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Natural Law & Right Reason In The Moral Theory Of St. Thomas Aquinas, Craig Boyd
Natural Law & Right Reason In The Moral Theory Of St. Thomas Aquinas, Craig Boyd
Masters Theses & Specialist Projects
A major problem with current discussions on the moral theory of St. Thomas Aquinas is the fact that many interpreters present Thomas's thought as a natural-law morality. While natural law is an element of Thomas's moral theory, it plays a subordinate role to the virtue of prudence.
The natural law interpreters of St. Thomas's moral theory hold that (1) natural law is the dominant element, (2) natural law can be treated in isolation from Thomas's account of virtue, and (3) the principles of natural law make Thomas's moral theory abstract and deontological. These interpretations rarely consider the virtue of prudence. …