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Like Aristotle, Aquinas rejected Platonism.
In his view, to speak of abstractions not only as existent but indeed as more perfect exemplars than fully designated particulars is to put a premium on generality and vagueness.
On this analysis, the abstract " good " in the first horn of the Euthyphro dilemma is an unnecessary obfuscation.
Aquinas frequently quoted with approval Aristotle's definition, " Good is what all desire ".
As he clarified, " When we say that good is what all desire, it is not to be understood that every kind of good thing is desired by all, but that whatever is desired has the nature of good ".
In other words, even those who desire evil desire it " only under the aspect of good ", i. e. of what is desirable.
" Evil, be thou my good ", says Milton's Satan.
The difference between desiring good and desiring evil is that in the former, will and reason are in harmony, whereas in the latter, they are in discord.
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