Medieval Consideration and Moral Pace

This essay examines the relationship between virtue and understandings of time through a comparative examination of two medieval Christian writers, Bernard of Clairvaux and Thomas Aquinas. By locating temporal dimensions of virtue primarily in discussions of prudence, this essay compares Thomas'...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of religious ethics 2013-03, Vol.41 (1), p.79-111
Main Author: Clairmont, David A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bernard of Clairvaux
Christianity
Cognition & reasoning
consideration
Ethics
Medieval literature
moral pace
Morality
prudence
Thomas Aquinas
time
virtue
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Summary:This essay examines the relationship between virtue and understandings of time through a comparative examination of two medieval Christian writers, Bernard of Clairvaux and Thomas Aquinas. By locating temporal dimensions of virtue primarily in discussions of prudence, this essay compares Thomas's account of the virtue of counsel as preparatory to prudent judgment with Bernard's earlier account of consideration as an integrating virtue that coordinates an examination of physical surroundings and social responsibilities with an examination of one's own inner life and history of moral decisions. The essay argues that accounts of virtue ethics focusing on tradition‐specific views of the human good and practical reasoning are insufficient if they do not also examine how practical reasoning interprets and responds to religious interpretations of time that disclose the distinctive kinds of moral problems arising in each historical period.
ISSN:0384-9694
1467-9795
DOI:10.1111/jore.12005