10. Moral Virtues and the Order of Their Treatment

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Ordering of Cardinal Virtues: Thomas vs. Aristotle #

• Thomas’s Order (Summa Theologiae II-II): Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, Temperance
• Aristotle’s Order (Nicomachean Ethics): Courage (Book III), Moderation (Book III), Justice (Book V), Prudence (Book VI)
• The two greatest minds “proceed in contrary directions”
• Thomas’s order reflects a theological approach; Aristotle’s reflects a philosophical approach

Theological vs. Philosophical Ordering #

• Theology: Begins with God as the object of knowledge, then considers creatures in relation to God (Faith, Hope, Charity precede prudence and justice)
• Philosophy: Begins with creatures known through the senses, reasons upward to God as the final conclusion
• In theology, God is the starting point; in philosophy, God is the final thing known
• Aristotle considers God fully only in the last part of wisdom (metaphysics), after logic, mathematics, natural philosophy, ethics, and political philosophy

Why Aristotle Begins with Courage and Moderation #

Courage and Moderation Concern Bodily Emotions #

• Courage: Concerned with fear and boldness—emotions aroused by threats to bodily survival
• Moderation: Concerned with desire for pleasure—emotions related to bodily preservation and reproduction
• These emotions are “very strong” and more fundamental than others
• Virtues dealing with strong, fundamental emotions are more known to us than virtues concerning the will (like justice)

Connection to the Body #

• Courage addresses threats to the body’s survival
• Moderation addresses things that preserve the body and are pleasing to it
• Both have “something very fundamental” about them

The Lesser Virtues (Book IV of Nicomachean Ethics) #

First Group: Concerned with Possessions #

• Liberality/Generosity (generositas): Concerned with money and things measured by money
• Munificence (magnificentia): Liberality dealing with large sums; concerned with founding hospitals, schools, caring for the poor
• Connection to the body: Money is needed to obtain food, housing, and other bodily necessities

Second Group: Concerned with Honor #

• Magnanimity (megalopsychos): Concerned with great honors; exemplified by Achilles and Agamemnon
• Love of Honor/Proper Pride (philotimia): Concerned with smaller honors
• These differ as beneficence and liberality do
• Thomas takes magnanimity before philotimia; Aristotle’s order is less clear but both concern exterior goods

Third Group: Concerned with Anger #

• Mildness (metriopatheia/praotes): Concerned with the emotion of anger; moderating anger at insults
• Anger is aroused by exterior evil (insult, slight)
• Mildness allows appropriate anger while avoiding excess or deficiency

Fourth Group: Concerned with Actions and Social Interaction #

• Friendliness (philia): Not to be confused with friendship; the virtue of being agreeable in everyday social contexts. Aristotle considers it necessary for city life despite being distinct from friendship proper
• Truthfulness/Veracity (aletheia): Showing oneself in words and deeds as one truly is; avoiding both boastfulness and false humility. As St. Teresa of Ávila says, “Humility is the truth”
• Wit/Pleasant Wit (eutropelia): The ability to turn speech amusingly and appropriately; literally “easily turning” in Greek. Examples: appropriate jokes for bishops differ from those appropriate in general company. Pope John Paul II’s ability to make a Polish joke appropriately demonstrates this virtue

The Progression of Virtues #

Aristotle’s ordering shows a progression:

1. Emotions concerning bodily survival and pleasure (Courage, Moderation)
2. Attachment to and use of material possessions (Liberality, Munificence)
3. Response to honor and insult (Magnanimity, Philotimia, Mildness)
4. Social interactions and truthfulness (Friendliness, Truthfulness, Wit)
5. Justice (concerned with doing and the will)

Humility as a Theological Virtue #

• Aristotle does not discuss humility in the Nicomachean Ethics
• Humility is primarily about placing oneself under God, secondarily under other men in reference to God
• It belongs more properly to theology than to philosophy
• Thomas notes that Aristotle addresses humility only when pursuing truth in philosophy (opposing pride as false)
• Aristotle remarks it would be “impious” to prefer human friends to truth itself—Thomas clarifies this means opposed to God, who is truth itself

The Purpose of Aristotle’s Ordering #

• Aristotle orders virtues for life in the city (political philosophy)
• All these virtues are “very necessary for life in the city”: justice prevents chaos, courage defends the city, moderation prevents social disorder, liberality promotes economic cooperation, friendliness enables social cohesion, truthfulness maintains trust
• Humility, by contrast, is not primarily about living well in the city but about one’s relationship to God

