Ethics As a Work of Charity: Thomas Aquinas and Pagan Virtue(Encountering Traditions)

Most of us wonder how to make sense of the apparent moral excellences or virtues of those who have different visions of the good life or different religious commitments than our own. Rather than flattening or ignoring the deep difference between various visions of the good life, as is so often done, this book turns to the medieval Christian theologian Thomas Aquinas to find a better way. Thomas, it argues, shows us how to welcome the outsider and her virtue as an expression rather than a betrayal of one's own distinctive vision. It shows how Thomas, driven by a Christian commitment to charity and especially informed by Augustine, synthesized Augustinian and Aristotelian elements to construct an ethics that does justice-in love-to insiders and outsiders alike. Decosimo offers the first analysis of Thomas on pagan virtue and a reinterpretation of Thomas's ethics while providing a model for our own efforts to articulate a truthful hospitality and do ethics in our pluralist, globalized world.

About the Author :
David Decosimo is Assistant Professor of Theology at Boston University.

Review :
"This is an important new work on the status of the virtues in Aquinas's moral theology. With a stunning command of the text and of the contemporary critical scene, David Decosimo argues that for St. Thomas, the pagan virtues are genuine virtues, that pagans achieve real good, and that such 'hyper-Augustinians' as John Milbank have not said the last word on the relation between virtue theory and moral theology. Decosimo's argument is compelling and opens up new paths for future work in the field." - G. Scott Davis, University of Richmond "Ethics as a Work of Charity is a compelling and original contribution to both Aquinas scholarship and contemporary religious ethics. Historically and exegetically sensitive, Decosimo offers a close reading of Aquinas's influential account of pagan virtue in ways that provide a fresh resource for engaging religious and moral diversity without sacrificing conviction. By advancing a distinctively 'prophetic Thomism' that is at once deeply Aristotelian and deeply Augustinian, this book transcends many of the intellectual and political agendas that exacerbate the conflicts of our age. It should command the interest of many in philosophy, theology, and religious studies." - Eric Gregory, Princeton University "A penetrating study of Aquinas's treatment of pagan virtue, showing its roots in Aristotle and Augustine and its relevance for contemporary ethics, while reaffirming the fundamental Christian conviction that virtue requires the action of grace. This is a major contribution to Aquinas interpretation and theological efforts to navigate religious diversity with fidelity and generosity." - Archbishop J. Augustine Di Noia, OP, Vatican City "With great care Decosimo explicates Aquinas's understanding of the virtues of the pagan in a manner that challenges the presumption that Aquinas thought such virtues inherently deficient. To address this subject entails going to the heart of Aquinas's theology and ethics. Decosimo has done just that and in doing so helps us see what Aquinas's thought demands of us if we are to understand what it means to be God's creatures. This is a book that will demand both scholarly attention as well as the attention of the general reader." - Stanley Hauerwas, Duke University