Aquinas' Natural Law: Virtues and Goods

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 While the Roman Catholic tradition has placed a lot of emphasis on the Primary Precepts, virtues were crucial for Aquinas, with the most important "revealed virtues" being faith, hope, and love. Love was the greatest, as referenced to in 1 Corinthians 13. These were the foundation of all other virtues identified by Aristotle.

Three Revealed Virtues

The revealed theological virtues are a divine standard in line with the Beatific Vision, and so cannot be achieved in this life. However, G-d's grace works through faith, hope, and love, to direct a human being towards perfection.

Faith extends beyond intellectual understanding to assertive acts pf ill that is moved by G-d's grace and reaches the divine truth. It requires a complete personal outpouring and deference to the divine.

Hope is the constant, consistent trust that is driven by pure and inspired positive spiritual energy towards the Beatific Vision. It supports active participation in other non-revealed virtues.

Love directs all other virtues towards G-d, for without love, all other virtues are meaningless and empty. Love is the wisdom of practical reason, in the sense that understanding the goodness of G-d helps to direct others towards the virtuous life. It is the superlative virtue and essence of all virtues.

Four Cardinal Values

There are "natural" virtues that develop moral character. They were identified by Plato, developed by Aristotle, and adopted by Aquinas, reflecting the ethical competency of the sophron.

Prudence ensures ethical judgements are reliable and reasoned, applying "wisdom concerning human affairs", or "right reason with respect to action".

Temperance ensures objectively reasoned, moderate, balanced, and appropriate behaviour that is not swayed by sensual or emotional influences It means standing firm, showing sobriety and restraint, similar to Aristotle's doctrine of the mean knowing how to behave appropriately.

Fortitude is moral character and courage in the face of difficulties. It requires discipline, patience, and endurance (physical, moral, and spiritual) to develop a noble character that is not reckless, irresponsible, or rash.

Justice involves the specific way in which matters are administrated, in terms of goods and responsibilities, according to Aquinas, "apportioned among people who stand in a social community," and in "due proportion".

An action can be understood externally (evaluating the action itself) or internally (accounting the motive). Accordingly, a good action is only morally pure when it is performed with a good movie. In this way, Aquinas distinguished between real goods and apparent goods. Sometimes the reasoning can be incorrectly directed or applied. A real good should always lead us to our goal of perfection (image of G-d). However, sometimes we can reason wrongly in pursuing an "apparent" good.

QUOTE BANK!!

Aquinas: "The things that we love tell us what we are."

1 Corinthians: "If I give all I possess to the poor but do not have love, I gain nothing."

1 Corinthians: "Love is patient and kind. It does not envy, nor boast, it is not proud."

Aquinas: "Mercy without justice is the mother of dissolution."

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