by Nicolas Cruz
Virtue is an essential quality of the Christian life; specifically, living virtuously enables us to achieve human flourishing and to fulfill our potential in God’s grand design. In this article, I will examine the four cardinal virtues as explained by Josef Pieper and suggest some ways the discipline of psychology interacts with the cardinal virtues.[1]
Josepf Pieper and the Four Cardinal Virtues
Josef Pieper, writing against the backdrop of the Christian tradition and drawing mostly from Thomas Aquinas, offers his readers a renewed look at the four cardinal virtues: prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. To obtain a true and accurate definition of virtue, which brings about the true fulfillment of our potential as humans created in the image of God, one must have and foster each of these cardinal virtues. Undoubtedly, the three theological virtues (faith, hope, and charity) also contribute to our ability to fulfill our God-given potential; however, this article will focus mostly on the four cardinal virtues.
While each of the virtues exist as individual virtues, they are also interconnected with each other. Hence, this article will seek to define each virtue in consideration of the other virtue in order to see how all the virtues work together to help us achieve our true fulfillment as image-bearers. We might think of the virtues as being analogous to the fruit of Christ and the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23; Ephesians 5:9) by which, for example, we know joy by knowing peace.
Prudence
Pieper defines prudence as the “measure’ of justice, of fortitude, of temperance.”[2] It is the means by which the other virtues are accomplished. As Pieper states: “For whatever is good must first have been prudent.”[3] In short, to be prudent means to be ethical. We might also think of the idea of prudence in conjunction with our conscience.[4] It is not that man is incapable of being just, charitable, well-tempered, or so on. Rather, our conscience is the means by which a man may know right from wrong according to the knowledge of God and Spirit of God, which help him interpret things rightly.
Prudence requires us to look beyond what simply is and focus on what is both good and true. For example, having a malformed vision of reality, which is unwise, brings about wickedness. A prudent man is concerned with reality because virtue requires him to think ethically about that with which he engages. As Pieper explains, a virtuous man cannot conceal what is true.[5] Achieving virtue to help reach the fulfillment of a person’s potential is not a simple task but a life-long process that may bring about “growing pains,” which might happen when man begins to develop his sense of what is morally right and wrong.
Justice
The second virtue is justice, which Pieper defines, after Aristotle, as the “notion that each man is to be given what is his due.”[6] To assess what a person is due, we must have prudence (wisdom) and knowledge (understanding) of what is actually true. For example, it would be improper for a man who considers himself just to judge another man based on a fragment of information alone. Such an assessment conceals what is true (even if inadvertently). Justice means that man is “innocent until proven guilty” because, says Pieper, he has “inalienable rights because he is created a person by the act of God, that is an act beyond all human discussion.”[7] If a man prematurely casts his judgment on a particular individual and/or situation, then he is not acting prudently or wisely and therefore abandoning the virtues that allow them to flourish.
While each of the four virtues invariably relate to one another, Pieper states justice “is literally the fundamental virtue.”[8] This statement does not undermine prudence’s relationship to justice or how any of the four virtues are interconnected to one another; rather, Pieper shows us that true justice cannot be acted out apart from the proper set of lenses, that is, through prudence. For one to be prudent, he or she must be able to reason well, which is a product of giving man what is his due.[9] The point of distinction is not to elevate the status of one virtue over another; rather, it is to show us that the four cardinal virtues interrelate to one another, and they cannot fully exist without one another.
Fortitude
The most precise definition of fortitude, according to Pieper, is “basically readiness to die or, more accurately, readiness to fall, to die, in battle.”[10] While this definition references battles and war, rather than day-to-day life, the analogy of battle is almost necessary to understand just how imperative it is for a virtuous person to be grounded in fortitude, ready to sacrifice himself for the sake of their convictions. Perhaps a more appropriate implication for us today might be our readiness or willingness to die for things we love, like God, family, or institutions.
To cultivate fortitude, we must have the ability to discern what is good, which means we must be prudent and therefore just. Pieper states, “In overcoming danger, fortitude seeks not danger itself, but the realization of rational good.”[11] For example, in battle, a soldier would be hindered if he focused only on the possibility of succumbing to the enemy rather than the possibility of overcoming the enemy. Thinking about the sole possibility of losing the battle is not grounded in what is rationally good; therefore, it is a deception that brings about injury and potentially even death.
