Moral virtues in J. A. Comenius' mundus moralis

Abstract

The aim of the article is to reconstruct Jan Amos Comenius' (1592-1670) conception of moral virtues as it is presented in his major work General Consultation on an Improvement of All Things Human (De rerum humanarum emendatione consultatio catholica), mainly in its part Pansophia-Mundus Moralis with respect to the role which prudence plays (prudentia) in relation to the other cardinal virtues-fortitude (fortitude), justice (justitia), and temperance (temperantia). Comenius' conception of virtues is further compared with the traditional Aristotelian-Scholastic doctrine formulated prevailingly by Aquinas. In conclusion, it is shown that it is the position of prudence (prudentia), as an intellectual virtue that connects significantly Comenius with the Aristotle-Thomistic tradition in this perspective.