Is the philosophical construct of “habitus operativus bonus” compatible with the modern neuroscience concept of human flourishing through neuroplasticity? A consideration of prudence as a multidimensional regulator of virtue

THE CLASSICAL AND THE CONTEMPORARY: NEUROPLASTICITY AND THE REEMERGENCE OF VIRTUE Unlike ancient Greece where personal virtue was the route to fulfillment, modern man typically seeks to improve human well-being by external means, in a process known as the medicalization of society. The apparent novelty of recent proposals in psychological theory to develop character strength, therefore, lies in their reemphasis on a personal implementation of positive values (Peterson and Seligman, 2004). Among the factors contributing to a new look at self-determination has been the capacity for the neural substrate to selectively alter itself via neuroplasticity. Indeed, the confluence of past and contemporary thinking may presage a consideration of neurobiological instantiation within which virtuous behavior may be enhanced in accord with principles governing neuroplastic change. But what are virtues and positive traits? And to what extent can these conceptions inform our growing understanding of the neural contribution to human behavior? Presupposed in such questions is a conceptual ground needed to define a corresponding empirical terrain (Bennett and Hacker, 2003), without which such information would lack coherence and conclusive power. Accordingly, positive psychology identifies a positive trait as a “disposition to act, desire, and feel” involving the exercise of judgment and leading to a recognizable human excellence’ (Park et al., 2004). The concise, but more precise formula of Aquinas, “habitus operativus bonus,” is similarly conceived (Hibbs, 1999). Anglicized, habitus connotes habit, often considered a compelling behavioral pattern reinforced through repetitive activity, but in an Aquinas context also evinces a freedom associated with the deployment of a skill acquired and honed through repeated engagement. Operativus, understood to mean operationally effective, connotes stability and continuity, a disposition to future performance. The third term, bonus, grants an orientational norm more precise than the analogous “recognizable excellence” and that Aquinas grounds in right reason and love of neighbor. Accordingly, we will employ the construct “habitus operativus bonus” rather than “positive traits” in the ensuing discussion. A priori, habitus tacitly acknowledges a behavior’s dependence on repetitive engagement. This acknowledgement has received much confirmation from empirical studies of patterned behavior; and many of the physiological, cellular, and molecular features have now been elucidated. Originally theorized by Hebb (1949) as an activity dependent synaptic strengthening, this interpretation was subsequently confirmed by Lomo’s discovery (Lomo, 2003) of the long term potentiation effect (LTP). In the Hebbian scheme synaptic strength is enhanced by coincident, and repetitive, neural activity. The molecular details of this effect entail a host of short term, cell signaling and, when sufficiently stimulated, long term, transcriptional and cell restructuring mechanisms (Benfenati, 2007). The former involve an enhancement of Ca influx at both pre and post synaptic sites, together with a corresponding activation of Ca dependent protein kinases, lasting minutes to hours. The latter involve a wholesale restructuring of synaptic contacts that can potentiate enhanced synaptic efficiency for days and even months. A key mechanism in transcriptional up-regulation is the kinase mediated activation of the CREB set of activator and repressor proteins. The stabilization, and proliferation, of coordinated synaptic activity, thereby, increasingly routs information flow through select circuit pathways. These observations confirm three conclusions that follow from the classic formulation. First, they show that habitual activity is needed to enhance synaptic strength. Second, the behavioral performance or skill is made more easily operative. The freedom spoken of by Aquinas is thus neurally provided for in the enhanced information flow through the behavioral circuit. Finally, the ease of flow facilitates