Cardinal virtues

The cardinal virtues are four virtues of mind and character in both classical philosophy and Christian theology. They are prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. They form a virtue theory of ethics. The term cardinal comes from the Latin cardo (hinge); these four virtues are called “cardinal” because all other virtues fall under them and hinge upon them.

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These virtues derive initially from Plato in Republic Book IV, 426-435. Aristotle expounded them systematically in the Nicomachean Ethics. They were also recognized by the Stoics and Cicero expanded on them. In the Christian tradition, they are also listed in the Deuterocanonical books in Wisdom of Solomon 8:7 and 4 Maccabees 1:18–19, and the Doctors Ambrose, Augustine, and Aquinas expounded their supernatural counterparts, the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity.

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