Prudentia and the Natural Law: St. Thomas Aquinas

Journal
Филозофски факултет - Скопје
Date Issued
2021-12
Author(s)
Abstract
The amalgamation of the two traditions of thought, the Aristotelian and the Christian, in the ethics of St. Thomas Aquinas was also reflected in the development of the concept prudentia. Prudentia in Aquinas’ philosophy is directly modeled on Aristotle’s φρόνησις, but converges in the theological characteristics that he attributes to this concept: the relation of prudentia and the theological virtues given by God’s grace, the relation between prudentia and divine providentia, the relation of prudentia with charity, and the most significant characteristics - the introduction of natural law and synderesis - the innate human ability to recognize the eternal first principles of moral reasoning.
This article follows through the main aspects of this concept in the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas and problematizes the novelties he introduces. The main component that allows Aquinas to overcome the great problems that arise in defining prudentia is the addition of natural law. With this intervention by Aquinas, the flexibility of Aristotle’s ethics has been replaced by more certain principles that determine moral actions. But the question remains how valuable it is to sacrifice freedom at the expense of certainty in moral deliberation and action.
Subjects

Aquinas, φρόνησις, pr...

File(s)
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name

2021 - Prudentia i prirodniot zakon - Sv. Toma Akvinski.pdf

Size

438.32 KB

Format

Adobe PDF

Checksum

(MD5):ffa9b68c53f2f58d8f4c294a38c7f2c0

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name

2021 - Prudentia and natural law - St. Thomas Aquinas.pdf

Size

565.67 KB

Format

Adobe PDF

Checksum

(MD5):43b279d05e070564fcc07ee52f124014