Books by Ezra Sullivan, O.P.
Heroic Habits, 2021
(Table of Contents, First Chapter, Notes)
Just as the body can become stronger through exercise... more (Table of Contents, First Chapter, Notes)
Just as the body can become stronger through exercise and effort, or weaker through wounds or neglect, so the entire person can develop an almost permanent state of goodness or evil through habituation to virtue or vice. Habits both reveal and shape who you are; they speak about what you have been, and they predict what you will be.
Unique for a spirituality book, Heroic Habits explores and combines three realms of thought:
The psychological science of habits
St. Thomas Aquinas’s theory of habits
Practical advice on habits.
Catholic University of America Press, 2021
The topic of habitus is one of Thomas Aquinas's greatest contributions to moral theology, but it ... more The topic of habitus is one of Thomas Aquinas's greatest contributions to moral theology, but it has been generally neglected in theological scholarship until now. Habits and Holiness is the first work in English to explore Aquinas's rich theology of habit in all of its grandeur and depth. Habits and Holiness shows that most facets of human life and behavior are greatly influenced by habits, which Thomas appraises as an analogous concept that is much broader than previous scholarship has recognized.
The topic of habits is a golden thread that helps readers find their way through Aquinas's extensive writings on morals. By describing the many kinds of habits we possess, and their widespread but often hidden effects in our lives, this book offers a new and unique reevaluation of many issues central to the moral life. It addresses childhood development, pagan virtue, akrasia, circumstances that limit free choice, how heroic virtue operates, and more.
By seeing habits in general as a prism for understanding human action and its influences, Habits and Holiness provides a unique and appealing synthesis of Thomistic virtue theory, the contemporary science of habits, and best practices for eliminating bad habits and living good habits.
Published Articles by Ezra Sullivan, O.P.
New Blackfriars, 2019
When speaking of the odd behavior of a particular individual, it is common for people to say some... more When speaking of the odd behavior of a particular individual, it is common for people to say something like, "Well, I am just made that way," or, "He can't help it; that's the way he is." On the other hand, when considering future vistas for action, some suppose that that, everything in life can be a matter of choice, that we can choose our own gender, ethnicity, or identity. It seems to me that there are theological parallels to these anthropological positions. First, similar to mechanical determinism, some believe in a determined mechanism of sin that destroys human nature and makes free choice an illusion. Second, similar to views that human fulfillment is simply a matter of exercising our will, some argue that graced happiness is merely an extension of nature. To all of these positions, Aquinas has a response.
Nova et Vetera, Sep 14, 2021
[Updated 3 October 2022: see attached notes]
The object of this inquiry is to investigate the ... more [Updated 3 October 2022: see attached notes]
The object of this inquiry is to investigate the morality of receiving vaccines which have been developed by using cells derived from one of the gravest evils in our time, namely, the direct killing of innocent children in the womb. Through this investigation, we hope to show that certain conditions may render receiving such vaccines morally acceptable, although receiving unethically-derived or tested vaccines is not recommendable without qualification. In every choice, the pandemic offers the Catholic Church and all people of upright conscience a chance to recommit to upholding and defending the inviolable dignity of human life.
Linacre Quarterly, 2021
In the present time, what has been called the “medical–industrial insurance complex” in the Unite... more In the present time, what has been called the “medical–industrial insurance complex” in the United States needs reform. As health insurance in the United States remains inaccessible to millions of people, and as prices continue to rise, questions arise about the most moral ways to ensure delivery of health care especially to the most vulnerable populations. In this essay, I offer a virtue analysis of the moral implications of health insurance mandated by the US Government in contrast to an increasingly popular alternative to insurance, namely, healthcare sharing ministries. In part 1, I list some of the moral problems entangled with US Government-mandated health insurance, including injustice, disrespect for patient autonomy, limitations on patient freedom, exploitation of patients for profit, undermining of conscience rights, cooperation with evil, and scandal. In part 2, I discuss the issue of risk and then list some potential moral advantages to healthcare ministries, including respect for patient autonomy, conscience, and the religious freedom to witness to the Catholic faith in charity and solidarity.
