Whether Honesty Is the Same As Virtue?
Objection 1: It would seem that honesty is not the same as virtue.
For Tully says (De Invent. Rhet. ii, 53) that "the honest is what is
desired for its own sake." Now virtue is desired, not for its own
sake, but for the sake of happiness, for the Philosopher says (Ethic.
i, 9) that "happiness is the reward and the end of virtue." Therefore
honesty is not the same as virtue.
Obj. 2: Further, according to Isidore (Etym. x) "honesty means an
honorable state." Now honor is due to many things besides virtue,
since "it is praise that is the proper due of virtue" (Ethic. i, 12).
Therefore honesty is not the same as virtue.
Obj. 3: Further, the "principal part of virtue is the interior
choice," as the Philosopher says (Ethic. viii, 13). But honesty seems
to pertain rather to exterior conduct, according to 1 Cor. 14:40,
"Let all things be done decently (_honeste_) and according to order"
among you. Therefore honesty is not the same as virtue.
Obj. 4: Further, honesty apparently consists in external wealth.
According to Ecclus. 11:14, "good things and evil, life and death
[poverty and riches] are from God" [*The words in brackets are
omitted in the Leonine edition. For riches the Vulgate has
_honestas_]. But virtue does not consist in external wealth.
Therefore honesty is not the same as virtue.
_On the contrary,_ Tully (De Offic. i, 5; Rhet. ii, 53) divides
honesty into the four principal virtues, into which virtue is also
divided. Therefore honesty is the same as virtue.
_I answer that,_ As Isidore says (Etym. x) "honesty means an
honorable state," wherefore a thing may be said to be honest through
being worthy of honor. Now honor, as stated above (Q. 144, A. 2, ad
2), is due to excellence: and the excellence of a man is gauged
chiefly according to his virtue, as stated in _Phys._ vii, 17.
Therefore, properly speaking, honesty refers to the same thing as
virtue.
Reply Obj. 1: According to the Philosopher (Ethic. i, 7), of those
things that are desired for their own sake, some are desired for
their own sake alone, and never for the sake of something else, such
as happiness which is the last end; while some are desired, not only
for their own sake, inasmuch as they have an aspect of goodness in
themselves, even if no further good accrued to us through them, but
also for the sake of something else, inasmuch as they are conducive
to some more perfect good. It is thus that the virtues are desirable
for their own sake: wherefore Tully says (De Invent. Rhet. ii, 52)
that "some things allure us by their own force, and attract us by
their own worth, such as virtue, truth, knowledge." And this suffices
to give a thing the character of honest.
Reply Obj. 2: Some of the things which are honored besides virtue are
more excellent than virtue, namely God and happiness, and such like
things are not so well known to us by experience as virtue which we
practice day by day. Hence virtue has a greater claim to the name of
honesty. Other things which are beneath virtue are honored, in so far
as they are a help to the practice of virtue, such as rank, power,
and riches [*Ethic. i, 8]. For as the Philosopher says (Ethic. iv, 3)
that these things "are honored by some people, but in truth it is
only the good man who is worthy of honor." Now a man is good in
respect of virtue. Wherefore praise is due to virtue in so far as the
latter is desirable for the sake of something else, while honor is
due to virtue for its own sake: and it is thus that virtue has the
character of honesty.
Reply Obj. 3: As we have stated honest denotes that to which honor is
due. Now honor is an attestation to someone's excellence, as stated
above (Q. 103, AA. 1, 2). But one attests only to what one knows; and
the internal choice is not made known save by external actions.
Wherefore external conduct has the character of honesty, in so far as
it reflects internal rectitude. For this reason honesty consists
radically in the internal choice, but its expression lies in the
external conduct.
Reply Obj. 4: It is because the excellence of wealth is commonly
regarded as making a man deserving of honor, that sometimes the name
of honesty is given to external prosperity.
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