Abstract
Drawing on Christian ideas of human equality, the Aristotelian model of justice as equal exchange, and the Roman juridical concept of right, Aquinas theorizes that the inherent value of each human being gives him or her claims against others to protect against harms not only to person or property, but also to honor and respect. [...]it is only by integrating and ranking a complex of meaningful goods—both those of justice and the other virtues—that we can develop the sorts of habits that will direct us to a happy life. [...]a “choice to act in a given way is tantamount to a choice to enter into a relationship of a specific kind” (181–82).