The Foundations of Wisdom: Ethics (Set)

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Ethics

Foundations of Wisdom Series · Published by TAN Books

Overview

How should we live? What does it mean to be truly happy? Can reason alone help us understand the path to human flourishing? Ethics, the fourth and final volume in TAN Books' Foundations of Wisdom series, explores these profound questions through the rich philosophical tradition of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas, revealing how virtue and right action lead to authentic happiness and fulfillment.

Building upon the foundations established in Logic, Philosophy of Nature, and Philosophy of Man, this volume examines the moral life and the principles that guide human action. Students discover that ethics is not merely a list of rules, but a rational and coherent understanding of how human beings are meant to live according to their nature. Through the study of virtue, happiness, freedom, and the ultimate purpose of life, readers learn why the Church's moral teachings are deeply rooted in reason itself.

Drawing from the perennial wisdom of the Catholic intellectual tradition, Ethics demonstrates how natural reason and divine revelation work together to illuminate the path toward beatitude. By understanding the relationship between virtue and happiness, students gain a framework for making wise decisions, pursuing the good, and living in accordance with the purpose for which they were created.

What This Book Offers:

Classical Moral Philosophy: Explore the ethical teachings of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas.
Understanding Human Happiness: Learn why virtue is essential to authentic fulfillment and flourishing.
Reason-Based Morality: Discover how moral truths can be known through natural reason.
Capstone of the Foundations of Wisdom Series: Integrate the lessons of logic, nature, and human anthropology into a coherent moral framework.

Study the Virtues: Understand the habits that perfect the human person and lead to excellence.
Examine Human Freedom: Learn how true freedom is found in choosing what is good and true.
Discover the Meaning of Happiness: Explore the relationship between virtue, fulfillment, and beatitude.
Build a Catholic Moral Framework: Understand how reason supports the Church's ethical teachings.
Prepare for Lifelong Wisdom: Gain practical principles for living well and pursuing holiness.

From Sacred Scripture

“Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill.”
— Matthew 5:6

Intended Audience

This book is ideal for high school students, homeschool families, classical education programs, college-preparatory learners, and adults seeking a deeper understanding of moral philosophy through the Catholic intellectual tradition.

It is especially valuable for students who wish to understand why the Church teaches what she teaches, how virtue shapes character, and how happiness is ultimately found in union with God.

FAQs

What is ethics?
Ethics is the philosophical study of human actions and moral behavior. It seeks to answer questions about how we should live, what is truly good, and how human beings achieve happiness.

How does this book fit into the Foundations of Wisdom series?
Ethics is the fourth and final volume, bringing together the lessons of the previous books to show how human beings ought to live according to truth and reason.

Does the book rely on Catholic theology alone?
While fully consistent with Catholic teaching, the book primarily examines ethics through natural reason and the philosophical traditions of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas.

What is beatitude?
Beatitude is the ultimate happiness and fulfillment for which every human person is created—perfect union with God, the highest good.

Key Themes

Virtue and Character: Developing the habits that lead to moral excellence and human flourishing.
Happiness and Beatitude: Understanding the ultimate purpose and fulfillment of human life.
Faith and Reason: Exploring how natural reason harmonizes with Catholic moral teaching.
Freedom and Responsibility: Learning how authentic freedom is directed toward the good.
Thomistic Ethics: Discovering the wisdom of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas on the moral life.

Publication Date:: 07/18/2023

Product Format:: Set

Pdf:: https://tanbooks.com/content/3111_Preview.pdf

atc-product:: 1719

atc-product:: 3193

atc-product:: 3761

cpu-product:: 1221

cpu-product:: 4232

cpu-product:: 3002

Author:: Fr. Sebastian Walshe, O.Praem

Height:: 11.00

Width:: 8.50

1 Review

5
Foundations of Wisdom - Ethics

Posted by Charles Schmidt on Aug 4th 2023

The Foundations of Wisdom – Ethics by Father Sebastian Walshe is remarkable for being very brief, very clear and easy to read, and very thorough. It only took about 2 hours to read this 109-page Catholic high school ethics textbook, and it was filled with profound insights and it covered the important aspects of ethics. Here are a few excerpts of how Father Walshe briefly summarizes the foundations of ethics: Ethics is the art of acting in such a way as to best achieve the ultimate purpose of human life. Three nominal and one essential definition of happiness are as follows: • Happiness is the perfect (or ultimate) good of a rational being. • Happiness is that good for the sake of which everything is chosen and which is never chosen for the sake of anything else. • Happiness is that good which totally satisfies all desires. • Happiness is the activity of contemplating God by means of virtue. The essential definition of happiness will be determined by the truth about what perfects and fulfills human nature. So we will have to make use not only of logic but also of the things we have learned in the philosophy of nature and the study of the soul. Notice how important it is to have a correct understanding of human nature in order to have a correct understanding of ethics in general and of education in particular. An error about the nature of man will result in a mistake about what constitutes human perfection and about how men should act. For example, if one were to think falsely that man’s highest perfection is found in making things (as Karl Marx thought), then an education in technology would be man’s highest perfection. If one were to mistakenly think that man’s highest perfection is found in the exercise of power (as Friedrich Nietzsche thought), then an education that teaches people how to gain power and influence (e.g., in politics) would be the best education. But as it is, none of these educations perfects man as man. It is one thing to be a good doctor or politician and another thing to be a good man. A good doctor or politician who is a bad man will end up doing much more harm than good to himself and to society and will ultimately be miserable, not happy, because he is not accomplishing the end of his nature as a human being. Therefore, it is essential that men pursue that education that perfects them first as men. Afterwards, they will be in a position to benefit themselves and society with training in some particular art or science. From our study of the soul, we discovered an order in human nature: the goods of the body are ordained to the good of the soul. The soul is the substantial form and perfection of the body, and among the parts of the soul, the rational part is the most perfect and noble. Thus, for example, our imagination is for the sake of assisting our rational power to make inductions and abstract universals. This means that the goods of the body are not the ultimate end and so cannot be happiness. (Remember, happiness is that for the sake of which everything else is desired; it is not desired for anything else.) Not only that, but the goods of the body are all for the sake of preserving our substance in existence. But the ultimate end cannot be the mere existence of our substance. Everything that exists exists for the sake of some operation or activity beyond itself that constitutes its well-being. For example, the purpose of a knife is more than its mere existence; it is made to cut, and the purpose of the eye is to see, not just to be. Therefore, the goods of the body cannot be the ultimate end of man. Some of the self-evident first principles of ethics are: • Spiritual pleasures are more delightful than bodily pleasures. • Spiritual pleasures grow the more often they are repeated. • Bodily pleasures diminish the more often they are repeated. In order for a human act to be good, it must be able to lead the one who performs it to happiness. One way to understand sin (a bad human act) is as an act that cannot make the one who does it happy. Avoiding sin is essential to happiness. As can be seen from the above excerpts, this is an excellent primer. There are excellent sections explaining why wealth and power are just tools that can be used to attain happiness and they cannot result in true happiness, which is the health and perfection of the human soul. The chapter on the virtues demonstrates how developing the virtues are necessary to finding happiness – both the intellectual and moral virtues.