Whether Vice Is Contrary to Nature?
Objection 1: It would seem that vice is not contrary to nature.
Because vice is contrary to virtue, as stated above (A. 1). Now
virtue is in us, not by nature but by infusion or habituation, as
stated above (Q. 63, AA. 1, 2, 3). Therefore vice is not contrary to
nature.
Obj. 2: Further, it is impossible to become habituated to that which
is contrary to nature: thus "a stone never becomes habituated to
upward movement" (Ethic. ii, 1). But some men become habituated to
vice. Therefore vice is not contrary to nature.
Obj. 3: Further, anything contrary to a nature, is not found in the
greater number of individuals possessed of that nature. Now vice is
found in the greater number of men; for it is written (Matt. 7:13):
"Broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who
go in thereat." Therefore vice is not contrary to nature.
Obj. 4: Further, sin is compared to vice, as act to habit, as stated
above (A. 1). Now sin is defined as "a word, deed, or desire,
contrary to the Law of God," as Augustine shows (Contra Faust. xxii,
27). But the Law of God is above nature. Therefore we should say that
vice is contrary to the Law, rather than to nature.
_On the contrary,_ Augustine says (De Lib. Arb. iii, 13): "Every
vice, simply because it is a vice, is contrary to nature."
_I answer that,_ As stated above (A. 1), vice is contrary to virtue.
Now the virtue of a thing consists in its being well disposed in a
manner befitting its nature, as stated above (A. 1). Hence the vice
of any thing consists in its being disposed in a manner not befitting
its nature, and for this reason is that thing "vituperated," which
word is derived from "vice" according to Augustine (De Lib. Arb. iii,
14).
But it must be observed that the nature of a thing is chiefly the
form from which that thing derives its species. Now man derives his
species from his rational soul: and consequently whatever is contrary
to the order of reason is, properly speaking, contrary to the nature
of man, as man; while whatever is in accord with reason, is in accord
with the nature of man, as man. Now "man's good is to be in accord
with reason, and his evil is to be against reason," as Dionysius
states (Div. Nom. iv). Therefore human virtue, which makes a man
good, and his work good, is in accord with man's nature, for as much
as it accords with his reason: while vice is contrary to man's
nature, in so far as it is contrary to the order of reason.
Reply Obj. 1: Although the virtues are not caused by nature as
regards their perfection of being, yet they incline us to that which
accords with reason, i.e. with the order of reason. For Cicero says
(De Inv. Rhet. ii) that "virtue is a habit in accord with reason,
like a second nature": and it is in this sense that virtue is said to
be in accord with nature, and on the other hand that vice is contrary
to nature.
Reply Obj. 2: The Philosopher is speaking there of a thing being
against nature, in so far as "being against nature" is contrary to
"being from nature": and not in so far as "being against nature" is
contrary to "being in accord with nature," in which latter sense
virtues are said to be in accord with nature, in as much as they
incline us to that which is suitable to nature.
Reply Obj. 3: There is a twofold nature in man, rational nature, and
the sensitive nature. And since it is through the operation of his
senses that man accomplishes acts of reason, hence there are more who
follow the inclinations of the sensitive nature, than who follow the
order of reason: because more reach the beginning of a business than
achieve its completion. Now the presence of vices and sins in man is
owing to the fact that he follows the inclination of his sensitive
nature against the order of his reason.
Reply Obj. 4: Whatever is irregular in a work of art, is unnatural to
the art which produced that work. Now the eternal law is compared to
the order of human reason, as art to a work of art. Therefore it
amounts to the same that vice and sin are against the order of human
reason, and that they are contrary to the eternal law. Hence
Augustine says (De Lib. Arb. iii, 6) that "every nature, as such, is
from God; and is a vicious nature, in so far as it fails from the
Divine art whereby it was made."
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