Thomas Aquinas: Disputed Questions on the Virtues

Description

The great medieval philosopher Thomas Aquinas (1224/6-1274) was Dominican regent master in theology at the University of Paris, where he presided over a series of questions - academic debates - on ethical topics. This volume offers new translations of disputed questions on the nature of virtues in general, the fundamental or 'cardinal' virtues of practical wisdom, justice, courage, and temperateness, the divinely bestowed virtues of hope and charity, and the practical question of how, when and why one should rebuke a 'brother' for wrongdoing. The introduction explains how Aquinas's theory of virtue fits into his ethics as a whole, and it illuminates Aquinas's views by explaining the institutional and intellectual context in which these disputed questions were debated.

E. M. Atkins has translated Cicero's On Duties and Augustine's Political Writings for Cambridge University Press. Thomas Williams has published widely on medieval philosophy and is editor of the Cambridge Companion to Duns Scotus.