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Rule, and the Ideal of Equality.’ Given the political turbulence that we have witnessed over the past couple of years in North America and in parts of Europe, this chapter acts as a timely reminder of the importance of the common good and social justice for our modern world. Porter says that, ‘Aquinas’s account of justice and moral knowledge presupposes the real and objective value of other people, which is itself the direct foundation for each individual’s obligations towards others’ (p. 161, emphasis added). Of course, relationships are not easy. We compete for limited resources; we must try to discern how to look after those who are more vulnerable in society; we must learn, in other words, how best to distribute the burdens and benefits of being a collective. ‘On Aquinas’s view, morality is informed by a diverse range of considerations, including self-regarding as well as other-regarding ideals and values, which must be integrated through the operations of prudence’ (p. 162). The common good becomes our measure, if you will, for assessing the prudent and equitable distribution of society’s burdens and benefits. ‘Aquinas’s account of the common good serves to bring general justice under the scope of the ideal of equality that explicitly informs his account of particular justice’ (p. 162). In other words, general justice and the common good are the ‘benchmark’ for how we decide on the justice of particular dealing and agreements (commutative justice) and how we as a society share out the burdens and benefits of being a collective (distributive justice). Amidst debates about healthcare, tax cuts for the rich, increased military spending, and so on, the Thomistic framework for understanding the requirements of justice are as relevant today as ever. Chapter Four focuses more closely on issues such as the formulation and application of the precepts of justice, and the role of discernment in the carrying out of justice. The final chapter explores Aquinas’s claim that justice is the perfection of the will. Both chapters provide an expert examination of key aspects of Aquinas’s thinking on justice and the virtues more generally. For example, the final chapter is crucial to understanding several of St Thomas’s tracts on law, virtue, and justice. Justice as a Virtue: A Thomistic Perspective is a scholarly and informative text, one where Porter illumines the genius of Aquinas for her reader. It is a valuable text for the student of theology or philosophy, but more likely to be of benefit to graduate students in these fields. It is a timely reminder of the need for an ongoing debate about the nature of justice, the common good, virtue, and the formation of moral character. These are ideals or values that provide the bedrock for well-functioning societies, and without a proper understanding of their importance or their meaning we run the risk of stepping backwards towards simplistic and exclusive social ideologies. But they are complicated ideas and need careful discussion and elucidation. Justice as a Virtue does exactly that, and it is a huge contribution to scholarly debates about justice, society, and human flourishing.