Virtue Ethics of

Aquinas
Group 2
Leader:
 Gomez
Members:
• Contento • Ereno
• Correa • Garay
• Dicdican • Gesta
• Guibone
• Digamo
 Thomas Aquinas: Moral
Philosophy

 The moral philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-
1274) involves a merger of at least two apparently
disparate traditions: Aristotelian eudaimonism and
Christian theology.

 The Telos is eudaimonia, or happiness, where

“happiness” is understood in terms of completion,
perfection, or well-being.

-Gomez
 
 On the other hand, Aquinas believes that we can
never achieve complete or final happiness in this life.
For him, final happiness consists in beatitude, or
supernatural union with God. Such an end lies far
beyond what we through our natural human
capacities can attain.
 Moreover, Aquinas believes that we inherited a
propensity to sin from our first parent, Adam. While
our nature is not wholly corrupted by sin, it is
nevertheless diminished by sin’s stain, as evidenced
by the fact that our wills are at enmity with God’s.
 Thomas Aquinas:
Metaethics

 “Things that exist are good“
 "that if something exists, then it necessarily has some
degree of goodness“ two categories

 1. Incorruptible things - cannot be made worse

 -it cannot lose whatever goodness it may have

-Contento
 
 2. Corruptible things -can be made worse

- it would not have any goodness it could lose Augustine uses it

to identify a problem with the view that something can exist
even if it has no goodness at all. For if something has no
goodness, then it cannot lose goodness and must therefore be
incorruptible What can be more monstrous than to maintain that
by losing all [its] goodness [something can] become better” the
only remedy for this problem is to deny the existence of things
that have no goodness. Goodness and being are really the same.”
 

 “Goodness can be more or less. But being cannot be

more or less. Therefore goodness differ from being.”

-Correa
 
 Goodness is a relative property. That some people
are moraly better that other people. The goodness
things have will not be Identical In terms of quantity.

 Being means that something ethier exists or it

doesn’t.
 Kinds of Existence or
Being

 Substantial Being” or being simply. Something has
subtantial being as long as It is actual or exists.

 Relative Being means that something maybe “a

more or less fully develop actualize specimen”
“Understanding the nature of
human goodness”

 •Achieves goodness by exercising its species-defining
powers.
 •According to Aquinas, the speciea-defining
characteristics of human being is reason.
 •Analizing of human goodness serves to guide our
evaluation of human actions. Whether an action is good
(or bad) depend on whether it is commensurate with (or
contarry to) our nature as rational being.
 The Nature of Human
Action

According to Aquinas’s metaethics, human
goodness depends on performing acts that
are in accord with our human nature.

-Dicdican
 The Cardinal Virtues

 The Cardinal Virtues are prudence, justice,
temperance, and courage. These Cardinal Virtues
enable us to express, prove, and grow love by
implementing plan and covenant in a practical way.

-Digamo
 Prudence

 In order to act well, we need to make good
judgments about how we should behave. This is
precisely the sort of habit associated with prudence,
which Aquinas defines as “wisdom concerning
human affairs” or “right reason with respect to
action”.
 Temperance

 Temperance has a twofold meaning. In a general
sense, the term denotes a kind of moderation
common to every moral virtue. In its more restricted
sense, temperance concerns the moderation of
physical pleasures, especially those associated with
eating, drinking, and sex. Temperance is that virtue,
as it denotes a restrained desire for physical
gratification.

-Ereno
 What is Courage?

 Courage is the choice and willingness to confront agony,
pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation.

Example 1: Sacrificing oneself to help the parents in dealing

the home finances

Example 2: Doing homework or chores without being

reminded

Example 3: Refusing to listen to or repeat gossip

-Garay
 What is Justice?

 Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people
receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation
of what then constitutes "deserving" being

Example 1: Wrongly Accused

Example 2: Murder

Example 3: Not giving minimum wage for the worker

 What is natural law?

 The term “natural law” is ambiguous.

 Is comprised of those precepts of the eternal law that

govern the behavior of being possessing reasons and
free will.

-Gesta
 Eternal Law

 Refers to God’s providential ordering of all created
things to their proper end.

 The first precept of the Natural Law according to

Aquinas, is somewhat vacuous imperative to do
good and avoid evil.
 Charity

According to Aquinas, charity is an
absolute requirement for happiness,
which he holds as man's last
goal.Charity has two parts: love of God
and love of man.

-Guibone
 Beatitude

On the other hand, Aquinas believes
that we can never achieve complete or
final happiness in this life without this.
For him, final happiness consists in
beatitude, or supernatural union with
God.