Volume 36, 1998
Philosophy of Religion
Josefa Rojo
Pages 171-177
La Virtud en los Paganos Segun San Agustin
This paper attempts to demonstrate that the reason why Augustine rejected the idea that pagans have virtues is not because he conceived of true virtue only in a supernatural way—that is to say, that pagans do not have the grace of God-but because they lack the right intentions in their acting. In fact, it is not that they are not capable of virtues because they do not have faith, but rather it is because they are not loyal to the natural law of God; they do not follow the right order of nature. It follows theoretically that pagans who have right intentions are capable of true virtues, as everyone else; and also, that every person who misses right intentions, although having faith, is not capable of true virtues.