Virtue and Catholic Moral Theology

Abstract

This chapter considers the possibility of a Catholic ethics based on the notion of virtue. Although the notion of virtue has been much discussed in recent years, and was central to early Christian ethics, for much of modernity it was a neglected concept in Catholic moral theology. After considering the shift that has again brought the concept of virtue to prominence, the chapter assesses different current models for virtue ethics. The remainder of the chapter argues for a contemporary Thomistic model of virtue ethics, arguing that St Thomas offers the most philosophically coherent model, and one that is also Christologically focused.