Moral Virtues Between Aristotle And St. Thomas Aquinas

This essay will succinctly express and correlate the theories of moral virtues between Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas, analysing and assessing how their beliefs have influenced European culture. Aristotle (384-322BCE) was an ancient Greek Philosopher who was a polymath and productive writer. Despite the fact that it can’t be positive it is commonly accepted the Nichomachean Ethics (NE) are his own works (IEP, 2005), and it is in Book Tow that the topic of virtue and moral values is one of several conferred. St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), a Dominican priest, brought up the element of moral virtues as well. This essay will establish that Aristotle’s belief of moral virtues seems to have impacted that of Aquinas’ and that he appeared to have furthered those ideas to apply to his own Christian values. It will be presented that the two philosophers were life affirming, but that when Aristotle focused on the way to moral virtues intrinsically, Aquinas’ foc us was on the progress to morality for God. The second book of Nicomachean Ethics and the First part of part two (1269-1270) by Aquinas give an elaborate detail of moral virtues, which is too extensive a topic to be covered. Thus, this essay will look to address the thesis by using the clear-cut analogies of moral virtues and attainability of these virtues, by the way of the practice of intellect and will. Finally, this essay will show that even though Aquinas’ approach to moral virtues affected European tradition aShow MoreRelatedAquinas’ and Dante’s Common Ideals1153 Words   |  5 PagesAquinas’ and Dante’s Common Ideals While St. Thomas Aquinas established himself as the New Aristotle of the 13th century, Dante Alighieri established himself the new Virgil. 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