144. Virtue as Habit and the Good Habit

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Virtue as Habit #

• Virtue is fundamentally a habit (habitus), a stable disposition that perfects a power of the soul
• Virtue names a perfection of a power ordered to its end
• Rational powers, unlike natural powers, are indeterminate and must be determined to definite acts through habits
• This distinguishes virtue from mere ability or faculty

The Importance of Distinguishing Senses of Words #

• Berquist emphasizes that philosophers must carefully distinguish the multiple senses of fundamental words
• Example: Marxists fail to distinguish the four senses of “opposites” while claiming opposition is fundamental to their philosophy
• Thomas, following Aristotle, carefully distinguishes senses of key terms like “virtue,” “perfect,” “good,” and “power”
• If one uses words without understanding their meanings or conflates different meanings, serious philosophical error results
• This is the most common source of mistakes, according to Aristotle

Operative vs. Non-Operative Habits #

• Some habits concern being (e.g., health, beauty, strength of the body)
• Other habits concern operation (moral and intellectual virtues)
• Health, beauty, and strength are suitable dispositions of the body but are not operative powers themselves
• Human virtue is necessarily operative because what is proper to man is his rational operation
• The distinction is crucial: virtue disposes one not merely for operation but for good operation

Virtue Must Be Good #

• Virtue is necessarily a good habit, not merely any habit
• The ultimate perfection of any power must be toward something good
• Everything bad implies some defect (infirmitas); therefore, no bad thing can be the perfection of a power
• Words like “virtue” and “good” are sometimes applied metaphorically to bad things (e.g., “the virtue of sin”)
• A habit like science is called a virtue only in a qualified sense (secundum quid) because it does not make the person simply good—one can know grammar yet speak barbarously

The Definition of Virtue #

• Augustine’s definition: “Virtue is a good quality of the mind by which one lives rightly, which no one uses badly, which God works in us without us”
• This definition comprehends all four causes:
  • Formal cause: Quality (or more precisely, habit) that is good
  • Material cause: The subject—the mind or powers of the soul
  • Final cause: Living rightly; ordered operation
  • Efficient cause: God (specifically for infused virtues)
• The phrase “which no one uses badly” distinguishes virtue from powers that can be misused
• The phrase “which God works in us without us” applies specifically to infused virtues (not acquired ones)

The “Good of Reason” #

• The “good” in the definition is not the transcendental good (convertible with being)
• It is the good of reason (bonum rationis)—that which is in accordance with reason
• This is a determined good, not universal goodness
• Dionysius teaches: “The good of the soul is to be in accordance with reason”
• Examples: a good love is a reasonable love; a good fear is a reasonable fear; a good anger is a reasonable anger

Key Arguments #

From Health and Beauty to Virtue #

Objection: Health and beauty are perfections of the body but are not operative. Therefore, virtue need not be operative.

Response:

• Virtue can be likened to health and beauty as suitable dispositions
• However, virtue differs because it is ordered to operation
• What is proper to man is his rational operation
• Therefore, human virtue necessarily pertains to operation, unlike health or beauty

From Bad Things Lacking Virtue #

Objection: Sin has a “virtue” (strength); drunkenness involves power. Therefore, virtue is not necessarily good.

Response:

• Language like “virtue of sin” is metaphorical
• The ultimate perfection of any power must be toward something good
• Everything bad implies defect; defect cannot be the perfection of a power
• Therefore, virtue is necessarily a good habit

The Definition Comprehends All Causes #

• The definition “good quality of mind by which one lives rightly, which no one uses badly, which God works in us without us” is not redundant
• Rather, each phrase contributes understanding of a different cause
• The definition distinguishes virtue from:
  • Habits always ordered to bad (vices)
  • Habits sometimes ordered to good, sometimes to bad (opinion, suspicion)
  • Powers that can be used badly
  • Habits that do not make one simply good

Important Definitions #

Virtue (virtus): A habit that perfects a power of the soul, ordered to good operation, making the agent good in actuality.

Habit (habitus): A stable disposition of a power; acquired through repeated acts or infused by God.

Operative habit: A habit ordered to good action, giving both ability and inclination to act well.

Infirm/Infirmity (infirmitas): A weakness or defect; implies evil.

Good of reason (bonum rationis): That which accords with reason; the standard by which human acts are judged good or bad.

Secundum quid (in a qualified sense): A habit that gives ability but not inclination; makes one good in a particular respect (e.g., a good grammarian).

Simpliciter (simply): A habit that makes one good absolutely; gives both ability and inclination.

Examples & Illustrations #

The Knife #

• The virtue of a knife is sharpness
• Sharpness makes the knife good and its operation (cutting) good
• The vice of a knife is dullness
• Illustrates how virtue perfects a power and enables good operation

The Eye #

• A virtuous eye with 20/20 vision sees well and makes the eye good
• A vicious eye with poor vision does not see well
• The virtue of the eye makes both the eye itself and its operation good
• Berquist mentions his own right eye is more “vicious” (blurry) and left eye more “virtuous” (clear)

Herbs and Their Virtue #

• Warren Murray had a plaque: “Much virtue in herbs, little in men”
• Herbs have virtue insofar as they season things well
• If herbs are kept too long, they lose their virtue
• Illustrates that virtue is a perfection that can be lost

Grammar vs. Justice #

• A grammarian has a habit (art) that gives ability to speak correctly but not necessarily inclination
• A grammarian can speak like a barbarian; the person is called “good” only in a qualified sense
• Justice, by contrast, gives both ability and inclination to act justly
• A just person is inclined to perform just acts; one is called “good” simply

The Boxer #

• Berquist’s friend Jim was strong but not healthy
• He could defeat two or three other boxers but had health problems (collapsed lung)
• Illustrates that strength and health are distinct perfections

Notable Quotes #

“Wisely and slow, they stumble and run fast.” — Shakespeare, cited by Berquist to emphasize the importance of careful, deliberate reasoning in philosophy

“For each thing, as it is, so does it operate.” — Referenced in the lecture on how the disposition of the doer determines the mode of action

“The good of the soul is to be in accordance with reason.” — Dionysius, cited through Thomas Aquinas

“Everything bad is infirm.” (Omne malum infirmale est) — Pseudo-Dionysius, quoted to show that defect characterizes all evil

Questions Addressed #

Q1: Is virtue a habit? #

A: Yes. Virtue is a habit because it is a stable disposition that perfects a power. Natural powers are determined to their acts by nature, but rational powers are indeterminate and must be determined through habits acquired by repeated acts or infused by God.

Q2: Must virtue be operative? #

A: Yes, human virtue must be operative because what is proper to man is his rational operation. While virtue can be compared to health and beauty as suitable dispositions, human virtue specifically perfects rational powers in their operation.

Q3: Must virtue be good? #

A: Yes. Virtue is necessarily a good habit because the ultimate perfection of any power must be toward something good. Everything bad implies defect and cannot be the perfection of a power. Apparent exceptions (“virtue of sin”) use the word metaphorically.

Q4: What is the complete definition of virtue? #

A: “A good quality of the mind by which one lives rightly, which no one uses badly, which God works in us without us.” This definition comprehends all four causes: formal (good habit), material (the soul’s powers), final (living rightly/good operation), and efficient (God).

Q5: What does “good” mean in the definition of virtue? #

A: Not the transcendental good (convertible with being), but the good of reason—that which accords with reason. This is a determined good. A good human act is a reasonable human act.