Group 5: Calibuso, Rhoseline, Castillo, Yvonne, Rumbaua, Dennisse

THOMAS AQUINAS: Natural Law, Moral Virtue, Practical Reason and Prudence,
Cannon of the Virtues, Sin and Grace

B. Main Ethical Ideology

“Faith and reason, and science and theology, need not be opposed to each other and
could co-exist.”
● The main pursuit of his philosophy was the balance of logic and natural sciences with the
philosophical concerns of Christian doctrine. He held that reason is capable of
operating within faith; while the philosopher relies solely on reason, the theologian
accepts faith as his starting point and then proceeds to conclusion through the use of
reason.

NATURAL LAW
“The light of natural reason whereby we discern what is good and what is evil.”
Among the 4 theories that Saint Thomas Aquinas had described, he wrote most
extensively about natural law. He stated that God created the world according to natural
laws as manifested by the predictable, goal-driven systems whereby life is sustained, and
everything functions smoothly.
● The Natural Law, according to Thomas Aquinas, requires both instinct and reason. That
is, the “light of reason is placed by nature (and thus by God) in every man to guide him
in his acts,” therefore human beings, alone among God’s creatures, use reason to lead
their lives.
● Furthermore, it is premised on the idea that God wants us to “want” things, specifically
good things and thus avoid evil.
● Principle of intelligibility of action: only action that can be understood as conforming
with this principle, as carried out under the idea that good is to be sought and bad
avoided, can be understood as an intelligible action.
● We know immediately, by inclination, that there are a variety of things that count as
good and thus to be pursued — life, procreation, knowledge, society, and reasonable
conduct.
In Aquinas' view, it is the good that is fundamental, and the good is prior to the right.
Thus, if an act is intrinsically flawed, it should not be done.
● The important task, then, is to identify the ways in which an act can be intrinsically
flawed and although Aquinas does not provide a master principle for this, he indicates
where to look or what features need to be present:
1. An act might be flawed through a mismatch of object and end
2. An act might be flawed through the circumstances
3. An act might be flawed merely through its intention
APPLICATION IN OUR SOCIETY
Abortion is one of the most controversial issues that go against the main idea of the
natural law. St. Thomas Aquinas has a deep rooted relationship with the Catholic Church,
hence, his beliefs are founded on the teachings of the Church. Abortion is considered a sin
from the perspective of Catholic religion, because it destroys the sanctity of life.
Consequently, for Aquinas, abortion is against natural law because according to him, God
bestowed unto us the inclination to pursue good things that are also given to us by God and
one of them is to protect the sanctity of life to which the act of abortion defies.
APPLICATION IN NURSING PROFESSION
Nurses work on behalf of their patients when laying out a plan of care. When doing
so, nurses also need to apply the concept of reason to discern whether an intervention will
result in the patient’s recovery or not. We need not to dictate what the patient must do,
rather we should elicit the opinions of the patient and offer possible ways to arrive at a
unitary conclusion.

MORAL VIRTUES
The 4 cardinal virtues of Saint Thomas Aquinas are prudence, justice, fortitude and
temperance. These four components are mainly brought up by christian theology.
● Prudence - the habit of doing the correct thing at the appropriate moment, is the
companion of rationality; the intellect must first uncover this discipline and then
convey its orders to the will.
● Justice - the practice of giving everyone their due, aids the will in controlling the
intolerances of the desire. That is why the will must carry out these directives in its
own domain.
● Fortitude guarantees steadfastness amid adversity and consistency in the pursuit of
goodness. It reinforces the determination to withstand temptations and conquer
challenges in leading a decent life.
● Temperance - tendency of the instinctive aspect of the consciousness that causes it to
pursue reasoning. If an individual has this quality, they won't be required to be
restrained since their wants will indeed be reasonable.

PRACTICAL REASON AND PRUDENCE

● Saint Aquinas’ view on practical reason revolves around the idea that “practical
reasoning plays out in a dynamic exchange between intellect and will, an exchange in
which intellect always has the first word but in which the will plays a key role and the
agent remains free.”
● Aquinas also stated that “Good is what each thing tends toward.” Therefore this is the
primary precept of law: Good is to be done and pursued, 'and evil is to be avoided.

We can correlate practical reason and prudence with the conception that prudence
basically implies that making wise decisions with regards to appropriate behavior is
necessary to have a good demeanor. Likewise, prudence is essentially a construct of
practical reasoning for the reason that being prudent is being inclined to think about the
implications of your decisions. Hence, it is the capacity to govern oneself according to such
a rational assessment of the probable effects of one's conduct.
 APPLICATION IN THEIR SOCIETY AND OUR SOCIETY AND IN THE NURSING
PROFESSION
According to Aquinas, there are 4 moral virtues being applied to the people living in
a society. Justice is one of the virtues mentioned, where it embraces the good of both
individuals and society. Example: Equity and Equality. Meanwhile, Nursing profession is an
intricate field in which an individual should be knowledgeable with his/her proceedings for
the reason that lives are at stake and we ought to make the right decisions. We can apply the
lessons from Saint Aquinas through continuous learning about the latest discoveries in the
field of science so that we can appropriately incorporate it in our profession.

