Research On Virtue Theory In Thomas Aquinas's "Disputed Questions On Virtue"

Virtue is the core conception of ancient Greek ethics and medieval ethics,which was interpreted by different philosophers from ancient Greek to middle Ages.It is well known that Thomas Aquinas' s virtue ethics was deeply influenced by Aristotle.In addition to that he also widely cited and absorbed the rich resources of the Bible and the godfather's theological ideas,especially Augustine's virtue thoughts.Thomas Aquinas,then,from the standpoint of theology,carried out the original fusion of Greek philosophy and Christian thought,finally,he constructed his own unique theory of virtue.Thomas Aquinas argues that virtue designates the perfection of the human soul's powers and emphasizes virtues are habits,through which can act when one wills to.And because the source of an action belongs to the same subject the action belongs to.Therefore,since the virtues' actions belong to the soul's powers,so do the virtues.As a result,the soul's powers are subjects of virtues.In Thomas Aquinas' s theory,reason and appetite are the two principles of human acts.Therefore,as the soul's power of the subject of virtue,it includes not only intellectual powers,but also appetitive powers.Among them,the intellectual powers includes both the powers of reason and will,appetitive powers,including the concupiscible and irascible appetites powers.However,the will belongs to both the intellectual powers and the appetitive powers.Therefore,in human beings there are three possible subjects of virtue: intellect,will,and the lower appetite,which is divied into the concupiscible and irascible.Furthermore,Aquinas divides the virtues into three types: Intellectual Virtues,Moral Virtues and Theological Virtues.Among them,Intellectual Virtues and Moral Virtues are obtained by the natural reason of human beings,while Theological Virtues comes through divine revelation.Therefore,essentially speaking,the limited reason of human beings can not obtain the knowledge of God,only through divine revelation can we achieve the ultimate eternal happiness.