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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.
Objection 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.
Objection 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.
Objection 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". 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 (Question
144, Article 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 to Objection 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 to Objection 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 to Objection 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 (Question 103, Articles 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 to Objection 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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