Publication Details

Abstract

The problem of tolerance in Thomas Aquinas is approached in the article as rooted in the virtue of patience. Patience (patientia) as conceived in Christiany is related to hope and preceded by belief. According to Aquinas, this interconnection of patience and hope enables humans conducted by loving their neighbors to tolerate, in certain situations, the evils inflicted by the others. A particular act of patience depends on the practical wisdom (prudentia) which involves setting oneself the right objective and considering the conditions of the deed in question. However, according to Aquinas there is no possibility to choose intolerance against the virtue of patience if one follows the correct reason. Therefore, even an explicitly non-religious person is capable of tolerance, if his or her choice is in accordance with the gift of natural reason.