Angelicum, 2020
Prognostications for how AI will affect the future of humanity are greatly enriched by theologica... more Prognostications for how AI will affect the future of humanity are greatly enriched by theological and historical perspectives regarding the nature and use of idols, images used to worship the gods. With the background of the Egyptian «mouth-opening» ritual in mind, and ancient constructions of seeming-autonomous statues, Scriptural accounts suggest that pagans constructed and worshipped idols for reasons of transference-substituting a creature for the Creator-, greed, and control. In parallel fashion, with futurist accounts of ai and robotics in mind, an historical-theological perspective indicates that these new technologies are often at the service of an analogous kind of idolatry: relationship transference, corporate and individual greed, and social control: three motives that are encapsulated in Lewis Mumford's prediction that, in a secular age, «man's final achievement, at the summit of his progress, would be to create an ineffable electronic God». Finally, a theological account suggests a way forward: returning to right relationships, self-gift in union with Christ the Incarnate God, and responsibility as worship.
Nova et Vetera, English Ed., 2019
Samuel Johnson once observed : "All theory is against the freedom of the will; all experience for... more Samuel Johnson once observed : "All theory is against the freedom of the will; all experience for it." 1 He was only half right. As we will see, St. Thomas Aquinas offers a strong theory in favor of the freedom of choice. In this essay, I will weigh three objections to fully voluntary acts: those derived from neuroscience, physicalist determinism, and the problem of habituation. Although many other objections to free choice exist, these represent some of the most serious assaults on the idea of human freedom, and therefore human responsibility. In a final section, I will address Aquinas's claim that freedom is rooted in reason. With these considerations in place, we will be well on our way to establishing a solid theory of morality in all its subtlety and richness.
Linacre Quarterly, 2016
Is Marijuana harmless?
To answer this question, we evaluate the morality of recreational marij... more Is Marijuana harmless?
To answer this question, we evaluate the morality of recreational marijuana use from a virtue perspective guided by the theological synthesis of St. Thomas Aquinas. We examine: 1) Frequency and extent of marijuana use in different populations 2) Distinctions between medicinal use and recreational use -- a line which is often blurred in practice 3) Three criteria for virtuous recreation 4) Short-term and long-term effects of marijuana use 5) How getting "high" is analogous to "intoxication" 6) A virtue analysis of various motives for using marijuana
Antonino (Antoninus) of Florence (1389-1459) had an enormous influence on the Renaissance , and i... more Antonino (Antoninus) of Florence (1389-1459) had an enormous influence on the Renaissance , and in some way, the Reformation and even the Counter-Reformation. Such varied figures as Marsilio Ficino, the Medici family including the Medici pope, Leo X, Martin Luther, Tommaso de Vio Cardinal Cajetan, and Savonarola in varied ways were inspired by his life and works. His canonization shows that he has been embraced as an ideal Dominican, a follower and developer of Aquinas, and a faithful bishop of the Catholic Church. He was a paradigmatic example of how traditional Medieval Dominicans had enormous influence on Italian (particularly Florentine) culture, and how they played central roles in a cultural Renaissance and an ecclesiastical Reformation that would ultimately be in tension with their own ideals.
The following article reviews three books remarkable for their breath and interdisciplinary insig... more The following article reviews three books remarkable for their breath and interdisciplinary insight from the perspective of empirical science. The volumes were chosen to be reviewed together because they mutually illuminate each other. Christian B. Miller’s account of human behaviour is best grasped by reading his two books in tandem; they form as it were a natural pair: Character and Moral Psychology (2014) and Moral Character, an Empirical Theory (2013). On the other hand, Miller’s account focuses on motivating factors and goals of behaviour, but he does not address its physical bases. This is precisely where David S. Moore’s work proves useful: The Developing Genome (2015)
This article was published in Nova et Vetera (English Ed) Vol. 12, No. 3
Can people love somet... more This article was published in Nova et Vetera (English Ed) Vol. 12, No. 3
Can people love something or someone more than themselves? In other words, can a person's love transcend himself?
This essay argues that St. Thomas Aquinas offer coherent reasons for a positive answer. Specifically, Aquinas shows that one can naturally love God more than oneself just as a part loves a whole more than itself.
Part I. The Position of St. Thomas. This is an analysis of three ways Aquinas explains the part-whole analogy as an explanation of self-transcending love.
Part II. A Thomistic Account of Self-Transcending Love and the Common God.
A) Love for the Common Good: Terminology. Definitions and examples of "part", "whole", "common good" etc.
B) Love for the Common Good and Self-Love. Love for self and the common good is compared different ways a singer can relate to a choir.
Part III. Love of God as the Supreme Common Good. God is the greatest good and therefore the most loveable. Man's place in the universe helps to explain how love can transcend the self without destroying proper self-love.