CANNON OF THE VIRTUES

According to St. Thomas, people can change their habits, dispositions, or levels of
virtue and vice. For him, there are two virtues which are the moral and intellectual virtue.
But, the thing we most need in this life is moral virtue.
· Intellectual Virtue is the habit of thinking like understanding the nature of things,
judging the truth of matters and reasoning. Moreover, it is more on traits like
knowledge, understanding and wisdom.
· Moral virtue disposes us to act well and it requires more than simply knowledge. It
is merely being aware of what is morally and ethically appropriate to do. For
instance, we need to balance our passions. Our interests must accompany us. We
won't act morally when we know what to do but are afraid to. Moral virtue
controls our desires so that we can act in a way that promotes the greater good.
APPLICATION OF INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL VIRTUE IN OUR SOCIETY AND IN
NURSING PROFESSION
Virtues are acquired through instruction and application. By exercising self-control, one can
develop virtues like honesty, bravery, justice, generosity, and so forth. Additionally, persons
who practice virtue are more likely to make the right decision when faced with moral
dilemmas. On the other hand, in nursing profession, intellectual virtues of professionals
embrace knowledge and skills, while virtues of character include truthfulness and
compassion.

GRACE
God's love is where grace first began. The definition of grace is "God's kindness or
graciousness toward us." God creates decent individuals by giving us that love. The three
most significant categories of grace are:

1. Actual grace
· It is the grace of divine motion and it is a supernatural impulse that activates the
will to perform some action.
· After someone has experienced a state of grace, God still bestows numerous real
gifts that motivate and inspire us to act morally, to perform deeds of kindness, to
pray, and to attend church.
Example: Consider a person who is struggling but doesn't believe in God and finds herself
passing by a Catholic church. Something moves her to step inside and she finds herself
kneeling in the back saying, “God if you hear this, please help me.” Many conversion stories
start with moments like this. These active gifts are known as actual graces because God
enables our will to move from potential to act freely and carry out a good deed.
2. Habitual grace
· Habitual becomes a stable quality of the soul that really transforms the person
from within and this enables him to live his life in a brand-new, supernatural
way.
God pours sanctifying grace into a person's soul, for instance, when they repent of their sin
and receive baptism. In a sense, his soul obtains a new spiritual style of being. Furthermore,
according to St. Paul, we are transformed into God's adopted sons and daughters by grace.
3. Charismatic grace
· Graces given for the spiritual good of others. These are given for the spiritual
benefit of others, not necessarily to sanctify the one who receives them.
Example: The grace of preaching and the grace of healing which are all charismatic graces.

SIN
According to Thomas Aquinas in his philosophical work Summa Theologica, sin is defined
as "the turning away from the immutable good" by breaking the moral standards set by
God.
● Then, according to Aquinas, it is influenced also by original sin.
In Genesis, Adam and Eve were created in grace. St. Thomas thinks we were always meant
to live in God’s grace since Adam and Eve would have possessed virtue, they have been
rightly ordered, and that this was a gift of grace. But, Adam and Eve sinned in their pride
thus explaining why we are born with original sin.
● However, St. Thomas teaches that with grace, we can get over mortal sin, over those
deliberate sins that we know, we voluntarily choose and those sins that turn us away
from God. With grace, we can be steadfast in clinging to God, in pursuing God, in
allowing ourselves to be drawn by God, even as for the rest of our lives.
APPLICATION OF SIN AND GRACE IN OUR SOCIETY AND IN NURSING PROFESSION
Sin may be seen as a love lessness since it is a detrimental element that destroys the image
of God in humans, which is an ultimate factor contributing to poverty in society. But, grace
gives us a new life which is not condemned by God and we are forgiven that results in the
renewal of our mind and heart. In contrast, a nurse with Christian values shows
unconditional love and acceptance, regardless of the circumstances. Also, they understand
that these emotions need to be expressed in different ways depending on the situation.

CRITIQUES AGAINST THOMAS AQUINAS

John Locke
Natural inclinations impel towards one’s own profit, advantage, or benefit only. The
natural inclinations are self-regarding, and thus cannot be the source of social virtues.
Andy McLaverty-Robinson
The fundamental tenet of Aquinas's moral philosophy is that evil (or badness)
should be avoided and good should be done or pursued. It is believed that the adage "do
unto others as you would have them do unto you" is a reiteration of the first principle. With
regard to Aquinas' first principle, Andy McLaverty-Robinson personally disagrees. Because
it ignores difference and can result in absurdities when applied to people who are different
in some manner, he thinks the maxim "do unto others" to be unacceptable.

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