The contemporary Aristotelian-Thomistic debate in ethics is marked by a strong contrast between “natural law” and “prudence,” or, what is the same, between the so called “natural law ethics” and “virtue ethics.” A clear example of this contrast is Daniel Mark Nelson’s claim that “for Thomas, the moral life as well as reflection on it depend on prudence and not on knowledge of the natural law.” Another example comes from Edward A. Goerner, who considers natural law as “the bad man’s view”: the view of a man who obeys general extrinsic rules out of fear of punishment. According to Goerner, the full standard of right/ good belongs to “the good man’s view”: that is to say, the view of those who possess practical wisdom and prudence....
Read full paper here