Are there also certain virtues that refer to justice and are, as it were, parts attaching thereto?
Yes (LXXX. 1).
In what are these other virtues distinct from justice properly so-called?
They are distinct in this, that the object of justice
properly so-called is to render to another exactly what is
his due; whereas the object of these other virtues, although
having reference to one's neighbour (and this they
have in common with justice) is: to give to another
something which is not due to him strictly but in a wide
sense only, but such as could be exacted in the name of
the law before a tribunal; or only to give a thing which is
strictly due in a way that falls short of the strict justness
demanded (LXXX. 1).
How many virtues attach to justice, and what are they?
There are nine, and they are religion, filial respect,
reverence, gratitude, retributive justice, truth, friendship,
liberality, and natural equity (LXXX. 1).
Is it possible to justify the above order among these virtues?
Yes, in this wise. The first eight refer to particular
justice, the ninth to general or legal justice. Of the first
eight, three -- religion, filial respect, and reverence -- have
something in common, for they are outside the domain
of strict justice, not because there is no debt to be paid, but
because of the impossibility of attaining justness in the
acquittance of the debt: religion with regard to God,
filial respect with regard to parents and one's country,
reverence with regard to the good and to those in high
places. The other five virtues are defective on the part
of the debt; for they do not refer to something which is
legally due to another, such as could be exacted in justice
before a tribunal, but only to something which is morally
due, the payment of which is left to the good will of each;
such payment is, however, necessary for the well-being of
human life and the harmony of the relations between men,
either necessarily as truthfulness, gratitude, and retributive
justice, or for the betterment of human relations as
friendship and liberality (LXXX. 1).
Next
- The Catechism of the Summa - SECOND SECTION - A DETAILED SURVEY OF
MAN'S RETURN TO GOD - XXVIII. OF RELIGION AND ITS NATURE
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