The Way Forward - Leading A Virtuous Life - Part 3 Moral Virtues ► Justice

JMJ

Justice is a concept that I believe many think of in terms of legal systems, but are ignorant of Justice as a moral virtue. The overarching concept is in every interaction to give everyone (God and man) what they deserve, be it respect, obedience to our duties, being generous.

Moral Virtues - Justice

Moral virtues are those which perfect our will and "sensuous" appetite. As appetite and reason have distinct activities, it is necessary that both reason and the appetitive powers be well disposed by the respective habits of intellectual and moral virtue. The moral virtues exceed the intellectual, except prudence, as they give not only the facility, but also the right use of the facility, for well- doing.

So moral virtues are virtues absolutely, so when we say that a man is good (without qualification), we mean morally good. As the proper function of the moral virtues is to rectify the appetitive powers, i.e. to dispose them to act in accordance with right reason, there are principally three moral virtues: justice, which perfects the rational appetite or will; fortitude and temperance, which moderate the lower or sensuous appetite. Prudence, as we have observed, is called a moral virtue, not indeed essentially, but by reason of its subject matter, inasmuch as it is directive of the acts of the moral virtues.

Justice regulates our relations with other people, by disposing us to respect the rights of others and giving everyone what they deserve.

Annexed Virtues

Religion regulates our relations with God, disposing us to pay/offer Him the worship that creatures owes to their Creator.

Piety disposes us to the fulfillment of duties which we owe to our parents and country (patriotism).

Surprised? I know I was at first, then I realized that the fulfillment of duties to God is religion, here's a link to the Summa providing a better explanation. The word 'piety' seems to have shifted meaning in the last few decades.

Gratitude inclines us to recognize benefits the we have received.

Liberality restrains the immoderate affection for wealth by being generous with the resources we have available. This generally is focused on monetary wealth, but I believe that being generous with our time as well.

Affability is the ability to adapt to our fellow-men socially in order to behave appropriately towards each person.

All the moral virtues, as well as justice itself, regulate our dealings with others. However, in addition there are moral virtues which regulate our inner passions. Some passions are linked to our reason and spur us on to attain that which we reason tells us we should pursue. From this the virtues of temperance and fortitude regulate these passions. These two virtues will be the subject of the next two posts.

Application in Today's World

One of the defining vices of Western Culture is selfishness. This vice is expressed in many ways from birth control, abortion, euthanasia, the drop in religious vocations, Catholics abandoning the Faith, etc, etc,etc.

All of this is the result of a lack of virtue and a strong point is a lack of justice towards God and our fellow human beings.

For Catholics, it is necessary to practice Justice and its annexed virtues in order to not become obsessed with our own state (being persecuted etc).

Every person that we encounter deserves our help in working out their salvation. Hence the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.

P^3

Reference

APA citation. Waldron, M.A. (1912). Virtue. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved July 27, 2015 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15472a.htm

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