Anthropology of Integration

We end chapter 4 and part I of the book with a discussion of the importance of the example of others for acquiring virtue. The other side of the coin would be that our own example can have an important impact in helping others to lead virtuous lives.

This section outlines the new approach to virtue in anthropology of integration. Aristotle saw virtues as features of the good man or model citizen. St Thomas Aquinas focused on habits that ensure the proper functioning of the main powers or appetites in man. Anthropology of Integration looks at virtue from the perspective of a model of the human person as an entity in three dimensions – biological, emotional and spiritual. The overall good of the human person lies in the proper integration of these dimensions which occurs in two ways. First there is upward or cognitive integration where the the fundamental values are grasped and adhered to. Then there is downward or formative integration where these values shape the cultivation of habits related to the fundamental values. The most important virtues are those more directly connected to the fundamental values, which is to say, the end of the human person.

A look at the notion of virtue in Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas.

When we define virtue as a good habit we need to know what we mean by good. Virtuous action also requires freedom and thirdly, common sense in the evaluation of the circumstances.

The section today looks at the importance of free action for personal growth. Individual actions, though small, impact on happiness because they have the power to form good habits or to undermine them.

We begin chapter four entitled: Personal fulfilment through knowledge and action. The first section looks and the role of knowledge for acquiring virtue. Knowledge is explained as occurring on three levels: the biological, the emotional and the spiritual level.

We read to the end of chapter 3. This section discusses happiness as harmony. Returning to the image of an orchestra, five aspects of the human person are identified where harmony is a good leading to fulfilment : 1. Interior harmony 2. Harmony with others 3. Harmony with creation 4. Harmony with God and 5. Existential harmony.

Today we look briefly at happiness in St. Thomas Aquinas. The reading explains that the Angelic Doctor incorporated the Aristotelian perspective but goes further to state that happiness in ultimately in the afterlife.

We begin chapter three entitled: The goal of human life: True happiness. The text explains that there is a subjective element to happiness but this must be evaluated to see if it proceeds from a place of internal harmony. This is a condition for true happiness.

We cover the last section of chapter 2. The understanding of the human person as a unity of body and soul leads to a model of three levels of action or dimensions of the human person. These are: the biological dimension, the psychological or emotional dimension, and the spiritual dimension.