The Virtues: A Very Short Introduction

From the philosophy of Aristotle and Confucius, to Thomas Aquinas'Summa Theologiae, to the paintings of Raphael, Botticelli and many more, fascination with the virtues has endured and evolved to fit a wide range of cultural, religious, and philosophical contexts through the centuries.

This Very Short Introduction introduces readers to the various virtues: the moral virtues, the intellectual virtues, and the theological virtues, as well as the capital vices. It explores the role of the virtues in moral life, their cultivation, and how they offer ways of thinking and acting that are alternatives to mere rule-following. It also considers the relationship of the virtues to our own emotions, desires, and rational capacities.


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Craig A. Boyd is Professor of Philosophy & Humanities in the School for Professional Studies at Saint Louis University in St. Louis, MO. His academic interests include the work of St. Thomas Aquinas, natural law ethics, studies in charity and humility, issues at the intersection of evolution and normative ethical theory, and the moral thought of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Kevin Timpe holds the William H. Jellema Chair in Christian Philosophy at Calvin College. He has been a visiting faculty or scholar at Calvin Theological Seminary, Innsbruck University, Oxford University, and Peking University. He has written and edited ten books and published nearly 50 articles. Most of his scholarly writing focuses on issues of free will, virtue ethics, philosophical theology, and the philosophy of disability.