Today’s cultural and political landscape is rife with discussion about morality. But even though everyone has an opinion about who is “good” and who is “evil,” most of us probably wouldn’t be able to define “goodness.”

Goodness is About More Than Morality

Not surprisingly, our first association with the word “goodness” likely has to do with “right” versus “wrong” actions. Even so, the moral quality of something is actually based on something even more fundamental than morality: metaphysical goodness.

Goodness is found first in completeness or wholeness, which depends on the essence of the thing in question. The essence of a circle is that it is closed, so a closed circle is better than an open one. The essence of a circle is symmetrical, so a symmetrical circle is better than a lopsided one.

Metaphysics is the “being”-ness, existence, or quiddity of something. The metaphysical goodness of something determines how full or complete its existence is. For example, a bicycle missing a wheel is still a bicycle, but an incomplete one. It lacks something essential to being a bicycle because it is unable to fulfill its purpose as a means of transportation. Morality, which deals with actions, is based on metaphysical goodness because action that is missing the right motivation or purpose lacks goodness.

Not Just “Another Good Thing”

In order for God to be God, He cannot be just another good thing. God is not a participant in goodness but the standard of goodness against which all created things are measured. Thomas Aquinas refers to God’s goodness as the cause and form of the goodness of everything else. That means that the goodness of a thing depends on how much it resembles God.

So, Is Everything “Good”?

In a way. Remember, “good” does not just mean moral, but metaphysical. This means that everything that exists, has some good in it by virtue of the fact that it exists, simply because existence is better than non-existence. Even something that we consider undesirable or evil (more on this below) has some good in it simply by virtue of its existence. Because God’s essence can be understood as existence itself, anything that exists has some “participation” in God’s essence. Because God’s nature is also perfect goodness, this means that anything that exists also participates in goodness.

What About Evil, Then?

Finally, if goodness is wholeness and desirability, then evil refers to something incomplete and therefore undesirable. This does not mean that no one desires evil, just as it does not mean that everyone desires perfect goodness. We desire imperfect goods and sometimes even evil things because we recognize that there is a shred of goodness in them. This does not entirely explain what Christianity has long understood to be a mystery, but it is a start. Even evil things, because they exist, hold within their nature some goodness. This means that there is some desirability in them.

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This article was made possible by The Fred & Rheta Skelton Center for Cultural Renewal.

Image credit: Picryl