Reply Obj. 3:  Happiness belongs to man in respect of his intellect:  and, therefore, since the intellect remains, it can have Happiness.  Thus the teeth of an Ethiopian, in respect of which he is said to be white, can retain their whiteness, even after extraction.

Reply Obj. 4:  One thing is hindered by another in two ways.  First, by way of opposition; thus cold hinders the action of heat:  and such a hindrance to operation is repugnant to Happiness.  Secondly, by way of some kind of defect, because, to wit, that which is hindered has not all that is necessary to make it perfect in every way:  and such a hindrance to operation is not incompatible with Happiness, but prevents it from being perfect in every way.  And thus it is that separation from the body is said to hold the soul back from tending with all its might to the vision of the Divine Essence.  For the soul desires to enjoy God in such a way that the enjoyment also may overflow into the body, as far as possible.  And therefore, as long as it enjoys God, without the fellowship of the body, its appetite is at rest in that which it has, in such a way, that it would still wish the body to attain to its share.

Reply Obj. 5:  The desire of the separated soul is entirely at rest, as regards the thing desired; since, to wit, it has that which suffices its appetite.  But it is not wholly at rest, as regards the desirer, since it does not possess that good in every way that it would wish to possess it.  Consequently, after the body has been resumed, Happiness increases not in intensity, but in extent.

Reply Obj. 6:  The statement made (Gen. ad lit. xii, 35) to the effect that “the souls of the departed see not God as the angels do,” is not to be understood as referring to inequality of quantity; because even now some souls of the Blessed are raised to the higher orders of the angels, thus seeing God more clearly than the lower angels.  But it refers to inequality of proportion:  because the angels, even the lowest, have every perfection of Happiness that they ever will have, whereas the separated souls of the saints have not. ________________________

SIXTH ARTICLE [I-II, Q. 4, Art. 6]

Whether Perfection of the Body Is Necessary for Happiness?

Objection 1:  It would seem that perfection of the body is not necessary for man’s perfect Happiness.  For perfection of the body is a bodily good.  But it has been shown above (Q. 2) that Happiness does not consist in bodily goods.  Therefore no perfect disposition of the body is necessary for man’s Happiness.

Obj. 2:  Further, man’s Happiness consists in the vision of the Divine Essence, as shown above (Q. 3, A. 8).  But the body has no part in this operation, as shown above (A. 5).  Therefore no disposition of the body is necessary for Happiness.

Obj. 3:  Further, the more the intellect is abstracted from the body, the more perfectly it understands.  But Happiness consists in the most perfect operation of the intellect.  Therefore the soul should be abstracted from the body in every way.  Therefore, in no way is a disposition of the body necessary for Happiness.