Virtue is the path to happiness, accordingÂ
to St. Thomas Aquinas. What does that mean? Here’s an analogy: If you had the goal inÂ
life of being a successful concert pianist,  there is a certain definite program of trainingÂ
and practice that you’d have to follow.   You’d not only have to learn basic things likeÂ
how to read music, and the right way to hold your  fingers over the keys, but you’d have to practiceÂ
for long hours, over many years, to acquire the  skills, the techniques, the good habits, the musical taste and the personal  character – in fact, what we might loosely callÂ
the “virtues” – of being a virtuoso pianist. Not many of us will be concert pianists,Â
but we find the same kind of pattern  any time someone sets out to achieve someÂ
definite goal or end in life, whether it’s  being a student, a basketball player, a lawyer,Â
a doctor, a scientist, or a good parent.  In order to do any of these things well – inÂ
fact, to do well in any kind of higher-level  or sophisticated human activity – you will needÂ
to acquire certain skills, and more than this,  you’ll need habits, traits of character, andÂ
stable dispositions of your capacities and powers,  that make you apt, able, and ready to do it well,Â
with pleasure and a certain creative freedom. These habits, dispositions, and character traitsÂ
are what we can loosely call virtues.   We’ll have more to say about precisely what aÂ
virtue is according to St. Thomas Aquinas, how it works, and how to distinguish  it from art in our next episode. ForÂ
now, the point is that acquiring virtues  is what puts us in position toÂ
succeed and flourish at an activity. It’s fairly easy to come up with a recipeÂ
for success in a particular zone of human  activity – like playing a musical instrumentÂ
or becoming a good free-throw shooter – but  those things don’t define the whole of a humanÂ
life. Does this same pattern hold when we’re  talking about the success of a human life asÂ
a whole? Are there human virtues that can  dispose us to reach some kind of all-encompassingÂ
happiness, to live a happy human life in general? St. Thomas thinks so. He thinks that such deepÂ
and lasting happiness is really possible for us,  and that, if we’re to get there,Â
it is extremely important for us to  think about what true happiness is, and then  to acquire the virtues that will enable usÂ
to live in such a way as to obtain it.  In fact, for Aquinas, this is the core of theÂ
branch of human knowledge and action that we call  morality. Most people today think that moralityÂ
is about rules, rules that you have to obey, perhaps  rules that God or the Church imposes on us, whichÂ
makes us to do some things that we’d rather not  do – and forbids us from doing some things that maybe,Â
sometimes, we might even sort of want to do.  But for Aquinas, morality is about figuringÂ
out what will make us truly happy in a deep and  lasting way, by attaining what is truly good forÂ
us – and then arranging our lives so that we can  move towards that goal. Morality is therefore  not about rules and commandments, but aboutÂ
seeking for and obtaining what is good for us:Â Â what leads us to our flourishing andÂ
success in the deepest sense of those words. Virtues are an extremely importantÂ
part of this picture – they’re an  important part of our moral development – because  they are what make it possible to move towardsÂ
our true good and to act well in its pursuit,  with ease and freedom. St. Thomas thinks thatÂ
there are a number of different virtues that we  need – intellectual virtues, moral virtues, andÂ
especially theological virtues – each of which  perfects different dimensions, capacities, andÂ
powers of the human person in different ways. To understand the importance of these virtues,  it will help to understand a bitÂ
better what Aquinas means by happiness. St. Thomas follows Aristotle in thinking thatÂ
happiness is not so much a feeling or an emotion,  nor is it something that just happens to us –Â
rather, he argues that it is a state or even  better, the activity of living a human life well,Â
by which we attain to what is truly good for us.  We naturally desire those things that we perceiveÂ
as good. And it is a characteristically human  activity to make a plan for obtaining the thingsÂ
that we perceive as good for us. We do this all  the time – we act with a purpose, with reasons,Â
because we are thinking, deliberating, choosing,  purpose-driven creatures. In fact, human beingsÂ
