182. Vice Against Nature and the Order of Reason

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Vice as Contrary to Virtue #

• Vice is directly opposed to virtue as a disordered disposition unsuitable to nature
• The question asks whether vice (as a bad habit) is contrary to virtue, building on the first article’s framework

Vice Against Nature: The Central Problem #

• Objection: If virtues are acquired through habit (not given by nature), how can vices be against nature? Can people become habituated to things against their nature?
• Aristotle’s example of the stone: You cannot habituate a stone to move upward; it will always fall down because motion downward is natural to it
• The resolution: Vice is against human nature not in the way lacking an arm is (against what is by nature), but in the way irrational action is against what is suitable to nature

The Rational Soul as Human Nature #

• Man’s nature consists most fundamentally in his rational soul, which constitutes his specific nature
• What is against the order of reason is property against the nature of man insofar as he is a man
• Therefore: a bad human act is fundamentally an unreasonable act; a good human act is a reasonable act

The Two-Fold Nature of Man Explains Vice’s Prevalence #

• Man has both rational nature and sensitive nature
• Most people follow the inclinations of sensitive nature (desire, anger) against the order of reason
• This is why vices are found in men ut in pluribus (for the most part)—not because vice is natural, but because most fail to achieve the perfection of reason
• The sensitive nature attracts us to sensible things independently of reason

The Fine Arts as a Remedy #

• Poetry and drama lead us toward virtue through representations (representaciones)
• They appeal to the senses while showing us examples of virtue and vice, helping to move us toward good conduct
• Shakespeare’s works exemplify this, showing conflicts (brothers, fathers and children) and their eventual reconciliation through the harmony of nature

Virtue’s Relationship to Nature and Habit #

• Although virtues are not innate in their perfect state, they incline us toward what is according to nature (according to reason)
• Virtue becomes “second nature” once established—habitus in modum naturae
• By contrast, vice disposes us against what is suitable to nature

Key Arguments #

Second Article: Is Vice Against Nature? #

Objection 1: Virtues are not in us by nature but acquired through habit. If vice is against nature, people cannot become habituated to vices, just as a stone cannot be habituated to move upward.

Objection 2: Most men are bad and follow beastly inclinations (Heraclitus). Scripture says “not many are wise” and “wide is the road that leads to perdition, and many go through it.” So vice cannot be against nature.

Thomas’s Response:

1. What is against nature must be distinguished two ways:

   • Against what is by nature (e.g., missing an arm)
   • Against what is suitable to nature according to its proper operation

2. For humans, the rational soul is the form constituting human nature

3. What is against the order of reason is property against human nature (insofar as one is human)

4. Most men are bad because they follow sensitive inclinations against reason—they fail to achieve the perfection of reason, not because vice is natural

Important Definitions #

Vice (Vitium) #

• A habit that disposes one against what is suitable to one’s nature
• For humans specifically: a disordered disposition against the order of reason
• Not merely the absence of virtue but an active inclination toward disorder

Nature (Natura) - Two meanings distinguished: #

1. Nature as what-is-by-nature: The standard natural operations or features of a thing (e.g., stones naturally fall, humans naturally have two arms)
2. Nature as suitable-to-nature: What is fitting and perfective according to a thing’s proper operation (e.g., humans properly operate according to reason)

Human Nature #

• Constituted by the rational soul
• Therefore, what accords with reason accords with human nature; what is against reason is against human nature

Examples & Illustrations #

The Stone Analogy (Aristotle) #

• You cannot habituate a stone to move upward; it always falls down
• This shows things truly against nature cannot be habituated
• Application to vice: Since people can be habituated to vice, vice is not against human nature in the way the stone’s upward motion would be

The Father’s Authority and Obedience #

• Personal anecdote: Children behave differently with mother (at home) versus father (feared, especially as stranger)
• The “Wait Till Your Father Gets Home” principle shows how authority and discipline shape behavior
• Illustrates that virtue (obedience, temperance) is acquired through repeated acts and habituation

The Police Officer and Sobriety #

• Anecdote of driving aunt crazy in a small shop, then an unexpected visit from the police officer
• One word from an authority figure about jail immediately sobered the behavior
• Shows the power of what we don’t fully understand (the authority of law) to check disorderly inclinations

Shakespeare’s As You Like It #

• Shows two pairs of brothers: in one case younger serves older (against natural order); in the other, older refuses inheritance to younger
• Both cases resolve through reconciliation, illustrating nature’s proper harmony
• The banished duke finds “sermons in stones and good in everything,” showing how nature represents proper order

Thomas at the French King’s Table #

• While others converse, Thomas suddenly announces: “That would be a good argument against the Manichaeans!”
• The king’s response is to have someone record what Thomas is thinking
• Illustrates Thomas’s absorption in intellectual truth and the king’s respect for wisdom

Three Eyes Example #

• Children’s story reference: what if we had three eyes?
• We don’t need a third eye (two suffice for depth and distance)
• Illustrates that not all mathematical multiplications improve nature’s operations

The Doctor’s Knowledge #

• A doctor knows how to heal and also how to kill
• Same knowledge can be used for good or evil
• Shows that a power or ability is neutral regarding good and evil until actualized in an act

Notable Quotes #

“Every vice, in that it is a vice, is against nature.” — Augustine, On Free Will, Book III

“What is a man, if his chief good and market of his time be but to sleep and feed? A beast, no more.” — Shakespeare, Hamlet, arguing that man’s nature essentially involves reason

“The poet belongs to leading us toward something virtuous, through representations.” — Thomas, cited regarding Poetics

“Wide is the road which leads to perdition, and many go through it.” — Matthew 7:13, cited as evidence most men are bad

“For nothing that is against nature is found in those having that nature ut in pluribus (for the most part).” — Thomas’s reasoning: if vice were truly against nature like missing an arm, it would not be common

Questions Addressed #

Q: If virtues are acquired through habit (not given by nature), how can vices be against nature? #

A: The nature of man consists in the rational soul. What is against the order of reason is against human nature. Vices are against nature in this sense (against reason), not in the sense that one cannot be habituated to them (unlike stones, which truly cannot be habituated against their physical nature).

Q: But most men are bad and follow beastly inclinations. Doesn’t this prove vice is natural? #

A: No. Most men follow sensitive nature against the order of reason. They fail to achieve the perfection of reason, which is the true human nature. Vices are common because of man’s fallen condition, not because vice is natural.

Q: How does reason relate to the nature of man? #

A: Reason is the form by which man is constituted in his species. Therefore, what is according to reason is according to human nature; what is against reason is against human nature.

Q: Why do the fine arts help us toward virtue if vice is against nature? #

A: Because they appeal to the senses while presenting representations of virtue and vice, helping move us toward what is suitable to our nature (rational order) by engaging our sensitive nature constructively.