Full transcript
0:00We all want good things. When we encounter something good—whether it be a type of food,
0:05or a car, or a smartphone—our first question is often: Where can I get that?
0:21Virtues are good things. A virtuous person possesses an undeniable appeal. Virtuous
0:27persons can inspire us to pursue virtue ourselves. But this is where things become somewhat complex.
0:34Unlike food, a car, or a smartphone, the virtues are not external, material things that I can
0:42obtain and then place in my refrigerator, my garage, or my pocket. Virtues are things that
0:49inhere inside of a person. In fact, human persons do not have virtues so much as they are virtuous.
0:59And this is good news. Although multiple people cannot all have an individual smartphone at the
1:05same time and to the same degree, everyone has the potential to be truly virtuous and to enjoy
1:12the happy freedom that virtue provides. But where do we get virtue? Where does virtue come from?
1:20What makes a person virtuous? In this video, we are going to look at the causes of the virtues.
1:29We recall that the virtues perfect the human person—making both the person and the person’s
1:35actions good. A virtue is a kind of habit—that is, a stable disposition that profoundly
1:43qualifies (deeply characterizes) the human powers of knowing, willing, and feeling.
1:51A virtuous person performs good actions because he or she is a good person. The type of actions
1:59one performs are linked to type of person one is. We also recall that there are two broad categories
2:08of virtue. There are, first of all, moral or “human” virtues. These virtues perfect the
2:14human powers of knowing, willing, and feeling in a human way and on a human level. The most famous
2:22examples of these virtues are the habits of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance.
2:28These pivotal (or “cardinal”) virtues perfect the natural powers of knowing, willing,
2:35and feeling in a way proportioned to natural human freedom and flourishing.
2:41The second broad category of virtue is the theological or “God” virtues.
2:47These virtues perfect—and extend—the human powers of knowing and willing beyond the human person
2:55to God himself. These virtues operate on a supernatural level. There are three
3:01theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity. Let us now turn to the causes of these two
3:09types of virtues. A natural cause of the moral (or human) virtues is the performance of good actions.
3:18For example, take a man who interacts with others. Such a man encounters residential neighbors and
3:25work colleagues on a regular basis. As a human being, this man, of course, has a will; and thus,
3:31he has the potential to exercise his will justly in his dealings with others. If he acts justly—if
3:40he gives to others that which they are owed, that which is their due—he eventually becomes a
3:47just man. The man who acts justly with regularity eventually acquires the habit of justice in his
3:56will. Why? Because through deliberate and repeated acts of justice he becomes accustomed—he becomes
4:05habituated—to the form of justice. His will itself takes on the “just shape” of his just actions.
4:15He becomes what he does. And because his actions are just, he becomes a just person.
4:23Similarly, the man who acts temperately—the man who allows reason to guide his enjoyment
4:29of physical pleasures like food and drink—eventually becomes a temperate man.
4:35He is a man whose desires take on the virtuous shape—the liberating habit—of temperance. Through
4:43deliberate and repeated acts of eating well and in healthy proportions (pursuing the good and
4:50virtuous mean between excess [too much] and defect [too little]), the man becomes a temperate man.
4:58In summary, the natural cause of moral virtue is the performance of good actions. The moral virtues
5:06can be acquired through virtuous activity. The more good that we do, the more virtuous we become.
5:12And the more virtuous we become, the more promptly, joyfully, and easily do
5:18we perform good actions. We become what we do. There
5:23is another type of virtue that no human action can instill in the soul of the person.
5:30And these are the infused virtues—the virtues that direct and unite us to God.
5:37God is the principal cause of the infused virtues. In the case of acquired virtues, repeated good
5:43actions eventually yield a virtuous habit in the powers of the human soul. In the case of
5:49infused virtues, however, this order is reversed. God first imparts—he first infuses—supernatural
5:58virtues into the soul and then the person is able to act according to these theological virtues.
6:05Why do we need infused supernatural virtues? As we discussed earlier, the acquired moral
6:09virtues are habits that are “good” in relation to human goodness. The moral virtues are good
6:11insofar as they perfect human nature on a natural level. In contrast, the infused virtues are
6:19supernaturally “good”—they are good with a goodness beyond the proportion of human goodness.
6:26God is the measure of supernatural goodness. And because the intimate life of God is beyond
6:33the natural reach of the human powers of knowing and willing, only God can cause the theological
6:40virtues in the powers of the human soul. Take the infused (theological) virtue of faith,
6:46for example. No repeated acts of rigorous “thought” or even sympathetic “judgment” can
6:54engender or cause the supernatural virtue of faith in the human intellect. We do not “come to faith”
6:59in God after or because we have judged what he says to be true. Rather, God first imparts the
7:02theological virtue of faith in the soul, and it is by this supernatural habit that we are enabled
7:10to make acts of faith. The theological virtue of faith unites the human intellect to God.
7:18Through faith we believe that what God reveals is true because it is God who reveals it. Our
7:26mind must first be raised to God in order for us to believe something because of God. This is
7:35what the infused virtue of faith does. In sum, the virtues perfect the human
7:41person—making both the person and the person’s actions good. But there are two kinds of goodness.
7:48There is natural (moral) goodness and there is supernatural (theological) goodness.
7:54We can acquire the moral virtues through repeated good actions. In this way,
8:00good actions are the cause of moral virtue in the human powers of knowing, willing, and feeling.
8:08With regard to supernatural goodness—the goodness of God—however, no human action
8:14can produce theologically proportioned virtues. Only God can cause—only God infuses—“his” virtues:
8:24faith, hope, and charity. Therefore, repeated and deliberate good actions
8:30can cause moral virtue. But only God can cause the infused virtues in the soul of the human person.
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