Virtue and the Happiness of Persons

Abstract

The perennial tradition of virtue, grounded in the real natures of human persons, is essential for giving a robust answer to the question: ‘What is happiness, and how do we get it?’ This essay principally follows the metaphysical, psychological, ethical, and theological principles as expounded by St. Thomas Aquinas, primarily as found in his Summa Theologiae. These principles give us a solid foundation in order to build upon the work of more recent figures, especially Fr. Erich Przywara, Fr. Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange, and Josef Pieper. Their insights, grounded in personalism, produce a genuine and faithful development of a Thomistic understanding of personal happiness as the end of man.