IN HIS NICOMACHEAN ETHICS, ARISTOTLE ARGUES THAT MOST DEATHS are contemptible and offer no opportunity for the exercise of virtue. Thomas Aquinas, on the other hand, considers the publicly shameful death of the martyr to be not only the highest exemplification of the virtue of courage but also the greatest proof of moral perfection more generally. What accounts for this substantial divergence from Aristotle on the possibility of virtuous action in death? This essay investigates the theologically informed metaphysical and anthropological framework within which Aquinas situates his claims and then explores the implications of these claims for his broader ethical appropriation of Aristotelian virtue theory. It ultimately intends to show the extent to which Aquinas's conception of virtue depends upon a theological and specifically Christological understanding of human perfection.
The Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics (JSCE) is published by Georgetown University Press twice a year with a distribution of 1400. The JSCE is comprised of scholarly papers, book reviews, and advertisements. Current co-editors are Mark Allman and Tobias Winright; the book review editor is Kathryn Blanchard. The JSCE grew out of what was The Annual of the Society of Christian Ethics. The copyright is held by the Society of Christian Ethics. Although the JSCE is the official publication of the Society of Christian Ethics and is typically generated in relation to activities of the Society and its annual meeting, it is not a proceedings of the meeting. The JSCE also publishes papers from the annual meetings of the Society of Jewish Ethics and the Society for the Study of Muslim Ethics. Individual subscriptions are available.
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