ARTICLE 1

Whether virtues are habits.

1. Objections: It would seem that they are not:

 a. Virtues are acts.    obj. 1 to 6, 8, 15.

 b. Virtues are dispositions   obj. 9.

 c. Virtues are anything but habits  obj. 7, 10 to 14.

2. On the contrary

 a. The authority of St. Augustine and Aristotle 1 and 2.

 b. Dialectical argument from experience   3.

3. Body

 a. Dialectical inquiry

  (1) Nominal definition and common usage assign virtues to the powers of the soul.

  (2) How virtues perfect these powers.

  (3) Conclusion: Virtue defined, tentatively, as that which makes both its possessor and his operation good.

 b. Determination of the type of power which can receive virtue:

  (1) There are three kinds of powers.

  (2) Two kinds are eliminated as subjects of virtue.

  (3) Only man's active-passive powers, in some way possessed of reason, can be perfected by virtues.

   (a) These powers are of themselves objectively indeterminate.

   (b) Virtues determine and reside in them, not as passions, but as habits.

   (c) Conclusion: Virtues are habits, differing from the other species of quality.

 c. We need virtuous habits.

  (1) for uniformity in our virtuous acts.

  (2) for readiness in our virtuous acts.

  (3) for pleasure in our virtuous acts.