Virtue

by Thomas, Aquinas, Saint; Regan, Richard J.

• ISBN13: 9780940866782
• ISBN10: 0940866781
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-04-01
• Publisher: Univ of Scranton Pr

Summary

The third volume of newly translated selections from the writings of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Fr. Richard Regan turns to his thoughts on the moral dimensions of human action. Focusing on the first part of the second folume of the Summa Theologiae, he deals with such topics as the ultimate human goal, human acts, emotions and virtues. Regan indicates that though Aquinas approaches these topics from the perspective of human reason, it is necessary for the reader to remember that his overall viewpoint is that of a believer seeking to understand his faith. All can weigh the merits of these propositions due to their clarity of language, exposition, and structure.

Table of Contents

Preface	xiii
Note on the Text and Translation	xv
Introduction	xvii
Biblical Abbreviations	xxix
Other Abbreviations	xxix
Works Cited	xxxi
St. Thomas
Authors Cited	xxxv
St. Thomas
ST I-II
On the Ultimate End of Human Beings	1	(4)
Is There an Ultimate End of Human Life?
In What the Happiness of Human Beings Consists	5	(4)
Does the Happiness of Human Beings Consist in a Created Good?
What Happiness Is	9	(4)
Does the Happiness of Human Beings Consist in Beholding God's Essence?
On the Prerequisites of Happiness	13	(16)
Is Pleasure Necessary for Happiness?
Is Comprehension Necessary for Happiness?
Is a Rightly Directed Will Necessary for Happiness?
Is the Body Necessary for the Happiness of Human Beings?
Is Any Bodily Perfection Necessary for Happiness?
Are Any External Goods Necessary for Happiness?
Is the Company of Friends Necessary for Happiness?
On Attaining Happiness	29	(10)
Can Human Beings Attain Happiness?
Can Human Beings Be Happy in This Life?
Can Human Beings by Their Natural Powers Attain Happiness?
Are Any Good Deeds Necessary for Human Beings to Attain Happiness from God?
On Voluntary and Involuntary Things	39	(14)
Can Things Be Voluntary Without Any Act?
Can Force Coerce the Will?
Does Force Cause Things to Be Involuntary?
Does Fear Cause Things to Be Absolutely Involuntary?
Does Concupiscence Cause Things to Be Involuntary?
Does Ignorance Cause Things to Be Involuntary?
On What Moves the Will	53	(8)
Does the Intellect Move the Will?
Do Sense Appetites Move the Will?
Does the Will Move Its Very Self?
Does Only God as External Cause Move the Will?
On the Way in Which the Will Is Moved	61	(10)
Does Nature Move the Will to Will Anything?
Do Objects of the Will Necessarily Move the Will?
Do Lower Appetites Necessarily Move the Will?
Does the External Cause of the Will's Movement, God, Move the Will in a Necessary Way?
On Intention	71	(8)
Is Intention an Act of the Intellect or an Act of the Will?
Does Intention Only Concern the Final End of Human Beings?
Can One Intend Two Things at the Same Time?
Do We Intend an End and Will Means to That End by the Same Act?
On Choice, the Act of the Will Regarding Means to Ends	79	(10)
Is Choice an Act of the Will or of the Power of Reason?
Does Choice Concern Only Means or Also Sometimes Ends Themselves?
Does Choice Concern Only Our Deeds?
Does Choice Concern Only Things That Are Possible?
Do Human Beings Choose Necessarily or Freely?
On the Deliberation Preceding Choice	89	(10)
Is Deliberation an Inquiry?
Does Deliberation Concern Only Our Deeds?
Does Deliberation Concern Everything That We Do?
Is the Process of Deliberation Analytic?
Is the Process of Deliberation Endless?
On Consent, the Act of the Will Related to Means	99	(4)
Is Consent an Act of Appetitive Power Cognitive Power?
Does Consent Concern Ends or Means?
