The Anatomy of Superhabits

Superhabits #11 (Day 1 is here).

Yesterday I wrote about my attempts to visualize Aquinas' system of superhabits. I was inspired by the medieval tree of virtues diagrams, and initially tried showing the system as a sort of "family tree." The problem with that approach, though, was it left the impression that you can always add another branch, there's always room for another superhabit.

What I was going for, though, was a sense of completeness: that Aquinas' system covered all the virtues. That whatever you're struggling with, there's a virtue for that. I finally had a breakthrough when I thought that instead of a tree, I should show it as a cross section of a tree trunk, with many rings.

Here it is.

At first glance, it can seem a little overwhelming. (Perhaps at the second and third glances too). But with just a little explanation, the logic of the diagram becomes clear, and the whole thing conveys a tremendous amount of detail, summarizing Aquinas’ view of how every aspect of human life is represented by one of 50 different superhabits.

Starting in the middle, where it says “Human Life,” each of the rings of this tree trunk as you move outwards represents a further distinction from the previous ring, covering every aspect of human life.

The first ring divides all of human life into two parts: material and spiritual. In the second ring, the material life segment from the first ring is now subdivided into the intellectual and practical sides of our material life. The diagram shows the relevant habits for each: faith, hope, and love for spiritual life, and wisdom, science, understanding, and art for intellectual life.

The third ring is where it gets really interesting. This ring divides the practical side of life into Thoughts, Actions, and Feelings. See how at each level the divisions are MECE — mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive:

• All of Human Life is divided into Material Life and Spiritual Life (first ring). Everything in life is either material or spiritual — there is nothing else.
• Material life is then divided into Intellectual Life — understood as thinking for its own sake — and Practical Life, which is everything else (second ring).
• And then Practical Life is divided into our Thoughts, Actions, and Feelings (third ring). Is there anything else in our practical, day to day life that occupies our time, other than thinking, taking action, or experiencing our feelings? There isn’t, so this level is complete too.

Each of these layers makes a clean division of the layer before it. This is important, because it gives us the confidence that nothing is being left out. At every level, as we proceed outwards through the rings, every aspect of life is divided and further subdivided, with no gaps or overlaps.

(To be clear, when I write "division," I mean dividing the ideas up for the analytical purpose of understanding each better, not for the purpose of separating them from each other. You can be and usually are thinking, acting, and feeling all at once. I'm not for a second suggesting that you stop thinking while you act, or stop feeling while you think; this is just conceptual separation for the purpose of understanding each better. Thanks to Patrick Mooney for bringing this up in his comment yesterday.)

Ancient authors highlighted four virtues in particular, the cardinal virtues of Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance (fourth and fifth rings). These words have lost much of their meaning, so it's worth reviewing their original definitions. Prudence, or Practical Wisdom, is the habit of making good decisions. Justice is the habit of treating others fairly. Fortitude, or Courage, is the habit of doing what you intended to do even though you might be afraid (it does not mean having no fear; fears are largely out of our control — what is in our control is what we do while we are afraid, and that is what the habit of fortitude is about). Temperance, or Self-Discipline is the habit of only giving in to your feelings when it makes sense to do so. (I mentioned in an earlier post that Ryan Holiday is currently working on a series of books, one for each of these virtues).

Why have philosophers since ancient times highlighted these four particular virtues, or superhabits, as cardinal, or pivotal? I will answer this question next.

You can download a pdf copy of the Anatomy of Virtue here. You have my permission to reproduce it for any reason, including commercial, so long as you (1) keep the copyright information intact, (2) link to this page, and (3) add a comment below introducing yourself and saying what you would like to use it for.