163. The Mean in Moral and Intellectual Virtue

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Mean of Reason vs. The Mean of the Thing (Article 1-2) #

• Two Senses of “Mean”: Thomas distinguishes between the mean existing in the act of reason itself (not relevant to moral virtue) and the mean as laid down by reason in some matter (applicable to all moral virtue)
• Justice as Exception: Justice uniquely has its mean in the thing itself—giving each person exactly what is owed, determined by the nature of the transaction
• Other Moral Virtues: Virtues like temperance and courage have their mean determined by right reason in relation to the individual (amount to eat, degree of fear to face)
• The Rule of Reason: All moral virtue consists in conforming to right reason, which determines how much is necessary, when it is necessary, and for what account it is necessary

The Mean in Intellectual Virtues (Article 3) #

• Truth as the Good of Intellect: The good of speculative intellectual virtue is truth absolutely; the good of practical intellectual virtue (prudence) is truth conforming to rectified appetite
• Contrariety in Statements: While contraries like health and sickness are not contraries in the mind (one helps us know the other), affirmation and negation are true contraries in statements about the same subject
• False Affirmation vs. False Negation: Excess occurs when one says what is not, is (false affirmation); defect occurs when one says what is, is not (false negation). Truth lies between these two forms of falsity
• No Infinite Regress: The measure of intellectual virtue is not another virtue but the thing itself, preventing an endless chain of measuring virtues

Application to Court Testimony and Shakespeare #

• The Oath Formula: “I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” excludes both false affirmation (“the whole truth”—not adding what is not) and false negation (“nothing but the truth”—not subtracting what is)
• Kent’s Statement in King Lear: “All my reports go with the modest truth, nor more, nor clipped, but so” expresses this same idea—neither adding to nor subtracting from truth
• Falstaff’s Principle: Those who say more or less than truth are “villains and the sons of darkness”

Key Arguments #

Against the Mean in Intellectual Virtue (Article 3, Objections) #

• Objection 1: Intellectual virtues are in reason itself and thus should not need a higher rule
• Objection 2: If intellectual virtue consists in a mean determined by another mean, one proceeds to infinity
• Objection 3: There is no contrariety in the intellect since contraries (health/sickness, white/black) are understood together and do not exclude each other as they do in matter

Thomas’s Responses #

• On the Rule: Intellectual virtues do have a measure—the thing itself (for speculative virtues) or the thing measured according to practical reason (for prudence). This measure is not another virtue but the object itself
• On Infinite Regress: Prudence is not measured by another virtue; it is measured by the thing and measures moral virtue in turn
• On Contrariety: Although contraries in things are not contraries in the mind, there IS contrariety between affirmation and negation in statements. One must be true and the other false

Important Definitions #

Mean (Modus) #

• Mean of the Thing (medius rei): The actual middle point of a quantity or external transaction (e.g., the just price for bread)
• Mean of Reason (medius rationis): The measure determined by right reason according to circumstances, necessity, and the individual (e.g., how much wine to drink depends on one’s capacity and the occasion)
• In Moral Virtue: Conformity to the rule of right reason; may or may not coincide with the mean of the thing

Contrariety in the Intellect #

• True Contraries: Affirmation and negation of the same subject and predicate (e.g., “you are sitting” / “you are not sitting”). One must be true, the other false
• In Things vs. In Mind: Health and sickness are contraries in matter (mutually exclusive) but not in the mind (medicine studies both together). Affirmation and negation are contraries in both the statement and what it represents

Truth #

• Speculative Truth: Saying what is, is, and what is not, is not
• Practical Truth: Truth according to conformity with rectified appetite, especially in prudence

Examples & Illustrations #

The Mean of Reason vs. The Mean of the Thing #

• Turkey on Thanksgiving: Eating more than usual is appropriate (mean of reason adjusted for circumstances) even though it is not the mean of the thing (half the turkey)
• Wine: How much to drink is a mean of reason (not to impair judgment), not determined by drinking half the bottle
• The Laborer: A working man eats more than a small boy or a professor—the mean of reason varies by individual circumstance
• Bread in a Bakery: The just price is the mean of the thing, independent of how much the baker or buyer loves bread

Affirmation and Negation in Testimony #

• Witness Who Adds Falsehood: Names friends at a bar and adds “Bill was there” when Bill was not—adds what is not, is (false affirmation)
• Witness Who Subtracts Truth: Omits one of the friends who was present—says what is, is not (false negation)

Artistic Excellence #

• Titian: The greatest painters know when to stop—the supreme gift of the artist
• Mozart: In representing anger in music, he must express the emotion while maintaining music itself (truth conforming to rectified appetite). The music cannot become mere noise
• Sherlock Holmes Story: A criminal went “too far” in his deception, lacking “the supreme gift of the artist, knowing when to stop”

Notable Quotes #

“Nothing too much.” — Ancient Greek maxim attributed to the Seven Sages, as referenced by Berquist

“All my reports go with the modest truth, nor more, nor clipped, but so.” — Shakespeare, King Lear, Kent

“They are villains and the sons of darkness.” — Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Falstaff, on those who speak more or less than the truth

“Aristotle was the first man to understand the words we all use… by distinguishing their senses, and also by seeing the order there.” — Berquist, on Aristotle’s philosophical method

“The good, as is said in the sixth book of the Metaphysics, is in things themselves… Truth and falsity are primarily in the mind.” — Referenced text from Aristotle’s Metaphysics, Book VI

Questions Addressed #

Does Moral Virtue Consist in a Mean? #

• Answer: Yes, but the mean must be understood as determined by right reason relative to the individual, not as the mean of the thing itself (except in justice)
• The Rule of Reason: Prudence determines how much is necessary, when it is necessary, and for what account it is necessary

Does Intellectual Virtue Consist in a Mean? #

• Answer: Yes. In speculative virtue, truth (saying what is, is) is the mean between false affirmation and false negation. In practical virtue (prudence), it measures and is measured by the thing
• No Infinite Regress: The measure of virtue is ultimately the thing itself, not another virtue

Is There Contrariety in the Intellect? #

• Answer: Contraries like health and sickness are not contraries in the mind; they are understood together. However, affirmation and negation ARE contraries when they are opposites about the same subject and predicate