9. Virtue in General and the Division of Human Virtue

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Connection Between Act, Virtue, and Vice #

• A thing’s virtue is the quality or disposition that enables it to perform its own act well
• A thing’s vice is the condition that causes it to perform its own act badly
• Act and virtue are distinct but connected: virtue enables good action; vice results in poor action
• Examples:
  • A knife’s virtue is sharpness (enabling good cutting); its vice is dullness
  • A piano’s virtue is being in tune; its vice is being out of tune
  • These virtues can be restored by those who possess the art: the knife-sharpener, the piano-tuner

How to Understand Human Virtue #

• To understand human virtue in particular, one must first understand virtue in general
• Human virtue must be understood in relation to man’s own act: the act with reason done well throughout life
• Since human virtue concerns acting with reason, we must understand what reason does
• Reason has two operations: (1) to understand things, and (2) to direct us in what we do and make
• Therefore human virtue divides into two kinds corresponding to these two operations

Division of Human Virtue into Two Kinds #

First Division: Thomas Aquinas’s Schema (Prima Secundae)

Virtues of Reason Itself (Intellectual Virtues):

• Natural understanding (ἐπιστήμη/intellectus): understanding things without having to reason them out
• Reasoned-out understanding (ἐπιστήμη/scientia): knowledge achieved through reasoning
• Wisdom (σοφία/sapientia): combines both and knows the first causes of all things

Virtues of Practical Reason:

• Foresight (φρόνησις/prudentia): right reason about doing; directing one’s own life
• Art (τέχνη/ars): right reason about making; concerned with producing external works

Virtues that Partake of Reason (Moral Virtues):

• Concern the will and emotions (fear, desire, anger)
• These powers “listen to reason” and can be directed by reason
• Enable proper moderation of appetite and emotion according to reason

Second Division: Aristotle’s Schema (Nicomachean Ethics, Book VI)

• Divides the five virtues of reason differently: 3 against 2
• Natural understanding and wisdom are about beginnings
• Reasoned-out understanding, foresight, and art are about what flows from the beginnings
• This distinction reflects what is more known vs. less known to us

Why Multiple Divisions Are Valid #

• Thomas’s division illuminates the connection between virtue and operations of reason (knowing vs. directing action)
• Aristotle’s division illuminates the distinction between beginnings and what flows from them (more known vs. less known to us)
• Both divisions are true and reveal different aspects of the same reality
• Analogy: The Our Father’s seven petitions can be divided as (1) four about the good + three about the bad, or (2) first three (heavenly) + last four (earthly). Both divisions are valid and reveal different truths about the petitions.

Natural Understanding and Wisdom: The Problem of Axioms #

• Natural understanding grasps self-evident axioms (“a whole is more than a part”; “nothing is before or after itself”)
• These axioms are often not recognized as axioms or explicitly identified
• We come to know them so naturally that we are unaware of how we learned them
• Wisdom knows the first causes that explain even the axioms
• The wise man must refute sophists who deny the axioms by showing the sophistical arguments’ errors
• Wisdom also grasps the different meanings of equivocal terms used in axioms (e.g., “whole” and “part”)

The Knowledge of Beginnings vs. Conclusions #

• A conclusion is defined as a statement known through other statements
• The beginnings (axioms) are defined negatively: statements known not through other statements
• This negative definition reflects that we understand beginnings by opposition to conclusions
• Paradox: The beginnings must be more known to us than what we derive from them, yet we struggle to articulate them explicitly
• Similar to how “desired for its own sake” means “desired but not for the sake of anything else” — an affirmative statement with negative meaning

Natural Understanding and the Eye/Ear Analogy #

• The eye serves two purposes: (1) to see beautiful things for their own sake, (2) to direct us in action
• A beautiful sunset from Sisi or a view of a valley is appreciated simply for the seeing of it
• But the eye also directs us in walking, making dinner, and all practical activities
• Similarly, the ear serves both purposes: hearing Handel’s Messiah for beauty, but also hearing “watch out!” that might save one’s life
• Reason operates the same way: it can understand things simply for the wonder of understanding them, and it can direct us in action

Key Arguments #

Why We Must Study Virtue Generally Before Particular Virtues #

1. All things with their own act have corresponding virtue and vice
2. Understanding virtue in general allows us to understand any particular virtue
3. Once we grasp the connection between act and virtue, we see clearly why studying human virtue is necessary
4. Therefore, we begin with the general principle before examining specific virtues

Why Reason Divides into Multiple Virtues #

1. Reason performs two distinct operations: understanding and directing action
2. Each operation has its own proper excellence (virtue)
3. Understanding divides into three kinds: natural understanding, reasoned-out understanding, and wisdom
4. Directing action divides into two kinds: foresight (for doing) and art (for making)
5. Therefore, reason has at least five distinct virtues

Why Axioms Are Difficult to Recognize #

1. Axioms are known through themselves, not through other statements
2. We come to know them so naturally that we are unaware of the learning process
3. Unlike learning French or Latin in high school (which requires effort we can observe), axioms are acquired like learning one’s native language (through osmosis, without conscious effort)
4. Therefore, natural understanding is the least known to us of all the virtues of reason
5. Yet it is the foundation of all other knowledge

Important Definitions #

Virtue (in general): The quality or disposition of a thing that enables it to perform its own act well and thereby makes it a good thing of its kind

Vice: The opposite of virtue; a condition that causes a thing to perform its own act badly

Intellectual Virtues / Virtues of Reason: Virtues that perfect reason itself in understanding or directing action. Berquist prefers this latter term.