Part IV. Summary and Conclusion. "Man is the perfection of the universe; the spirit is the perfection of man; love, that of the spirit; and charity, that of love. Wherefore the love of God is the end, the perfection, and the excellence of the universe." --St. Francis de Sales
This article was originally published in Nova et Vetera (English Ed.) Vol. 8, no. 4
Can God co... more This article was originally published in Nova et Vetera (English Ed.) Vol. 8, no. 4
Can God completely fulfill man? It seems as if God cannot, for man desires many things aside from God. So argues Germain Grisez, who says that man's fulfillment comes in "the kingdom of God", which includes many fundamental goods for man, including play, bodily health, and harmony among humans.
In response, this article demonstrates that Catholic Tradition has always taught that God alone is man's supreme ultimate end. It goes on to discuss how created goods, ends in themselves, can be coordinated to point toward God such that man seeks those goods insofar as they are aspects of his ultimate goal, union with God.
The final section of the essay is a lengthy discussion of four (4) different meanings of "the kingdom of God." It shows that Grisez's account is compatible with traditional teaching in two ways but could diverge from it in two ways.
In sum, the essay shows that man's true ultimate end is God Himself, manifested in Jesus Christ, who is "the goal of human history, the focal point of the desires of civilization, the center of mankind, the joy of all hearts, and the fulfillment of all aspirations." --Gaudium et Spes, 45
Book Chapters by Ezra Sullivan, O.P.
Alight with Love for My Companions, 2023
To understand an important Dominican contribution
to an appreciative harmony between canon law an... more To understand an important Dominican contribution
to an appreciative harmony between canon law and moral theology, I
first outline two errors regarding law, antinomianism and legalism, and
then treat the issue in light of St. Raymond of Peñafort’s insights.
Vocabulário Teológico de Tomás de Aquino (Portuguese), 2022
BEATITUDE Etimologia e uso do termo. Beatitude (B.), beatitudo, de acordo com Tomás de Aquino sig... more BEATITUDE Etimologia e uso do termo. Beatitude (B.), beatitudo, de acordo com Tomás de Aquino significa, em geral, o verdadeiro √fim do √ser humano, geralmente equiparado a felicidade (felicitas). A maioria das línguas europeias ...
from Vocabulário Teológico de Tomás de Aquino (in Portuguese),
ed. Carlos Arthur Ribeiro do Nascimento
Juvenal Savian Filho
Vocabulário Teológico de Tomás de Aquino (Portuguese), 2022
HÁBITO Etimologia e uso do termo. Hábito (H.), na visão de Aquino, é um termo análogo (√Analogia)... more HÁBITO Etimologia e uso do termo. Hábito (H.), na visão de Aquino, é um termo análogo (√Analogia) ...
from Vocabulário Teológico de Tomás de Aquino, ed.
Carlos Arthur Ribeiro do Nascimento
Juvenal Savian Filho
Dictionary of Thomas Aquinas, 2020
Entry "Happiness" in the forthcoming Dictionary of Thomas Aquinas, ed. André Luís Tavares, OP
Dictionary of Thomas Aquinas, 2020
Entry "Habit" in the forthcoming Dictionary of Thomas Aquinas, ed. André Luís Tavares, OP
Reading the Church Fathers with St. Thomas Aquinas , 2021
(Pre-publication draft) The influence of Church Fathers in Aquinas's view of habitus, particular... more (Pre-publication draft) The influence of Church Fathers in Aquinas's view of habitus, particularly Pseudo-Dionysius, Augustine, and Maximus the Confessor
Teologia między Wschodem a Zachodem [Theology of East and West], 2019
1. Habituation in Plato and Aristotle
2. Habituation in Maximus
3. Habituation in Aquinas, esp. h... more 1. Habituation in Plato and Aristotle
2. Habituation in Maximus
3. Habituation in Aquinas, esp. his use of Maximus
This article considers Maximus the Confessor and Thomas Aquinas' understanding of habit and habit... more This article considers Maximus the Confessor and Thomas Aquinas' understanding of habit and habituation, along with the Platonic and Aristotelian influences that undergird their thinking.
Uploads
Books by Ezra Sullivan, O.P.
Just as the body can become stronger through exercise and effort, or weaker through wounds or neglect, so the entire person can develop an almost permanent state of goodness or evil through habituation to virtue or vice. Habits both reveal and shape who you are; they speak about what you have been, and they predict what you will be.
