What is Abelard's central theory of intention?
My treatise, Ethica, or Scito Te Ipsum as some understand it, posits that the moral worth of an action resides not in its outward consequence, but in the intention of the agent. For an act to be sinful, there must be a will to sin, a deliberate turning away from God's will. Actions themselves are neither inherently good nor evil, but become so through the disposition of the soul. Thus, a deed performed with a pure heart, even if it results in misfortune, is not inherently sinful in the eyes of God. Ex his patet that the inward state is paramount.
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