tend to be unhappy when they feel purposeless,  or when they are not able to orientÂ
their lives towards some larger goal.  We have purposes not only for individual acts,Â
but for whole projects, with short-term goals and  long-term objectives. It’s possible, of course, toÂ
flit from good to good, from pleasure to pleasure,  but this is hardly the kind of life that satisfiesÂ
us in any deep way. Rather, we are most human  when we make decisions for our future in view ofÂ
some higher or overarching aim or goal in life. In fact, Aquinas thinks that the moral life isÂ
about understanding what is truly good for us,  and then aiming at the right ends,Â
doing the right sorts of things,  so as to move towards our true good. Â
There’s a negative side to this, too:  if we’re misled or confused about what is good forÂ
us, or if we do the wrong sorts of things – even  with the best of intentions – we’ll tend toÂ
move away from what is really good for us.   That is the path to frustration andÂ
failure, and it can make us miserable. What about our own experience of interiorÂ
conflict: of having desires for what we know we  should not do, or of our conflicted loves? Â
Aquinas would say that we have inherited  disordered passions and desires as a result ofÂ
the Fall of our first parents. As a result,  we live with a kind of moral blindness to theÂ
truth about God and about ourselves, and about  what is truly good; and our lower passionsÂ
and desires are unruly and even rebellious  against what is higher within us, our minds. The drama of the moral life, then, residesÂ
first in the need to clear away the fog and  obscurity that blinds our mind, and then toÂ
acquire the good habits and virtues that will  bring our disordered passions and desires underÂ
control, so that we can govern our lives according  to what our mind judges is best – so that ourÂ
minds can direct us towards what is truly good. What should the aim or goal of the whole of lifeÂ
be? If there is an answer to this question,  then knowing it would be one of the most importantÂ
ingredients for a flourishing human life.   The archer needs to know theÂ
target if he is to hit his mark,  and we should likewise think about the
aim of our life if we want it to turn out well.  In the Summa Theologiae, St. Thomas goes throughÂ
a list of what goals people might pursue in the  search for happiness: money, honor, power, fame,Â
pleasure. And after looking at all of these things,  he concludes that none of them canÂ
satisfy us in a lasting and enduring  way. None of them is worthy of being ourÂ
ultimate goal, or what he calls our “final end.” A “final” end isn’t the only end orÂ
goal you pursue. Rather, it is the most  powerful end, something thatÂ
is like a final cause in the  Aristotelian sense – a final end isÂ
the ultimate goal we are seeking,  the one that makes sense of all of theÂ
other subordinate goals we might have.  There is only one thing that canÂ
fully satisfy us, Aquinas thinks,  the thing that will quell all our desires. And thatÂ
is God himself, who is the infinite and perfect  good. Attaining to God – this is our finalÂ
end, the most important goal for a human life,  the goal in view of which we shouldÂ
arrange every other thing we do in life.  That means that the activity of happinessÂ
can be real but imperfect in this life,  as we grow in the life of virtue, movingÂ
towards God through the ups and downs of  this world – and that, by God’s grace, we hopeÂ
to experience it in full in the life of heaven,  where we will know and love God perfectly --Â
beholding, possessing, experiencing, even enjoying  the infinite perfection of him whoÂ
is the source of every good thing,  and who bestows on us his life, hisÂ
friendship, and his love, in superabundance. This is a good that vastly surpasses whatÂ
our nature is capable of, but with the  help of God’s grace, we can acquire moral andÂ
intellectual virtues -- and we can even receive,  by a divine gift, the theological virtues byÂ
which we are raised to supernatural life.   Endowed with these virtues, the greatestÂ
possible happiness really is possible to us.  That’s why virtue is the path to happiness. For readings, podcasts and more videos like this, go to Aquinas101.com. While you're there, be sure to sign up for one of our free video courses on Aquinas. And don't forget to like and share with your friends because it matters what you think.
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Good video
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