Justiça e Prudência: Virtudes Civis, Virtudes Políticas

Abstract

The present doctorate thesis dedicates to point out the aggregate of presuppositions, as well as the juridical, political and philosophical elements that informed the political/governmental understanding of Thomas Aquinas. It departs from the hypothesis that the cardinal virtues of prudence and justice are, on the Aquinas view, the most necessary ones to reach that he understood as consentaneous to the proper goals of a city or political community. In order to fulfill its purpose, this work presented the Thomasian treatment on prudence understood as right reason in acting , on justice constant and perpetual will to render each person its due , and finally on society: its nature, its ends and the conditions to its existence and perfecting. Other related subject is also dealt with, such as the own notion of virtue, right, law etc. Special emphasis has been given to the modalities named legislative prudence and legal justice, once they relate to common good, an essential element of the Thomasian view of society. The conclusion reached was the need for the virtues of prudence and justice by the ruler of a political society.