Abstract
One of the typical features of ethical treatises of Renaissance and early modern Thomism was the presence of both (1) the virtues in general (definition of virtue, subject of virtue, the role of prudence as a connection of virtues, etc., which corresponds to Aquinas’ treatise on virtues in the Prima Secundae), and (2) the particular virtues (parts of virtues, subordinated virtues, sins against particular virtues, etc., which corresponds to a significant part of the Secunda Secundae). Javelli deals with the cardinal virtues not as a commentary on Aquinas but as a part of his Philosophia moralis Christiana in continuity with the theological virtues. The first approach mentioned above is almost missing or it can be found only as a trace element in the brief first treatise of his Philosophia moralis Christiana. The great majority of the text, however, proceeds using the second approach, i.e., sequential commentaries of particular virtues. The work is an independent treatise or compendium (epitome), in which apart from Aristotle, Javelli quotes Platonic authors. Above all, he strives for a Christian treatment of the topic, and he illustrates or proves many of his statements by citing biblical texts. As a whole, Javelli’s Philosophia moralis Christiana is a sequential discussion of particular virtues rather than an attempt to look at them synthetically as a coherent complex.
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Notes
- 1.
First Thomism is a part of a more general stream of Second Scholasticism which includes also non-Thomistic authors and schools; see Cessario 2003, 28–33.
- 2.
Various labels for academic or scholastic philosophy (and theology) in the Renaissance and early modern periods are discussed by Heider 2014, 8.
- 3.
Psalm 19 (18): ‘Lex Domini immaculata, convertens animas; testimonium Domini fidele, sapientiam praestans parvulis. Justitiae Domini rectae, laetificantes corda; praeceptum Domini lucidum, illuminans oculos. Timor Domini sanctus, permanens in saeculum saeculi; judicia Domini vera, justificata in semetipsa. Desiderabilia super aurum et lapidem pretiosum multum; et dulciora super mel et favum’. The text of the Psalm is taken from the Latin Vulgate (18:8–11) and the King James Version (19:7–10). Essential verses describing the effects of Christian moral philosophy are in bold.
- 4.
Javelli 1580b, 431: ‘Habitus tendendi in Deum per opus bonum, & per recessum a malo’.
- 5.
This is the ancient idea of a metal similar to gold, but which is not true gold.
- 6.
Here and hereafter I use the English forms of the individual virtues or vices according to Alfred Freddoso’s translation of the Summa theologiae (https://www3.nd.edu/~afreddos/summa-translation/TOC.htm), provided that the terms are also found in the Summa. Latin forms are given in parentheses.
- 7.
Javelli 1580b, 433: ‘Primo, curet vir ea, quae extra domum sunt. Conservet maiorum haereditatem: & cum iustitia, si oportuerit, augeat. Uxor autem curet quae in domo sunt. Indecens est enim virum curare & superintendere his, quae in domo sunt’.
- 8.
Javelli 1580b. 433: ‘Prudentia politica est, qua convenientia inveniuntur media: quibus multitudo civilis iuste ac pacifice regitur. Huius duae sunt species, scilicet legis positiva, & legis executiva: prima nuncupantur architectonica, sive principalis per similitudinem ad architectum’.
- 9.
Javelli 1580b. 438: ‘Secundo ostenditur iustitiae excellentia ex eo quod Deus mundum superiorem in quadam iustitia constituit et regit, absque omni defectu et errore. Mundum autem superiorem voco caelestia corpora, et eorum motus: et quidem quod ipsum in iustitia constituerit et regat, constat ex maxima regularitate et proportione, quam deprehendimus inter caelestes motus et conservantiam ita quod ex illis conflari dicitur omnis musica divina atque caelestis’.
- 10.
The divine government is dealt with at great length by Javelli in the final chapter of Treatise 5, where, according to his custom, he amply illustrates this, as he always does, by using Scripture.
- 11.
Andronicus of Rhode was a famous Peripatetic thinker from the I century BCE. Today, the authorship of the book is no longer attributed to him since the account of emotions presented there is more Stoic than Peripatetic; see Glibert-Thirry 1977.
- 12.
Javelli 1580b, 454: ‘Respondetur, causa martyrii est fortitudo, et caritas, et fides: sed diversa ratione, quam fortitudo, ut eliciens, caritas ut imperans: fides, ut gratia cuius, et quam a fine actis humanis sit denominatio, ideo attribuitur fidei. Est enim martyr testis veritatis non cuiuscunque, quam non geometrice nec physice sed divine, quae dicitur veritas, pietatis sive divini cultus, quam Dei filius nobis revelavit, inquantum igitur quis hanc veritatem revelatam, que est veritas fidei, protestatur, martyr dici meretur.’
- 13.
Javelli 1580b, 462: ‘Moderantia specifice sumpta versatur circa maxime delectabilia secundum corpus, quae nobis & brutis communia sunt. Universaliter sumpta, non est specifica virtus, sed potius conditio requisita in omni virtute. […] Specifice vero sumpta est virtus moralis distincta ab omnibus aliis, eo quod versatur circa particularem materiam regulandam, sicut et fortitudo et iustitia etc. Oportet enim concupiscentias gustus et tactus regulare secundum rectam rationem, aliter in his non differret homo a bruto: virtus autem circa huiusmodi regulanda, communi omnium sententia ponitur temperantia apud philosophos, et moderantia apud sacra eloquia’.
- 14.
Augustine, De moribus ecclesiae (Migne, PL 32, 1326); Ambrose, De virginitate; Isidore, Etymologiae II (Migne, PL 82, 141). All discussed in Javelli 1580b, 462.
- 15.
His commentary on the Summa is a part of the Leonina edition of Aquinas.
- 16.
A study of Coimbra commentaries on Nicomachean Ethics is presented by Kraye 1997.
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Machula, T. (2023). Javelli’s Christian Philosophy of Virtue. In: De Robertis, T., Burzelli, L. (eds) Chrysostomus Javelli. International Archives of the History of Ideas Archives internationales d'histoire des idées, vol 243. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27673-6_11
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