Can We Flourish Alone?: Stump and Aquinas on the Felix Culpa View

Gunby, Julie D.

doi:10.5840/acpaproc2025721182

Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association

ONLINE FIRST

published on July 23, 2025

Julie D. Gunby

https://doi.org/10.5840/acpaproc2025721182

Can We Flourish Alone?
Stump and Aquinas on the Felix Culpa View

In her most recent book, The Image of God: The Problem of Evil and the Problem of Mourning, Eleonore Stump deploys Thomas Aquinas to produce an account of the true self, human flourishing, and the felix culpa view of evil such that it is possible for the suffering of a human life to make that life more glorious than it otherwise would have been. Stump’s argument is compelling but contains the vexing premise that human relationships are not necessary for human flourishing. I argue that, because Stump fails to distinguish between human flourishing and the conditions that are necessary for a human being to become capable of flourishing, she is left with the unlikely conclusion that it is possible for a feral child to flourish. On the contrary, I contend that human relationships are a necessary precondition for a person to become capable of flourishing.

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