Aquinas on Virtue, A Causal Reading

Author

Austin; Nicholas

Year

2017

Publisher

Georgetown University Press

Language

English

Pages

Link

Last Update

25-Mar-2026

Keywords

Philosophy ; Religion

Description

Let us begin with an analysis of temperance. The purpose is to construct a causal account of temperance that begins from the one found in the Summa Theologiae. The interpretation of Aquinas to be built on later is not argued in depth here but is left for later chapters, when the more controversial claims will be justified. The reader is therefore asked temporarily to take on trust what is yet to be established, especially the claim that causal virtue theory analyzes each virtue into seven elements (matter, mode, target, subject, overall end, agent, and exemplar) and relates them in certain...