Book contents
- Aquinas and the Ethics of Happiness
- Aquinas and the Ethics of Happiness
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Aquinas on Individual Happiness
- Part II Aquinas, Happiness, and the Unity of Ethics
- Chapter 6 From Individual Happiness to Common Happiness
- Chapter 7 Happiness and Law
- Chapter 8 Happiness and Virtue
- Conclusion
- Bibliography of Works by Thomas Aquinas with Abbreviations
- General Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 8 - Happiness and Virtue
from Part II - Aquinas, Happiness, and the Unity of Ethics
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 August 2025
Book contents
- Aquinas and the Ethics of Happiness
- Aquinas and the Ethics of Happiness
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Aquinas on Individual Happiness
- Part II Aquinas, Happiness, and the Unity of Ethics
- Chapter 6 From Individual Happiness to Common Happiness
- Chapter 7 Happiness and Law
- Chapter 8 Happiness and Virtue
- Conclusion
- Bibliography of Works by Thomas Aquinas with Abbreviations
- General Bibliography
- Index
Summary
This chapter explains the many ways in which individual happiness and common happiness are related to Aquinas’s account of virtue. It begins by arguing that virtue is strictly necessary in order for an individual to be happy, but still virtue is not a constitutive part of that happiness. Rather, it is strictly necessary because virtue alone enables the individual to engage in and enjoy genuinely good activities. The chapter then argues that, still, according to Aquinas, virtue is more deeply related to common happiness than individual happiness inasmuch as a character trait is a virtue of character fundamentally because it enables a person to play their part in realizing the common happiness of their community, not their own individual happiness. The chapter thereby establishes the third element of Aquinas’s Holistic Eudaimonism. The remainder of the chapter shows how the master virtues of general justice and charity as well as a whole host of other particular virtues concern aiming at and securing common happiness for the community.
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- Aquinas and the Ethics of Happiness , pp. 222 - 257Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
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