According to Aquinas we must define a thing not by its ultimate principle, but by the proximate one; and therefore the answer to the question, "What is the essence of virtue?" is not "Doing the will of God" but "Doing what is consonant with insight and appropriate to the situation." <i>otherwise</i> It is extraordinarily easy for us to convince ourselves that God wants us to do what we are doing. <em>and</em> How can God save us from the consequences of our imprudence without interfering with our freedom?