Aristotelian-Thomistic Tradition Research Articles

Allport, Aristotle and Aquinas: An interdisciplinary definition of personality

Countless definitions of personality have been proposed throughout history. As a consequence, contemporary psychology lacks a definition that elicits broad consensus and avoids ambiguity. To overcome this difficulty it seems beneficial to draw on the field of philosophical anthropology, as an epistemologically prior and more general discipline. Understanding that a single manuscript cannot achieve consensus, an interdisciplinary contribution is proposed through a dialogue between two definitions of personality. On the one hand, that elaborated by the father of personality psychology, Gordon Allport, which is the best known and most cited of all. On the other hand, the one developed by Martín Echavarría, inspired by the Aristotelian-Thomistic tradition. From this interdisciplinary dialogue, a variant of Echavarría's definition and a brief definition of personality are proposed. It is expected that this contribution would not only help to the study of personality, but also to the interdisciplinary development of the discipline of psychology.

Theoretical and methodological foundation of a self-perception scale on personal competencies and the cardinal virtues. An exploratory and pilot study

ABSTRACT The cardinal virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance) have relevance within the areas of character education and integral or comprehensive formation. In recent years, there has been growing interest and a great deal of literature produced on character education and its measurement. In this paper, we propose a questionnaire (a Likert-type self-report scale of 22 items), the QCV, designed to measure competencies associated with the cardinal virtues. The theoretical foundation of the questionnaire lies in the Aristotelian-Thomistic tradition in dialogue with positive psychology. The paper also offers a review of the literature on the measurement of virtue and the principal instruments currently used to measure the cardinal virtues. The results of a preliminary application of the QCV with a sample of 325 university students indicate that the questionnaire, written in Spanish and conducted in Madrid, has good psychometric properties.

A virtue-based model of leadership education

ABSTRACT This article presents a theoretical justification and a proposal that seeks to educate university students in leadership through virtues and personal competencies. A distinction is offered between virtues and competencies without opposing them. Subsequently, a leadership education model based on virtues and personal competencies is offered. This proposal applies the Aristotelian-Thomistic tradition of education in virtues considering the contributions of psychology and leadership theory. The leadership model includes eight competencies linked to the cardinal virtues, which are grouped into three domains: understanding reality, relating to others and dedication to the task. Finally, some guidelines for the further development of assessment instruments and for leadership education of university students are offered.

Análise de Escalas e Medidas de Virtudes Morais: Uma Revisão Sistemática

ABSTRACT Objective: to investigate how scales for the concept of moral virtues are constructed and measured, in studies associated with business ethics and the tradition of virtue ethics. Methods: a systematic literature review was conducted to select empirical articles on moral virtues that design or apply scales. Based on search, selection, and analysis criteria, five databases were consulted, and 37 papers were selected, with subsequent analysis of the scales development and measurement procedure (items, sample, factor analysis) and emerging factors. Results: the study gathers scales of multiple moral virtues (19) and of specific virtues (18), showing limitations in the generation of items, and in the item-sample proportion in some scales, as well as theoretical contributions in leadership and relationship strengthening, making a theoretical and methodological discussion in the light of the assumptions of virtue ethics in the Aristotelian-Thomistic tradition. Conclusions: the article intends to contribute to a better understanding of moral virtues in management, by discussing the scales from the unity of virtues and the phronesis-moral virtues connection, with implications for human behavior and business ethics. Procedures are recommended for future qualitative and quantitative studies in new research contexts.

Between Simmel's Blasé Attitude and Intelligent Teachability

AbstractThe aim of this article is to explore Georg Simmel's concept of the blasé attitude and to contrast it with the notion of intelligent teachability, derived from Aristotelian–Thomistic tradition. Here, Stanisław Gałkowski and Paweł Kaźmierczak view these two accounts through the lens of contemporary virtue epistemology, which helps to demonstrate their relevance to present‐day educational theory, and to order the attitudes in question as intellectual counterparts of vice, akrasia, self‐control, and virtue. There are two main criteria for how to distinguish these four states: (1) motivation to have epistemic contact with reality, and (2) the proper balance between receptivity and autonomy in learning. Taking the formation of intellectual character to be an important educational goal, Gałkowski and Kaźmierczak highlight the role of the teacher as an exemplar of mental disposition.

Medicine and the Common Good in the Aristotelian-Thomistic Tradition

Abstract Whereas bioethicists generally consider medicine a practice aimed at the individual good of each patient, in this paper I present an alternative conception of the goods of medicine. I first explain how modern liberal political theory gives rise to the predominant view of the medical good and then contrast this understanding of politics with that of Thomas Aquinas, informed by Aristotle. I then show how this Christian politics is implicit in certain aspects of contemporary medical practice and argue that Christians ought to draw more attention to this point in order to direct medicine toward the common good.

Rationality and Ethics between Western and Islamic Tradition

In the contemporary legal and political debate a large space is taken by the concept of ‘reasonableness’ as a multifaceted notion. Its plasticity makes it very adaptable to the variety of problems that is called on to solve. Its philosophical underpinnings are located in the tradition of Western thought. On the one hand, we have the modern tradition, including the Kantian and the Humean views and, on the other, the Aristotelian–Thomistic tradition, proposing a different and competing conception of reasonableness. Insofar as the latter tradition proposes an idea relying on perfectionist considerations, I want to inquire into the Islamic tradition of reason and rationality in order to find whether it is closer to the first or to the second model. Concepts such as ‘ijitihad’, ‘maqasid’ and ‘maslaha’, I shall argue, find their better explanation if interpreted along the Aristotelian perfectionist tradition rather than along its competitor. If this move is well-founded, some important consequences for the understanding of contemporary Islamic culture may derive. My basic assumption is that those Islamic concepts (and a few others) embed a religious and cultural core of tension to ‘human development’ that can nicely dovetail with Aristotelian rationality and ethics of virtues.

