Vices x Virtues

The Seven Deadly Sins of Thomas Aquinas

VICES x VIRTUES

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Vices X Virtues (BARKER)

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*NOTE: Please post any particular questions you have about the chart in the comments. There’s a lot on it and a lot is in shorthand, so if you’re unsure what one part or another means, ask and I’ll answer.*

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In one of Thomas Aquinas’ greatest works, De Malo (“On Evil”), the Angelic Doctor includes a treatise on the Capital Vices (the “seven deadly sins”). He starts the treatise talking first about the vice of pride, and after that enumerates the seven capital vices. Note: “Pride” is not actually included in the list of Seven Capital Vices, not because it’s not serious, but because Pride is virtually present in all the vices, and so stands over and above the other seven.

The seven capital vices are then the following: vainglory, greed, gluttony, lust, sloth, envy, and wrath.

About a year ago I shared a post, entitled “Mastering the Vices”, taken from a combination of Thomas Aquinas’ treatment of the capital vices in De Malo and the classic list of vices enumerated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, where Pride is one of the seven deadly sins (the Catechism does not include “vainglory”). Going back over the treatise from Aquinas, I realized I wanted to adapt the chart to what he said as precisely as possible. After completing it, I realized how yet-more-profound his conception truly is.

Today I’m sharing with you all that chart, in full detail. It includes the same differing intrinsic relationship between vices/virtues and mindset/desire that my previous post included: namely, that vices are habits that are motivated by desire and result in the adoption of a mindset—whereas virtues are habits that are framed by a mindset and result in the conformity of a virtuous desire to them over time. This explains why vices are “irrational” and virtues are “rational”…

It also has all the vices arising from a desire not to suffer under different aspects like the previous post did.

My hope is that this chart can be of assistance in people overcoming vice and harnessing virtue.

The all-caps bold, color writing in each of the “vices/virtues” boxes articulates the substance of each vice/virtue so that the vices, in particular, can be systematically related to one another (the “heavenly virtues” simply correspond to the capital vices—they are not themselves systematic; for that you would have to learn the virtues through the lens of the cardinal virtues). For example, “vainglory” says “CRAVES: REPUTATIONAL GOODS”; gluttony says “CRAVES: GOODS OF BODY (SELF)”; etc., etc.. These allow you to understand the fundamental nature of each of the vices.

“Impeditive Goods”

One final note on “Impeditive Goods”. Impeditive goods are things that impede the pursuit of some vulgar/vain good. For example, the life of a righteous person acts as a condemnation/judgement of a conscience that desires evil/vain goods, and so impedes their perceived “peace” in pursuing those vulgar/vain goods. That righteous person becomes an impediment to the “peace” of the wicked person, and so the wicked person responds by hating the righteous person. Cf. Wisdom 2:12-20

Similarly, prayer/worship/the restrictions of the Ten Commandments, the Church, etc. impede the pursuit of vulgar/vain goods, and so are “impeditive” of vulgar/vain goods. This is why so many people hate the Catholic Church: it stands in the breach and proclaims that divorce and remarriage is immoral; contraception; abortion, etc.,… The people who want to do those things are impeded by these spiritual goods (the Ten Commandments; Christ; the Church) in their pursuit of what they want to do.

If those impeditive goods are in us (e.g. prayer, worship), standing in the way of us doing something else that is more vulgar/profane that we desire to do, then our aversion to them is a manifestation of our vice of Sloth. If those impeditive goods are in someone/something else, then if we are averse to it, we have the vice of Envy, and if we attack it, we have the vice of wrath. Envy/Wrath map on to the “fight” / “flight” response in relation to these “impeditive goods” in others.

This distinction about impeditive goods is particularly important for the following reason: it’s easy to think that anyone who attacks another is guilty of the vice of Wrath; anyone who feels disgust at another, guilty of the vice of Envy, etc. But in truth, envy and wrath can only properly exist in relation to impeditive goods. That is, they only exist when someone attacks an impeditive good (i.e. something/someone that is a spiritual good blocking some vulgar/vain good) or feels disgust at an impeditive good (in another) (someone that embodies a spiritual good that casts implicit judgement on vulgar/vain goods). On the contrary: Attacking a vulgar good is not wrath; feeling disgust at a vulgar good (even in another) is not envy—these are actually moral and good dispositions/acts. I thought that this was an important observation to highlight.

Humility vs. Charity

Lastly, let me close by noting one other choice I made: the inclusion of “humility” as the principal virtue in all the other designated Seven Heavenly Virtues… Aquinas rightly notes that “Charity” is the mother of all virtues, but here he is noting that charity is literally the form of all-and-every-single virtue. Because this list deals with virtue in a non-systematic way (whereas, for example, the “cardinal virtues” deal with virtue in a systematic way) I am not making “charity” the principal virtue of these Heavenly Virtues, but Humility—and also because humility is notably necessary in combatting the 7 Capital Vices in particular, and so worthwhile to distinguish in this treatment of vice/virtue.

Hope this chart is of help!

Good luck fighting the good fight! May God be with you. +