1B: The Role of Virtues and Goods in Supporting Moral Behaviour

Question 1

What Greek philosopher did Aquinas agree with?

Answer 1

Aristotle

Question 2

What did Aquinas agree with Aristotle about?

Answer 2

there is a link between happiness and virtue

Question 3

For Aquinas, what did developing virtues help a person to do?

Answer 3

fulfill their human function and live a moral life, thereby meeting their final purpose of living eternally in heaven with god

Question 4

What are Aristotle’s 4 cardinal virtues?

Answer 4

prudence, temperance, fortitude, justice

Question 5

What are Aristotle’s 3 theological virtues?

Answer 5

faith, hope, charity

Question 6

How did Aquinas believe the 7 virtues can be obtained?

Answer 6

received by people through divine grace. cannot be obtained by human effort

Question 7

What does the virtue of prudence mean?

Answer 7

• being able to make sound judgements in reasoning
• involves being aware of both moral principles established through natural law
• responsible decision making, thinking first THEN acting

Question 8

What does the virtue of temperance mean?

Answer 8

• involves balance and restraint and self control
• can refine and purify physical pleasures
• knowing how to respect oneself in a correct and balanced manner

Question 9

What does the virtue of fortitude mean?

Answer 9

• involves discipline, patience, endurance and perseverance in the face of difficult circumstances whether physical, moral or spiritual

Question 10

What does the virtue of justice mean?

Answer 10

• focuses on actions towards others
• fairness, teamwork, leadership
• ensuring the well-being of others

Question 11

What does the virtue of faith mean?

Answer 11

belief in god and his truth
- obedience
- involves the whole person
- reflects a total outpouring to the divine as an active assertion

Question 12

What does the virtue of hope mean?

Answer 12

• consistent truth in the beatific vision
• pure form of desire, focused on the highest aim alone
• underlying virtue that supports the active participation in other non theological moral values

Question 13

What does the virtue of charity mean?

Answer 13

• agape
• selfless, unconditional and voluntary loving
• kindness for others in response to god’s life
• love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves

Question 14

What did Aquinas say practicing these virtues would help us to do?

Answer 14

fulfill the primary precepts

Question 15

What did Aquinas mean by interior and exterior acts?

Answer 15

• he thought the act itself and the intention behind it are important and must aim to observe the primary precepts
• acting in the right way for a bad reason is seen as a good ‘exterior’ act, but a bad ‘interior’ act (example: helping an old lady cross the street to make yourself look good)

Question 16

What is an example of good intentions not leading to good actions?

Answer 16

stealing money to give to a charity

Question 17

What is the doctrine of double effect?

Answer 17

an act may have secondary unintended bad consequences but the act is still right to carry out

Question 18

What is an example of the doctrine of double effect?

Answer 18

a doctor having to remove a cancerous uterus from a pregnant woman in order to save her life. although this would result in the death of the foetus it would still be considered a right act because the intention is to preserve the woman’s life

Question 19

How do interior and exterior acts link to intentions and acts? (apply this to the helping the old woman cross the road)

Answer 19

if you want to help an old woman cross the road to genuinely help her, then you have good intentions and are committing both a good interior and exterior act. however if you only want to help the lady to look good, the intentions are harmful and so it is only a good exterior act

Question 20

What 3 conditions must be met before the doctrine of double effect can pronounce an act with bad effects as a good act?

Answer 20

1. we do not with the evil effects, and make all efforts to avoid them
2. the immediate effect is good in itself
3. the good effect is as important as the evil effect

Question 21

Why did Aquinas believe human nature was essentially good?

Answer 21

all people have the natural law written on their hearts. believed everyone is oriented towards the achievement of perfection and would never knowingly pursue evil

Question 22

Explain the distinction between a ‘real’ good and an ‘apparent’ good

Answer 22

real:
- meets primary precepts
- absolute
- deontological
- objective
- known as recta ratio
apparent:
- seems good, actually isn’t
- mistake in reasoning
- subjective
- will not be in accordance with divine and eternal law
- not in the pursuit of perfection
- linked to the concept of sin

Question 23

Why is choosing an apparent good an error?

Answer 23

because it ultimately isn’t really good for the person (example, someone might commit adultery because they have confused the sexual pleasure they get out of it as real good)

Question 24

Why did Aquinas argue humans do not actively choose evil?

Answer 24

because our fallen nature leads humans to act according to desire rather than in accordance with our god given purpose

Question 25

What are the deontological aspects of ANL?

Answer 25

• suggests morality is judged by how an action conforms to doing one’s duty
• four levels of law: eternal, divine, natural, human
• primary precepts: universal and permanent set of deontological rules
• secondary precepts: created by judging whether an action either upholds or breaks one of the primary precepts. it can be argued the sp do not always have to be upheld (doctrine of double effect)

Question 26

What are the teleological features of ANL?

Answer 26

• purpose of natural law: universe was created by god with an end purpose (telos). aquinas designed natural law to illustrate what the telos was
• rational thought: we can find out the telos through using our god given reason
• the highest good: to become ‘more like god’
• primary precepts
• getting to heaven by achieving the highest good
• secondary precepts