THE NON-ARISTOTELIAN CHARACTER OF AQUINAS'S ETHICS: AQUINAS ON THE PASSIONS

Scholars discussing Aquinas's ethics typically understand it as largely Aristotelian, though with some differences accounted for by the differences in world-view between Aristotle and Aquinas. In this paper, I argue against this view. I show that although Aquinas recognizes the Aristotelian virtues, he thinks they are not real virtues. Instead, for Aquinas, the passions-or the suitably formulated intellectual and volitional analogues to the passions-are not only the foundation of any real ethical life but also the flowering of what is best in it.