LA FILOSOFÍA DE LA NATURALEZA EN LA OBRA DE MANUEL ATRIA RAMÍREZ

<p>Manuel Atria Ramírez, filósofo chileno, elaboró durante décadas una propuesta epistemológica y filosófico natural consistente, en la que la físico-matemática y la cosmovisión científica moderna fueron objeto de especial atención. En su obra, el universo sensible es sometido a un análisis riguroso, en el que se emplean y proyectan con originalidad las categorías propias de la tradición aristotélico-tomista.</p>

Moral Legitimacy in Controversial Projects and Its Relationship with Social License to Operate: A Case Study

Moral legitimacy entails intrinsic value and helps executives convince firm’s stakeholders and the general public of the ethical acceptability of an institution or its activities or projects. Social license to operate (SLO) is the social approval of those affected by a certain business activity, and it is receiving increasing attention, especially in the context of controversial projects such as mining and public works. Moral legitimacy provides ethical support to SLO. Drawing from the Aristotelian-Thomistic tradition and taking substantive justice and the common good of society as the key references, this paper applies the Triple Font of Morality Theory and proposes four criteria which serve to evaluate moral legitimacy: (1) contribution of the project or activity to the common good in a better way than other alternatives (intended end), (2) morality of the means and procedures employed (means elected), (3) ethical evaluation of the situation including stakeholder concerns and needs (concurrent relevant circumstances), and (4) ethical evaluation of reasonably foreseeable consequences associated with the project and how to minimize possible damage or risks, and balance foreseeable negative consequences and benefits. The application of these criteria is illustrated through a project, presented as a case study, which certainly involved controversy and problems with SLO. The project was the construction of a rail tunnel for a high-speed train near the foundations of the Sagrada Familia, the well-known monumental church in Barcelona, Spain.

Experiencia de los principios morales: Kant y Tomás de Aquino

Both Kant’s Enlightenment tradition and Aquinas’ Aristotelian tradition will usually manage the same elements in order to explain the reality of moral experience, namely: practical reason of the common man, moral law, will, and natural inclinations. Yet the relation existing between these elements certainly varies from one tradition to the other since, within Kantian tradition, practical reason and moral law are completely heterogeneous with regard to natural inclinations. On the contrary, within Aquinas’ Aristotelian tradition, the same practical reason that recognizes the moral law is itself an element of human nature as well. Thus, according to Kantian tradition, ethics are totally detached from anthropology, and they are not grasped out of experience. Aristotelian-Thomistic tradition would state that ethics are grasped through experience and, although they are certainly not derived from anthropology, this later would make the grasping of the former explicable.

Mixtures, Material Substances and Corpuscles in the Early Modern Aristotelian-Thomistic tradition: The Case of Francisco Soares Lusitano (1605–1659)

Mixtures, Material Substances and Corpuscles in the Early Modern Aristotelian-Thomistic tradition: The Case of Francisco Soares Lusitano (1605–1659)

The Common Good of the Firm in the Aristotelian-Thomistic Tradition

ABSTRACT:This article proposes a theory of the firm based on the common good. It clarifies the meaning of the term “common good” tracing its historical development. Next, an analogous sense applicable to the firm is derived from its original context in political theory. Put simply, the common good of the firm is the production of goods and services needed for flourishing, in which different members participate through work. This is linked to the political common good through subsidiarity. Lastly, implications and challenges arising from the positing of work as the common good of the firm are explored.

A Psicologia dos Jesuítas: Uma Contribuição à História das Idéias Psicológicas

O trabalho pertence ao domínio da História das Idéias Psicológicas, entendida como parte da História Cultural cujo objeto é o estudo dos conceitos referidos ao ambiente cultural onde foram construídos. Portanto, aparece clara a pertinência de uma linha de pesquisa que investigue o significado dos conhecimentos psicológicos no âmbito da área multifacetada da cultura, ao longo do tempo. O presente estudo aborda os conceitos acerca dos fenômenos psicológicos formulados no âmbito da literatura espiritual e da produção filosófica da Companhia de Jesus ao longo dos séculos XVI e XVII. A experiência psicológica é interpretada em termos das noções elaboradas pelos tratados filosóficos, os quais por sua vez fundamenta-se na tradição aristotelico-tomista. A "psicologia" jesuítica possui uma dimensão filosófica, relativa ao ensino e à produção intelectual da Companhia, juntamente a uma dimensão prática, fundada na antiga tradição da Medicina do ânimo.

Human Sciences and the Human Person

Introduction This essay attempts to generalize a framework originally found in Pesch (1925) to analyze the relationship of the social sciences with ethics and the philosophy of the human person. This framework is consistent with the Aristotelian-Thomistic tradition and its main points are hardly new. However, by applying it systematically to the modern social sciences we establish the positive and normative character of such sciences, their relationships with ethics, and derive two principles of non-contradiction and increased knowledge which can be used to preserve the scientific character of positive and normative social science and to ensure the harmonious development of knowledge about the human person.

Frege and the Aristotelian-Thomistic Tradition on Signification

Frege and the Aristotelian-Thomistic Tradition on Signification