165. The Connection of Moral Virtues and Charity

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Distinction Between Acquired and Infused Moral Virtues #

• Acquired moral virtues: Developed through repeated human acts; can exist without charity; found in virtuous pagans; more stable because gradually built up
• Infused moral virtues: Poured into the soul simultaneously by God with charity; cannot exist without charity; ordered to supernatural end; less stable because lost entirely with mortal sin
• This distinction is fundamental to understanding why some virtues can exist without charity while others cannot

Why Moral Virtues Are Connected Through Prudence #

• All moral virtues depend on prudence (practical wisdom/right reason about things to be done)
• Prudence itself depends on moral virtues for proper orientation to the end
• This mutual dependence creates a necessary connection: one cannot have perfect moral virtue without all others
• Unlike intellectual virtues (which concern diverse matters not ordered to each other), moral virtues concern passions and operations that have intrinsic order to one another

The Relationship Between Charity and Infused Moral Virtues #

• Charity is required for infused moral virtues because it orients the will to the supernatural end
• Just as speculative reason requires understanding of first principles (the law of non-contradiction), practical reason requires proper orientation to the ultimate end, which is provided by charity
• God provides infused moral virtues as instruments through which charity (the principal agent) acts, just as the soul is provided with organs to perfect its operations
• When charity is lost through mortal sin, all infused moral virtues are lost simultaneously (a key difference from acquired virtues)

The Imperfection of Acquired Virtues Without Charity #

• Acquired virtues, even when perfected through repeated acts, are called virtues only in a secondary sense (secundum quid)
• They order man well only with respect to natural ends, not to the ultimate supernatural end
• Augustine’s statement: “Where there is lacking the knowledge of truth, false is virtue even in good morals”
• The pagan virtues, compared to the saints, seem to have no virtue at all when ordered to the supernatural end

Key Arguments #

Argument for the Connection of Moral Virtues #

• Intellectual virtues are about diverse matters not ordered to each other (as in diverse sciences and arts); therefore they are not necessarily connected
• Moral virtues concern passions and operations that manifestly have order to each other
• All passions proceed from primary ones (love and hate) and terminate in pleasure and sadness
• All operations (matter of moral virtue) have order to each other and to the passions
• Therefore, the whole matter of moral virtues falls under the one notion of prudence
• Conclusion: Moral virtues must be connected through prudence

Argument for Infused Moral Virtues Without Acquired Ones #

• Saint Paul the hermit had the perfection of charity yet lacked occasions to practice liberality or patience
• Yet with the perfection of charity, it would not take much to practice any virtue if circumstances arose
• This shows that infused moral virtues can exist and be perfected in charity without the stability of acquired virtues

Argument Against Purely Acquired Virtues Sufficing #

• A courageous man without temperance has weakened judgment even in the area of courage
• Foresight can be corrupted even in one who judges well in some matters
• The Great Physicist Example: Atomic physicists with brilliant minds in physics were naive about communism, showing one can have one intellectual virtue without another
• But this does not happen with moral virtues because they concern the passions and operations which are ordered to each other

Argument for Why Charity Requires Infused Moral Virtues #

• God does not act less perfectly in grace than in nature
• In nature, we find the organs necessary for perfecting the works which the soul has power to do
• Charity, insofar as it orders man to the last end, is the beginning of all good works ordered to that end
• Therefore, with charity, the moral virtues must be poured in simultaneously to perfect each kind of good deed
• Analogy: Just as a principal agent (craftsman) requires proper instruments (tools) to accomplish the work, charity requires moral virtues as instruments

Important Definitions #

Virtue (Virtus) #

• That which makes its possessor good and their activity good
• A habit inclining toward good action
• “Perfect” virtue (simpliciter): ordered to ultimate supernatural end, exercised with right choice through prudence
• “Imperfect” virtue (secundum quid): ordered to natural ends only; good action but not necessarily done well or for right reason

Prudence (Prudentia) #

• Right reason about things to be done (recta ratio agibilium)
• Takes counsel, judges, and commands regarding means to the end
• Must be well-disposed toward the end in order to find suitable means
• The intellectual virtue on which all moral virtues depend
• Infused prudence depends on charity for proper orientation to the supernatural end

Charity (Caritas) #

• The love of God as the object of beatitude
• Infused by God through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5: “The charity of God is diffused in our hearts by the Holy Spirit”)
• The root and perfection of all virtues
• The form that makes all other virtues truly virtuous in the full sense
• Cannot be acquired through repeated human acts; only poured in by God

The Mean (Mediocritas) #

• In moral virtues: Determined by prudence in relation to us (not relative to individual preference but to what reason determines is suitable)
• The mean is what makes the action virtuous, not excess or defect
• Example: Eating a large meal on Thanksgiving can be virtuous because circumstances differ; eating the same amount daily would be vice