Key Arguments #

Argument 1: Strong, Fundamental Emotions Are More Known #

• Premise: Fear of death and desire for bodily pleasure are the strongest emotions
• Premise: Things that are more known to us are grasped more readily
• Conclusion: Virtues dealing with strong bodily emotions (courage, moderation) are more naturally known and discussed before virtues of the will (justice)

Argument 2: The Theological Order Reverses the Philosophical Order #

• In Philosophy: We know creatures through senses → reason toward God → God is the last thing known
• In Theology: We know God by faith → consider all else in relation to God → God is the first principle
• Implication: Thomas’s ordering in theology reverses Aristotle’s ordering in philosophy

Argument 3: Humility Belongs to Theology, Not Philosophy #

• Premise: Humility primarily means placing oneself under God
• Premise: Aristotle’s Ethics is ordered to political philosophy, not theology
• Premise: Virtues necessary for city life include justice, courage, moderation, liberality, friendliness, and truthfulness
• Conclusion: Humility, being about one’s relation to God rather than to the city, belongs properly to theology

Important Definitions #

Cardinal Virtues (cardinales virtutes) #

The four principal moral virtues around which other virtues are organized: Prudence (Foresight), Justice, Fortitude (Courage), and Temperance (Moderation)

Theological Virtues (virtutes theologales) #

Faith, Hope, and Charity—virtues that have God as their direct object, and which are more characteristic of theology than philosophy

Liberality/Generosity (generositas) #

The virtue concerning the appropriate use and spending of money and material possessions

Munificence (magnificentia) #

The virtue of spending large sums of money appropriately, often for great public goods; distinguished from liberality which applies to smaller amounts

Magnanimity (megalopsychos) #

The virtue concerning great honors; exemplified in figures like Achilles and Agamemnon; a proper self-regard in pursuit of honor

Philotimia (φιλοτιμία) #

Love of honor; a virtue concerning appropriate pursuit of smaller honors; differs from magnanimity as the latter concerns great honors

Mildness/Meekness (praotes) #

The virtue moderating anger; the mean between excessive anger and deficiency of justified anger; concerned with appropriate response to insult and slight

Friendliness (philia) #

The social virtue of being pleasant and agreeable in everyday interactions; distinct from friendship proper; necessary for city life

Truthfulness/Veracity (aletheia) #

The virtue of presenting oneself in words and deeds as one truly is; avoiding both boastfulness and false humility

Wit/Pleasant Wit (eutropelia, εὐτροπελία) #

The virtue of being able to turn conversation or speech in an amusing way at appropriate times; literally “easily turning” in Greek; requires wisdom about what jokes are fitting for whom and when

Humility (humilitas) #

In theology, the virtue of placing oneself under God, and through God’s order, under other legitimate authorities; primarily a theological rather than philosophical virtue

Examples & Illustrations #

Magnanimity and Honor #

• Achilles and Agamemnon exemplify magnanimous men seeking great honors
• Motto of West Point: “Duty, honor, country”—emphasizing honor over material gain
• Examples of magnanimous figures: Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, George Washington, Douglas MacArthur
• Unlike temperance, which is so unlike God that we don’t metaphorically call God chaste or sober, we do speak metaphorically of God being strong (relating to fortitude) and just

Liberality and Munificence #

• A man who helps people in Pompeii by funding hospitals, schools, and caring for street children exemplifies munificence
• The man who married a countess and engaged in large philanthropic works demonstrates the virtue of spending greatly
• The Medal of Honor is given for courage, not for a lifetime of moderate spending—suggesting courage is more publicly recognized than liberality

Friendliness in Daily Life #

• Airplane scenario: Passengers help each other navigate tight seating; neighbors have friendly conversations; strangers help someone start a car without personal connection
• These acts manifest friendliness—willingness to help and be agreeable in everyday situations
• Friendship proper is deeper; friendliness is the social grace that makes city life pleasant

Truthfulness: The Golden Mean #

• Deficiency (False Humility): Presenting oneself as worse than one is
• Mean (Truthfulness): Showing oneself as one truly is
• Excess (Boastfulness): Presenting oneself as better than one is
• St. Teresa of Ávila: “Humility is the truth”

