This Bud’s For You
By DONALD DeMARCO The purpose of commercial advertising is to persuade consumers to purchase something that they do not need. This is not to say that advertising products are not useful, but to point out that they are inspired by sales and are not grounded in natural desires. By contrast, nature has equipped human beings with inclinations toward things that are not only good, but perfective. St. Thomas Aquinas established his notion of the natural law on the natural inclinations that human beings have that are personally fulfilling. Among these natural inclinations are life, love, the search for truth, and the desire to know God. Advertising takes the place of natural inclinations (or natural appetites) but cannot offer what is…Continue Reading