181. Vice as Contrary to Virtue and Against Nature

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Vice, Sin, and Malice as Three Distinct Opposites to Virtue #

• Sin is opposed to virtue according to its operative aspect (ordered act vs. disordered act)
• Malice is opposed to virtue according to virtue as goodness (deficiency in moral quality)
• Vice is opposed to virtue directly according to its definition (unsuitable disposition contrary to nature)
• These three are not contradictory but represent different ways of opposing virtue

Nature as the Measure of Virtue and Vice #

• Virtue consists in being well-disposed according to one’s nature
• Vice consists in being disposed unsuitably to one’s nature
• For man, rational nature (the rational soul) is the defining characteristic
• What is in accordance with reason is in accordance with human nature
• What is against the order of reason is against human nature
• Thomas emphasizes the word “nature” four to five times in his treatment to underscore this principle

The Problem of Habituation #

• Objection: If vice is against nature, how can people become habituated to it? A stone cannot be made to stay in the air through repeated throwing.
• Response: The analogy concerns physical nature, not rational nature. Human nature can be disposed well or badly through habit in a way that physical objects cannot.
• Distinction between nature as “what is by nature” (having physical properties) and nature as “what is in accordance with nature” (being disposed suitably to rational nature)

Nature as Normative, Not Merely Descriptive #

• Shakespeare understood this: nature is the measure of both virtue and vice
• Plato’s Laws shows that what is contra naturam (against nature) is properly rejected, even if culturally accepted
• The fact that people become habituated to vice does not make vice natural; it shows that rational nature can be corrupted through habituation

Key Arguments #

The Three-Fold Opposition to Virtue #

1. Sin (peccatum): a disordered act—opposed to virtue’s operative good
2. Malice (malitia): a general deficiency—opposed to virtue as goodness itself
3. Vice (vitium): a habit disposing contrary to nature—opposed to virtue directly in its definition

Resolution: The first objection mistakenly assumes all three must be the same kind of opposition. Thomas clarifies that they oppose virtue in different respects, so multiple things can be opposed to virtue without logical contradiction.

Nature and Disposition #

• Virtue is not only about having power (potentia) but about being well-disposed (bene disposita)
• Each thing acts according as it is actualized; therefore, something must be in itself well-disposed to operate well
• Vice is a disposition unsuitable to one’s nature; thus vice is opposed to virtue more fundamentally than mere lack of power

Vice in the Soul vs. Sickness in the Body #

• In the body: sickness (morbus) and weakness (aegrotatio) can be distinguished
• In the soul: they cannot be distinguished—bad internal disposition necessarily produces disordered affect
• Therefore, vice in the soul is more like health (an intrinsic disposition) than like bodily sickness (an external condition)
• Vice is a habit that renders the soul inconstant throughout life

Important Definitions #

• Vice (vitium): A habit that disposes one contrary to what is suitable to one’s nature; specifically, a disposition unsuitable to the rational nature of man
• Sin (peccatum): A disordered act; something said, done, or desired against the eternal law
• Malice (malitia): A general deficiency in goodness opposed to virtue as virtue is goodness
• Nature (natura): The form by which a thing possesses its specific character; for man, the rational soul
• Virtue (virtus): A habit that disposes one well according to the suitability of one’s nature, particularly according to reason
• Disposition (dispositio): The way something is ordered internally, either well or badly; one of the four species of quality

Examples & Illustrations #

Shakespeare’s Mirror to Nature #

• In Hamlet, Hamlet instructs players: “Or strip not the modesty of nature; for anything so overdone is from the purpose of playing… to hold as ’twere the mirror up to nature; to show virtue her own feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure”
• Shakespeare shows virtue and scorn (the result of pride, queen of vices) as the measure derived from nature
• The virtues or vices predominant in an age reflect its moral character and show “the very age and body of the time”

Plato’s Laws and Homosexuality #

• Plato in his last work The Laws proposes a law against homosexuality (contra fuscinam, against nature)
• This shows that even though homosexuality was culturally accepted in Greek society, Plato saw it as against nature
• In his dialogues, Plato represents men as they are in Greek society (representation of things as they are), not as they ought to be (representation of things as they should be)
• The distinction is crucial: representation of actual customs is not endorsement of those customs as natural or virtuous

The Stone Analogy Applied #

• Objection: “You cannot make a stone stay in the air by repeatedly throwing it up; similarly, you cannot habituate vice if it is against nature”
• Response: This analogy applies to physical nature, not to the rational nature of man, which can be disposed either well or badly

Notable Quotes #

“But what if you see something that is lacking to the affectionate nature, I call that vice.” — Augustine, On Free Choice of the Will, Book III (cited by Thomas)

“Or strip not the modesty of nature; for anything so overdone is from the purpose of playing… to hold as ’twere the mirror up to nature; to show virtue her own feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure.” — Shakespeare, Hamlet

“The good of each thing consists, that it have itself suitably, according to the mode of its own nature.” — Thomas’s summary of Cicero

“Each tree is known from its own fruit.” — Matthew 12:33 (cited by Berquist in connection with the Blessed Virgin and the principle that internal disposition manifests in external acts)

Questions Addressed #

Article 1: Whether Vice Is Contrary to Virtue #

Question: If to one thing there is one contrary, and sin and malice are contrary to virtue, how can vice also be contrary to virtue?

Resolution: Vice, sin, and malice oppose virtue in three different respects:

• Sin opposes virtue’s operative good (ordering toward good action)
• Malice opposes virtue as goodness (the perfection itself)
• Vice opposes virtue directly according to its definition (unsuitable disposition)

Therefore, multiple things can be contrary to virtue without violating the principle that one thing has one contrary.

Article 2: Whether Vice Is Against Nature #

Question: If people can become habituated to vice through repeated acts, how can vice be against nature?

Resolution: The objection confuses physical nature with rational nature. For rational beings, what is in accordance with reason is in accordance with nature. Vice, being a disordered disposition contrary to reason, is properly against human nature even when habituated. The fact of habituation shows only that rational nature can be corrupted, not that vice is natural.

Pedagogical Observations #

• Berquist emphasizes that Thomas’s repeated use of the word “nature” (four to five times in a short passage) is deliberate and significant
• The lecture moves from abstract logical distinctions (the three ways things oppose virtue) to concrete examples from literature and philosophy
• Shakespeare is presented as embodying genuine philosophical wisdom about human nature through poetic representation
• The connection between virtue and nature is fundamental to understanding why modern philosophy (which lacks humility before nature and reason) produces confused teachings