Fortitude grounds itself in justice, which is manifested by our bravery to overcome what threatens us; without justice, fortitude is simply a form of evil because it is a perversion of what is true and good.[12] Therefore, Pieper states, “So whoever realizes the good by facing what is dreadful, by facing injury, is truly brave.”[13] Fortitude cannot be achieved if a man acts on a whim, giving into his short-sided desires; rather, it is a virtue that is cultivated only after a man develops a just sense of reality through the lens of prudence. Furthermore, “[T]o be brave means not only to suffer injury and death in the struggle for the realization of the good, but also to hope for victory.”[14] A virtuous person exhibits fortitude when he or she rightly focuses on the potential coming victory, not the potential coming defeat.[15]
Temperance
Lastly, temperance ties the three other cardinal virtues together. Drawing from the term’s Latin roots, Pieper describes temperare as the ability to “dispose various parts into one unified and ordered whole.”[16] To put it plainly, temperance concerns internal order. For one to have his inward parts in order, he must have the following qualities: “chastity, continence, humility, gentleness, mildness, [and] studiositas [studiousness].”[17] The four cardinal virtues must all exist and function together, or they cease to bring people true and lasting fulfillment in this life.
Virtue concerns itself with what is true and beautiful, and for one to have false precepts about the world around him only damages their perception of truth, not truth itself. As people seeking to live virtuously, we must remain pure and sober-minded, thinking wisely, while keeping our internal thoughts in order to discover and understand the truth God has revealed to us and not to act quickly on our desires that may be unjust.
Happiness
For a moment, let us consider how happiness through the discipline of psychology relates to the four cardinal virtues. In Positive Psychology in Christian Perspective, Charles Hackney states, “Positive psychology is about understanding human flourishing and helping people become better than they were.” [18] The four cardinal virtues do exactly that: enable us to flourish by becoming better than we are because we start to reflect the character of God when acting virtuously. To be created in God’s image offers each person the ability to flourish in the creation God has gifted us, which is made possible today through the work of the Holy Spirit. How then do we allow the Holy Spirit to work within us to help us achieve true virtue, true eudaimonia, or happiness? Hackney states, “We become ourselves by dying to self.”[19] Clearly, a thoroughly Christian understanding of psychology will enable and encourage individuals to act on what is wise, just, orderly, and worth sacrificing ourselves for.
Conclusion
Living a life that reflects the four cardinal virtues—prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance—enables us to flourish and to achieve the true happiness God has promised us. As Jesus explains in Matthew 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (ESV). As we strive to live lives that are full of happiness, we must remember Pieper’s instruction to live righteously through the practicing of the four cardinal virtues, which each reflects the very character of God, our great Creator and Sustainer.
About the Author: Nicolas Cruz serves full-time at Welch College in Gallatin, TN, as the academic office assistant. He received his B.A. in Humanities and Arts and Theological Studies from Welch in 2023 and is currently pursuing an M.A. in clinical mental health counseling at Indiana Wesleyan University and an M.A. in humanities at Welch College. In addition to his work at Welch, Nicolas serves as a counseling intern at Serenity Counseling in Gallatin. He and his wife, Emily, are active members at Cofer’s Chapel Free Will Baptist Church and serve in a variety of ways, namely through leading a connection group and participating in the church’s praise team.
[1] For further reading on virtue, see Zach Maloney, “Edmund Burke on Liberty and Virtue” Helwys Society Forum (Jan. 31, 2015), https://www.helwyssocietyforum.com/edmund-burke-on-liberty-and-virtue/; and Phillip T. Morgan, “C. S. Lewis and the Cardinal Virtues” Helwys Society Forum (Mar. 29, 2022), https://www.helwyssocietyforum.com/c-s-lewis-and-the-cardinal-virtues/.
[2] Josef Pieper, The Four Cardinal Virtues (South Bend, IN: University of Notre Dame Pess, 1990), 7.
[3] Pieper, The Four Cardinal Virtues, 7.
[4] Pieper, The Four Cardinal Virtues, 11.
[5] Pieper, The Four Cardinal Virtues, 35.
[6] Pieper, The Four Cardinal Virtues, 44.
[7] Pieper, The Four Cardinal Virtues, 51.
[8] Pieper, The Four Cardinal Virtues, 65.
[9] Pieper, The Four Cardinal Virtues, 66.
[10] Pieper, The Four Cardinal Virtues, 117.
[11] Pieper, The Four Cardinal Virtues, 122.
[12] Pieper, The Four Cardinal Virtues, 125.
[13] Pieper, The Four Cardinal Virtues, 127.
[14] Pieper, The Four Cardinal Virtues, 141.
[15] For an application of how this point may apply in the realm eschatology, see Matthew Steven Bracey, “Portraits of Jesus from the Book of Revelation” Helwys Society Forum (Dec. 2, 2024), https://www.helwyssocietyforum.com/portraits-of-jesus-from-the-book-of-revelation/.
[16] Pieper, The Four Cardinal Virtues, 146.
[17] Pieper, The Four Cardinal Virtues, 151.
[18] Charles Hackney, Positive Psychology in Christian Perspective: Foundations, Concepts, and Applications (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2021), 8.
[19] Hackney, Positive Psychology in Christian Perspective, 30.
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