How Did Aristotle's View Of Virtue

The purpose of this paper is to explore what Aristotle’s view of virtue is. However, it is important to also discuss how other philosophers view virtue, and how they critique Aristotle’s main points. By observing these different viewpoints, we can decide if what Aristotle believes is a sufficient concept for ethics today. Aristotle defines virtue in his Nicomachean Ethics and the two different types of virtue that he believes in, which are Moral and Intellectual virtue. He is then followed and critiqued by St. Thomas Aquinas in Summa Theologica. Here, Aquinas addresses virtue by answering Aristotle and putting his own definition of virtue, explaining the Theological virtues and how the three of them can lead us to complete happiness in the
The three Theological virtues that Aquinas believes in are faith, hope, and charity, and he elaborates on them in Summa Theologica, saying that these are given to us directly from God himself. These are believed to bring us closer by believing in His revelation through faith, never giving up on him through hope, and Christian friendship by loving ourselves, the people around us, and God. Aquinas says that they are theological virtues because they are directing us to the Divine Essence, and guide us to “believe Him, hope in Him, love Him” (Aquinas, 62). God gives us these virtues in order to bring us to him in the after-life, but only if we are willing to seek him will he give them to us. Aquinas believes that these are the highest way of reaching the Divine Essence because they are given to us directly by him, unlike Moral and Intellectual Virtues which are used
Aristotle uses contemplation and Doctrine of the Mean as ways we can take action and become virtuous in our time on earth. He incorporates rational thought into these, saying that humans have the ability to use these virtues to be happy throughout their lifetime and attain excellence as a state of character. However, Aquinas takes this to another level with his theological virtues because they are given to us by God, which is the only way to be completely happy, stating that having a rational aspect to humans isn’t enough. He then points out that “the object of intellectual and moral virtues is something comprehensible to human reason…and the object of theological virtues is God, Himself, Who is that last end of all, as surpassing the knowledge of our reason” (Aquinas, 2). I think that Aristotle would not agree with Aquinas because he puts more belief and confidence into the human rational soul, and believes it is more accomplishable by us than Aquinas does. Aquinas not having as much confidence in humans also takes the credibility away from Aristotle’s point of