Cardinal virtues

views updated May 18 2018

Cardinal virtues (Lat., cardo, ‘hinge’). Four particular virtues in Christianity, on which all others are said to depend: prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance. They were extended by the Scholastics to seven, by adding the three ‘theological virtues’ of faith, hope, and charity.

Cardinal Virtues

views updated May 17 2018

Cardinal Virtues (Virtutes Cardinales). Justice, Prudence, Temperance, and Fortitude, as distinguished from the Theological Virtues (Faith, Hope, and Charity), often personified.