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Synonyms

natural virtues

British  

plural noun

  1. (esp among the scholastics) those virtues of which man is capable without direct help from God, specifically justice, temperance, prudence, and fortitude Compare theological virtues

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

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Some Renaissance thinkers praised the Indians as innocent “noble savages” whose natural virtues mocked the vices of civilized Christians, though exaggerated accounts of Indian innocence were as unrealistic as contrasting reports of Indian savagery.

From Textbooks • Jan. 18, 2018

As glory does not destroy our nature, neither does it destroy our natural virtues, but perfects them.

From The Happiness of Heaven By a Father of the Society of Jesus by Boudreaux, F. J.

God does not bestow a supernatural reward upon the natural gifts, or even upon the natural virtues, which are to be found among pagans as well as among Christians.

From The Happiness of Heaven By a Father of the Society of Jesus by Boudreaux, F. J.

He may indeed practise some natural virtues, but these virtues are in general only exterior.

From Public School Education by Müller, Michael

Within the fourth and most important class, the social virtues, Hume distinguishes between the natural virtues of humanity and benevolence and the artificial virtues of justice and fidelity.

From History of Modern Philosophy From Nicolas of Cusa to the Present Time by Falckenberg, Richard