desire for union with the beloved.

So you can think about it this way.

If what you want for your child is actually bad for your child, you don't really love him.

That is, if his heart is set on studying mathematics and you want him to be a lawyer so he can make money and support you, you don't love him.

And if you want what's good for him but you reject him himself, you also don't love him.

So if you send your child care package after care package after care package at school,

but you never want to see him, either at school or at home, you don't love him.

And he certainly won't feel loved by you.

So love requires, you might say, these two mutually governing and interactive desires

for the good of the beloved and for union with the beloved.

For Aquinas, love is foundational for the ethical life.

That is, there can't be any moral virtue at all without love.

Quinas puts the point this way, commenting on a text in the New

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