Examples & Illustrations #

On Corrupted Prudence Despite Courage #

• A courageous soldier who is not temperate and not chaste appears to have good judgment in courage
• Yet his foresight is somewhat corrupt because he lacks proper disposition toward other ends
• This weakens even his judgment in the area where he seems strongest

On Intellectual Virtues Without Connection #

• Great atomic physicists brilliant in their field were naive about communism
• Oppenheimer had problems in this political area despite being one of the great scientists
• This shows intellectual virtues can exist separately: one can be excellent in one field while lacking knowledge in another

On the Difference Between Intellectual and Moral Virtues #

• A geometer who errs about the principle “every whole is greater than its part” cannot have geometrical science
• The error at the beginning leads to infinite divergence in conclusions
• Moral actions are similarly ordered: a defect in prudence about one kind of action causes defect in others
• The MacArthur example: A general’s decision to visit MacArthur affected whether he ate breakfast, which affected his tiredness, which affected whether he went to the front early. All actions are interconnected.

On Saints and the Infused Virtues #

• Jerome had a temper, yet was a saint with charity
• Saints are “more humbled about the virtues which they do not have than they glory about the virtues which they do have” (Bede)
• A saint with charity may experience difficulty in some virtues due to contrary dispositions left from previous acts
• Yet they still possess the habit of the infused virtue, even if acting according to it is difficult

On Acquired Virtues and Stability #

• A man brought up to be just cannot take another’s money, even if he tries—there is stability
• Finding a billfold as a child and returning it without reward demonstrates acquired justice
• Being brought up properly in virtue (hearing good music, seeing good examples) makes a “great deal of difference”
• Aristotle: “All the difference” depends on how one is brought up

On Saint Paul the Hermit #

• Lived alone in the desert with no occasions to practice liberality or patience
• Yet because he had the perfection of charity, he could easily practice any virtue if circumstances required
• Magnanimous deeds might not be possible without wealth, but if one had perfection of charity, “it wouldn’t take much”

On Pleasure as Sign of Acquired Virtue #

• Once one acquires temperance, eating moderately becomes pleasant, not a struggle
• Paying debts becomes easy and agreeable, not burdensome
• Not enjoying virtuous acts (like the coward claiming discretion is valor) is a sign one has not yet acquired the virtue

Questions Addressed #

Why Can’t One Have One Intellectual Virtue Without Another? #

• Apparent Objection: Intellectual virtues concern diverse matters (different sciences) not ordered to each other
• Thomas’s Answer: Unlike moral virtues, intellectual virtues can indeed exist separately because their matters are not ordered to one another
• Evidence: Great physicists can be ignorant of political matters; sciences and arts are independent disciplines

Can Acquired Moral Virtues Exist Without Charity? #

• Answer: Yes, as manifested in virtuous pagans
• Reason: Acquired virtues are ordered to natural ends only and developed through human acts, not infused by God
• Caveat: These are virtues only in a secondary sense (secundum quid); they are not perfectly virtuous because they do not order man to the ultimate supernatural end

Can Infused Moral Virtues Exist Without Charity? #

• Answer: No, infused moral virtues necessarily require charity
• Reason: They are ordered to the supernatural end, and one is well-disposed toward that end only through charity
• Supporting Evidence: Just as prudence requires moral virtues for proper orientation to natural ends, infused prudence requires charity for orientation to supernatural end

Can Charity Exist Without Infused Moral Virtues? #

• Answer: No, charity requires the infused moral virtues
• Reason: Charity as principal agent requires properly disposed instruments (the moral virtues) to perfect the lower powers
• Analogy: Just as God provides animals with organs suited to the operations their souls require, God provides the soul with infused moral virtues alongside charity

Why Do Some Saints Seem to Lack Certain Virtues? #

• Answer: They possess the infused habit but may experience difficulty in its exercise
• Reason: Extrinsic impediments (bodily infirmity, pain, hunger) or contrary dispositions left from previous acts can hinder the pleasure and ease that normally accompany virtue exercise
• Example: Augustine suffered from toothache, which would hinder thinking; someone with infused science could still have the habit while experiencing difficulty

Notable Quotes and Key Statements #

“God does not act less perfectly in the works of grace than in the works of nature.”

• Thomas Aquinas, explaining why charity and infused moral virtues are given together

“Where there is lacking the knowledge of truth, false is virtue even in good morals.”

• Augustine (cited by Thomas), on the imperfection of acquired virtues without reference to the supernatural end

“The charity of God is diffused in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.”

• Romans 5:5, cited to show charity cannot be acquired but only infused

“Everything that is not from faith is sin.”

• Romans 14:23, cited to show the necessity of ordering all action to the ultimate end of God

“Who does not love remains in death.”

• 1 John 3:14, cited to show the necessity of charity for spiritual life and virtue

“A small mistake in the beginning becomes a great one at the end.”

• Aristotle (Berquist’s paraphrase), illustrating why defect in prudence about one matter affects all moral action