Moral Virtues / Virtues that Partake of Reason: Virtues that perfect the will and emotions, enabling them to be directed by reason toward good action

Natural Understanding (νοῦς/intellectus): The virtue of reason that grasps self-evident axioms and first principles without reasoning

Reasoned-out Understanding (ἐπιστήμη/scientia): The virtue of reason that achieves knowledge through reasoning from principles

Wisdom (σοφία/sapientia): The virtue that knows the very first cause of all things; combines and perfects both natural understanding and reasoned-out understanding

Foresight (φρόνησις/prudentia): Right reason about doing; the virtue of practical wisdom that directs human action in living one’s life

Art (τέχνη/ars): Right reason about making; the virtue concerning the production of external works

Examples & Illustrations #

The Knife and Sharpness #

• A dull knife is a bad knife; sharpness is its virtue
• A knife can be restored to virtue by sharpening
• The knife-sharpener possesses the art of sharpening
• Illustrates that virtue is a specific condition, not just any good quality

The Piano and Tuning #

• An out-of-tune piano is vicious (bad)
• The piano-tuner knows how to give the piano its virtue
• Unlike the knife (which is sharpened), the piano requires different means of restoration
• Shows that different things require different means of acquiring their virtue

Seatbelt Laws #

• Every new invention (cars) generates new laws protecting human life
• All these laws are “fed by” the fundamental divine law against taking innocent human life
• One universal law generates particular laws for particular circumstances
• Illustrates the hierarchy: general principle generates particular applications

The Eye’s Dual Purpose #

• We have eyes to see beautiful things simply for their own sake (e.g., a sunset from Sisi valley)
• We also have eyes to direct us in practical activities (walking, making dinner)
• Both purposes are genuine and integral to why we have eyes
• Reason operates similarly: both to understand beautiful truths and to direct action

Learning Native Language vs. Learning French #

• Children learn their native language without being aware of the learning process
• One cannot point to a teacher of one’s native language; it was acquired from parents, siblings, relatives, everyone in the house
• Learning French in high school, by contrast, is effortful and we are consciously aware of the effort
• Natural understanding is like learning one’s native language: acquired so naturally we are unaware of how we learned it

The Master Pianist and the Out-of-Tune Piano #

• Even a great pianist complains when given an out-of-tune piano
• “You expect me, the great pianist, to play on this piano? It’s not in tune.”
• The piano lacks the virtue (being in tune), so the pianist cannot exercise his art properly
• Illustrates that even excellence in one’s own virtue cannot overcome the lack of virtue in the instrument

Axioms in Geometry Class #

• When students begin studying geometry in high school, they become aware of the effort of learning
• But when asked “when did you learn that a whole is more than a part?” they realize: “I always knew that”
• They cannot remember being taught this; it seems they always understood it
• Shows that some truths are so fundamental we cannot recollect their acquisition

Questions Addressed #

How do we understand human virtue in particular? #

• By first understanding virtue in general: the quality enabling a thing to perform its own act well
• By understanding man’s own act: the act with reason done well throughout life
• By determining what conditions enable reason to perform its operations excellently

What are the operations of reason? #

• (1) To understand things—to know them simply for the wonder of understanding
• (2) To direct us in what we do and make—to guide our actions and productions
• Both operations are essential to reason; both require corresponding virtues

Why does Aristotle divide the five virtues of reason differently than Thomas? #

• Aristotle divides them based on the distinction between beginnings and what flows from beginnings
• Thomas divides them based on the distinction between knowing and directing action
• Both divisions are valid; they illuminate different aspects of the same reality
• The divisions are not contradictory but complementary

How are axioms known? #

• They are known through themselves, not through other statements
• We do not learn them through formal teaching or conscious effort
• They are acquired so naturally that we often do not recognize them as axioms
• Yet they are the foundation of all other knowledge

Why is natural understanding the least known to us of the intellectual virtues? #

• Because we are not aware of how we acquired axioms
• Unlike learning geometry (where we consciously experience effort), axioms are acquired as naturally as learning one’s native language
• The more remote something is from our immediate experience, the less known it is to us
• Yet this least-known virtue is the foundation of all understanding

Connections to Prior Lectures #

• Builds on the definition of human end as “the act with reason done well throughout life”
• Applies the principle that understanding a particular requires understanding the universal
• Connects to the discussion of good and better
• Will lead to detailed study of moral virtues (books II-V of Nicomachean Ethics)