Unique for a spirituality book, Heroic Habits explores and combines three realms of thought:
The psychological science of habits
St. Thomas Aquinas’s theory of habits
Practical advice on habits.
The topic of habits is a golden thread that helps readers find their way through Aquinas's extensive writings on morals. By describing the many kinds of habits we possess, and their widespread but often hidden effects in our lives, this book offers a new and unique reevaluation of many issues central to the moral life. It addresses childhood development, pagan virtue, akrasia, circumstances that limit free choice, how heroic virtue operates, and more.
By seeing habits in general as a prism for understanding human action and its influences, Habits and Holiness provides a unique and appealing synthesis of Thomistic virtue theory, the contemporary science of habits, and best practices for eliminating bad habits and living good habits.
Published Articles by Ezra Sullivan, O.P.
The object of this inquiry is to investigate the morality of receiving vaccines which have been developed by using cells derived from one of the gravest evils in our time, namely, the direct killing of innocent children in the womb. Through this investigation, we hope to show that certain conditions may render receiving such vaccines morally acceptable, although receiving unethically-derived or tested vaccines is not recommendable without qualification. In every choice, the pandemic offers the Catholic Church and all people of upright conscience a chance to recommit to upholding and defending the inviolable dignity of human life.
To answer this question, we evaluate the morality of recreational marijuana use from a virtue perspective guided by the theological synthesis of St. Thomas Aquinas. We examine: 1) Frequency and extent of marijuana use in different populations 2) Distinctions between medicinal use and recreational use -- a line which is often blurred in practice 3) Three criteria for virtuous recreation 4) Short-term and long-term effects of marijuana use 5) How getting "high" is analogous to "intoxication" 6) A virtue analysis of various motives for using marijuana
Can people love something or someone more than themselves? In other words, can a person's love transcend himself?
This essay argues that St. Thomas Aquinas offer coherent reasons for a positive answer. Specifically, Aquinas shows that one can naturally love God more than oneself just as a part loves a whole more than itself.
Part I. The Position of St. Thomas. This is an analysis of three ways Aquinas explains the part-whole analogy as an explanation of self-transcending love.
Part II. A Thomistic Account of Self-Transcending Love and the Common God.
A) Love for the Common Good: Terminology. Definitions and examples of "part", "whole", "common good" etc.
B) Love for the Common Good and Self-Love. Love for self and the common good is compared different ways a singer can relate to a choir.
Part III. Love of God as the Supreme Common Good. God is the greatest good and therefore the most loveable. Man's place in the universe helps to explain how love can transcend the self without destroying proper self-love.
Part IV. Summary and Conclusion. "Man is the perfection of the universe; the spirit is the perfection of man; love, that of the spirit; and charity, that of love. Wherefore the love of God is the end, the perfection, and the excellence of the universe." --St. Francis de Sales
Can God completely fulfill man? It seems as if God cannot, for man desires many things aside from God. So argues Germain Grisez, who says that man's fulfillment comes in "the kingdom of God", which includes many fundamental goods for man, including play, bodily health, and harmony among humans.
In response, this article demonstrates that Catholic Tradition has always taught that God alone is man's supreme ultimate end. It goes on to discuss how created goods, ends in themselves, can be coordinated to point toward God such that man seeks those goods insofar as they are aspects of his ultimate goal, union with God.
The final section of the essay is a lengthy discussion of four (4) different meanings of "the kingdom of God." It shows that Grisez's account is compatible with traditional teaching in two ways but could diverge from it in two ways.
In sum, the essay shows that man's true ultimate end is God Himself, manifested in Jesus Christ, who is "the goal of human history, the focal point of the desires of civilization, the center of mankind, the joy of all hearts, and the fulfillment of all aspirations." --Gaudium et Spes, 45
Book Chapters by Ezra Sullivan, O.P.
to an appreciative harmony between canon law and moral theology, I
first outline two errors regarding law, antinomianism and legalism, and
then treat the issue in light of St. Raymond of Peñafort’s insights.
from Vocabulário Teológico de Tomás de Aquino (in Portuguese),
ed. Carlos Arthur Ribeiro do Nascimento
Juvenal Savian Filho
from Vocabulário Teológico de Tomás de Aquino, ed.
Carlos Arthur Ribeiro do Nascimento
Juvenal Savian Filho
2. Habituation in Maximus
3. Habituation in Aquinas, esp. his use of Maximus