If I knew all things in the world and had not charity, what would it profit me before God, who will judge me by my deeds?  – Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ

With this column, I will explore the human intellectual virtues. I’m not sure how many would have intellectual virtues in their list of virtues, but because this is Aquinas Corner and St. Thomas lists them, that’s good enough for me.

St. Thomas has three intellectual virtues: understanding, knowledge (science) and wisdom. Exploring these virtues reveals the potential of the human mind to go to the height and depth of truth.

We can observe in babies and onward how the intellect has a natural drive to explore. Curiosity is a good word to describe that drive. Before going further, I will note that on four occasions the Catechism of the Catholic Church uses the word curiosity, three of those referring to “unhealthy” curiosity. So don’t use strengthening your intellectual virtues as an excuse for “all” exploration.

Humanity learns  many things, often best systematically. Learning (truths) will build on prior things learned (truths). In many subjects, as with our faith, there is a “hierarchy of truths.”

When learning things, we don’t learn randomly, like prepping for Jeopardy! Our learning desire goes deeper (higher), to know why things are the way they are. As Father James Brent, O.P., puts it, “Our awareness of reality may be distinguished roughly into things to be explained and the things that do the explaining.” In the language of St. Thomas, the things that do the explaining are “principles.”

When a person studies a subject, he or she acquires an awareness of truths. This person is said to have understanding. The intellectual virtue of understanding is the fixed and stable disposition of the intellect to grasp the principle or reason why things are so in a certain subject.

By going deeper (higher) into a subject, placing truths in an orderly whole and intelligible pattern, we come to knowledge. The intellectual virtue of knowledge is the stable disposition of the intellect to see truths in a subject as an orderly whole in light of a first principle.

Understanding and knowledge are acquired by studying things often during a long time and addressing many questions.

The intellectual virtue of wisdom takes these prior virtues, stretches as far as possible, asking about reality as a whole, seeing how they relate to the first principle, God.

Let’s stop here briefly. When we study and learn about the world, we learn  individually and collectively. Paragraphs 1936 and 1937 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church provide insight:

“On coming into the world, man is not equipped with everything he needs for developing his bodily and spiritual life. He needs others. Differences appear tied to age, physical abilities, intellectual or moral aptitudes, the benefits derived from social commerce, and the distribution of wealth. The “talents” are not distributed equally.

“These differences belong to God’s plan, who wills that each receive what he needs from others, and that those endowed with particular “talents” share the benefits with those who need them. These differences encourage and often oblige persons to practice generosity, kindness, and sharing of goods; they foster the mutual enrichment of cultures.”

Translation: We are equal in dignity but not much else. Being the smartest person on the planet is not our end. Human virtues benefit not only ourselves but others, too, and are foundational for receiving the theological virtues.

Check out a Bishop Fulton J. Sheen 20-minute TV episode titled, “How to Improve Your Mind” on YouTube. Broadcast in 1956, the episode touches on these virtues in the bishop’s pithy, witty way.

Where is God in this? Wisdom, understanding and knowledge are three gifts of the Holy Spirit that each of us receives at baptism and that are strengthened at confirmation. When it comes to the Church, the Holy Spirit provides charisms. Whether extraordinary or simple and humble, charisms are graces of the Holy Spirit that directly or indirectly benefit the Church, ordered as they are to her building up, to the good of men and to the needs of the world (see 1 Corinthians 12:1-11).

In the next column, I will discuss a chief impediment to these and basically all virtues.