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Medieval Consideration and Moral Pace
Author(s) -
Clairmont David A.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of religious ethics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.306
H-Index - 20
eISSN - 1467-9795
pISSN - 0384-9694
DOI - 10.1111/jore.12005
Subject(s) - virtue , prudence , epistemology , virtue ethics , pace , sociology , epistemic virtue , environmental ethics , philosophy , law , political science , geodesy , geography
This essay examines the relationship between virtue and understandings of time through a comparative examination of two medieval Christian writers, B ernard of C lairvaux and T homas A quinas. By locating temporal dimensions of virtue primarily in discussions of prudence, this essay compares T homas's account of the virtue of counsel as preparatory to prudent judgment with B ernard'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.