The Thomistic Institute Catholic Ethics in the Modern World – Prof. Marshall Bierson
Feb 4, 2026
Marshall Bierson, assistant professor of philosophy at the Catholic University of America known for work on Anscombe and Thomistic ethics, explores distinctions between the good and the right. He compares utilitarian, Kantian, and Thomistic values. He discusses pleasure, love, activity versus state-of-affairs, and why modern ethics became more abstract.
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Persons Versus Pleasure In Axiology
- Utilitarians treat happiness as the intrinsic final good and persons as receptacles of value.
- Kantians treat persons as intrinsically valuable and happiness as extrinsically valuable for them.
Good As State Versus Activity
- Utilitarians view the good as a promotable state of affairs; Aristotelians see it as an activity to perform.
- Activities-as-good change the moral project from producing states to living a way of life.
Energeia Not Kinesis For Human Goods
- Aristotle's kinesis vs. energeia separates goal-directed actions from enduring activities.
- Final human goods resemble energeiai like friendship, not goals with completion points.
