For Thomas Aquinas, the moral virtues not only restrain the desires of the human soul, they perfect those desires. Thomas draws on Aristotle by building his discussion on the four cardinal virtues of wisdom (prudence), justice, moderation (temperance), and courage. The moral virtues are not like the intellectual virtues in that the moral virtues make the individual intrinsically good, and unlike the intellectual virtues the moral virtues cannot be used for evil ends. Since the individual acquires the moral virtues a change is wrought in that person’s character. The display of the moral virtues in an individual is a matter of habituation. One lives virtuously because that is who one has become.
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