Wit and Appropriate Humor #

• A bishop’s wit must be appropriate to his state; what is fitting for a bishop differs from general company
• Pope John Paul II and President Hagen: When the Pope asked if Hagen (then president of Assumption College) told Polish jokes at his school, the Pope demonstrated wit by asking an unexpected question, then by his own humble response (“You don’t tell them around here very much either”)
• The virtue involves knowing: what to joke about, when to joke, to whom, and by whom
• Some jokes are never appropriate; some jokes inappropriate for mixed company; some jokes inappropriate for a person’s position
• Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost: Berowne is described as having eutropelia, with the phrase “easily turning”

Natural vs. Philosophical Knowledge #

• The Medal of Honor given for courage (one glorious afternoon on battlefield) vs. lifetime moderation in eating and drinking—courage is more publicly celebrated
• The Iliad celebrates courage as the greatest virtue of Greek fiction
• Etymology: Greek arete (virtue) relates to Ares (god of war); Latin virtus relates to vir (man); English “manhood” is closest equivalent; Shakespeare uses “manhood” to mean courage, though it can extend to any virtue
• “Man or a mouse”—this challenge concerns courage, not temperance

The Father and the Suitor #

• A father’s concern about how a potential son-in-law would support his daughter shows that material possessions (liberality) are indeed connected to bodily support
• The suitor’s cavalier response (“weed on crates”) fails to satisfy because the father is “very serious” about material security
• This illustrates why Aristotle groups liberality with other bodily-related virtues

Questions Addressed #

Why does Aristotle begin with courage and moderation rather than justice? #

• Answer: Because courage and moderation concern the strongest, most fundamental emotions (fear of death, desire for bodily pleasure), which are more naturally known to us. We grasp what pertains to the body and survival more readily than abstract matters of the will. Aristotle proceeds from what is more known to us to what is less known.

Why does Thomas order the cardinal virtues differently than Aristotle? #

• Answer: Thomas approaches virtue from theology, where God is the starting point and all else is ordered to God. Aristotle approaches from philosophy, where creatures are known first through the senses, and reasoning proceeds upward to God. In theology, prudence and justice (related to God’s intellect and will) come before fortitude and temperance (which have no direct divine parallel). In philosophy, the reverse order reflects the progression from bodily to intellectual virtues.

Is humility a cardinal virtue? #

• Answer: No. Humility belongs primarily to theology, not philosophy. It concerns one’s relation to God rather than one’s life in the city. Aristotle does not discuss it in the Nicomachean Ethics because ethics is ordered to political philosophy. Thomas, writing theology, rightly includes humility as necessary for proper ordering of oneself to God.

What do courage and moderation have in common that justifies their treatment together? #

• Answer: Both concern fundamental bodily emotions and bodily well-being. Courage moderates fear when facing threats to bodily survival; moderation moderates desire for pleasures that preserve the body. Both are more naturally known to us than virtues concerning the will.

Why is friendliness (philia) a virtue distinct from friendship proper? #

• Answer: Friendship proper is a deep, mutual commitment between people who care for each other’s good. Friendliness is the social virtue of being pleasant and helpful in everyday interactions with people one may not truly know or care about deeply. Both are necessary: friendliness for living agreeably in the city, friendship for a good human life.

What determines appropriate wit (eutropelia)? #

• Answer: The virtue requires practical wisdom to consider: What is fitting to joke about? When is humor appropriate? To whom may one joke? What jokes are fitting for a person in a particular state or position? The same joke may be virtuous for a bishop in one context but inappropriate in another. The virtue balances genuine amusement with proper decorum and respect.

Notable Quotes #

“Two greatest minds here proceeding in contrary directions, right?” —On Aristotle and Thomas’s opposite orderings of the virtues

“In theology, all things are considered in comparison to God.” —Explaining why Thomas’s ordering reflects a theological rather than philosophical approach

“But you’ve got to forget that order, and not mix it up with the order in philosophy.” —Warning against confusing the theological order of virtues with the philosophical order

“How can you have a city without justice, right? That’s a chaos.” —Illustrating why Aristotle’s virtues are all necessary for political life

“Humility is primarily putting yourself under God, right? And then others in reference to God.” —Defining humility in its proper theological context

“Humility is the truth.” —Quoting St. Teresa of Ávila on the relation between truthfulness and humility