Aquinas, Ethics, and Philosophy of Religion M E TA P H Y S I C S A N D PR AC T IC E Thom as Hibbs
Aquinas, Ethics, and Philosophy of Religion
Indiana Series in the Philosophy of Religion Merold Westphal, general editor
Aquinas, Ethics, and Philosophy of Religion Metaphysics and Practice Thomas Hibbs
Indiana University Press Bloomington and Indianapolis
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[email protected] ∫ 2007 by Thomas S. Hibbs All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences— Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hibbs, Thomas S. Aquinas, ethics, and philosophy of religion : metaphysics and practice / Thomas Hibbs. p. cm. — (Indiana series in the philosophy of religion) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-253-34881-4 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Thomas, Aquinas, Saint, 1225?–1274. 2. Ethics. 3. Metaphysics. 4. Religion—Philosophy. 5. Virtue. I. Title. B765.T54H45 2007 189%.4—dc22 2006034519 1 2 3 4 5
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For Stacey
In order to degrade the politics of Plato, Aristotle, or Saint Thomas to the rank of ‘‘values’’ among others, a conscientious scholar would first have to show that their claim to be science was unfounded. And that attempt is self-defeating. By the time the would-be critic has penetrated the meaning of metaphysics with sufficient thoroughness to make his criticism weighty, he will have become a metaphysician himself. The attack on metaphysics can be undertaken with a good conscience only from the safe distance of imperfect knowledge. Eric Voegelin, The New Science of Politics The proper use of techniques, in so far as it can be taught, remains abstract and devoid of necessary influence upon action; and, in so far as it entertains an infallible relation to action, it cannot be taught. The fully determinate and unmistakably effective knowledge of the right use is not science, but prudence; it is acquired, not principally by reading books and taking courses, but by practicing virtue. Whatever is scientific and teachable in the knowledge of use admits of being ignored at the time of action and of remaining without effect upon action. Moreover, the knowledge of the right use, even in so far as it is scientific and teachable, involves difficulties which render unlikely its uninterrupted maintenance and continuous progress. In this respect the science of the proper use of techniques—one function of ethics—resembles metaphysics rather than positive science. Like metaphysics, the science of ethics possesses, in history, the character of a rare and precarious achievement, more threatened by decadence and oblivion than blessed with promise of maintenance and progress. Yves Simon, Philosophy of Democratic Government
Contents
preface: metaphysics and practice / xi acknowledgments / xv
1. Ethics as a Guide into Metaphysics / 1 2. Virtue and Practice / 13 3. Self-Implicating Knowledge: The Practice of Intellectual Virtue / 35 4. Dependent Animal Rationality: Epi