On the Acts Commanded by the Will	103	(12)
Is Commanding an Act of Reason or an Act of the Will?
Do We Command Acts of the Will?
Do We Command Acts of Reason?
Do We Command the Acts of Sense Appetites?
Do We Command Acts of the Vegetative Soul?
Do We Command the Acts of Our External Bodily Members?
On the Goodness and Malice of Human Acts in General	115	(14)
Is Every Human Act Good, or Are Some Human Acts Evil?
Are the Actions of Human Beings Good or Bad by Reason of Their Objects?
Do Circumstances Determine Whether Human Actions Are Good or Bad?
Do Ends Determine Whether Human Actions Are Good or Bad?
Are some Acts by Their Species Morally Indifferent?
Are Any Human Acts, Individually Considered, Morally Indifferent?
Do Circumstances Constitute Moral Acts in Species of Good or Evil?
On the Goodness and Malice of Interior Acts of the Will	129	(14)
Does the Will's Goodness Depend on the Will's Object?
Does the Will's Goodness Depend Exclusively on the Will's Object?
Deos the Will's Goodness Depend on Reason?
Deos the Will's Goodness Depend on Eternal Law?
Is the Will Evil If It Wills Contrary to Erroneous Reason?
Is the Will Good If It Wills in Accord with Erroneous Reason?
On the Goodness and Malice of External Human Acts	143	(2)
Do External Acts' Goodness and Malice Depend on the Will's Goodness?
On the Good or Evil in the Soul's Emotions	145	(2)
Can We find Moral Good and Evil in the Soul's Emotions?
On the Soul's Emotions in Particular, and First on Love	147	(4)
Do We Appropriately Divide Love into the Love of Friendship and the Love or Desire?
On the Causes of Love	151	(4)
Does Likeness Cause Love?
On the Effects of Love	155	(6)
Is Union an Effect of Love?
Is Mutual Indwelling an Effect of Love?
On Habits in General, Regarding Their Essence	161	(6)
Do Habits Imply a Relation to Acts?
Are Habits Necessary?
On the Subjects in Which Habits Inhere	167	(14)
Does the Body Have Any Habits?
Is the soul the Subject of Habits by Reason of Its Essence, or Is the Soul Such by Reason of Its Powers?
Can Powers of the Soul's Sensory Part Have Habits?
Does the Intellect Itself Have Any Habits?
Does the Will Have Any Habits?
On the Causes of Habits, Regarding the Formation of Habits Themselves	181	(8)
Do Any Habits Spring from Nature?
Do Acts Produce Any Habits?
Can One Act Produce a Habit?
On Virtue, Regarding Its Essence	189	(4)
Do We Appropriately Define Virtue?
On Distinguishing Intellectual Virtues	193	(12)
Are There Only Three Habits of the Theoretical Intellect, Namely, Theoretical Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and Understanding?
Are Intellectual Habits That Are Skills Virtues?
Is Practical Wisdom a Virtue That Differs from Skills?
Is Practical Wisdom a Necessary Virtue for Human Beings?
On Distinguishing Moral Virtues from Intellectual Virtues	205	(6)
Can There Be Moral Virtue Without Intellectual Virtue?
Can There Be Intellectual Virtue Without Moral Virtue?
On the Relation of Moral Virtues to Emotions	211	(6)
Can Emotions Accompany Moral Virtues?
Are Emotions the Object of Every Moral Virtue?
Can There Be Any Moral Virtue Apart from Emotion?
On the Cardinal Virtues	217	(2)
Are There Four Cardinal Virtues?
On the Causes of Virtues	219	(6)
Are Virtues in Us by Nature?
Does Repetition of Acts Produce Virtues in Us?
On the Mean of Virtues	225	(2)
Is the Mean of Moral Virtues a Mean of Things or of Reason?
On the Connection Between Virtues	227	(8)
Are Moral Virtues Interconnected?
Can There Be Moral Virtues Without the Theological Virtue of Charity?
On the Equality of Virtues	235	(10)
Are Moral Virtues More Excellent Than Intellectual Virtues?
Is Justice Superior to Other Moral Virtues?
Is Theoretical Wisdom the Greatest Intellectual Virtue?
Glossary	245	(8)
Bibliography	253	(4)
Index	257