Virtue

• 1. Latin Roots And Roman Manliness

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  The ancient Romans used the Latin word virtus to describe all excellent qualities of men. This term derived from vir, their word for man. It covered physical strength, valorous conduct, and moral rectitude. The French words vertu and vertu came from this same root. English borrowed the word virtue in the 13th century. Romans viewed this quality as essential for both citizens and soldiers. They distinguished between private family life and public civic duty. Most Roman concepts were personified as a numinous deity named Virtus. A primary list included Abundance, Spiritual Authority, Humour, Perseverance, Mercy, Dignity, Discipline, Good Faith, Tenacity, Frugality, Gravity, Respectibility, Humanity, Industriousness, Selflessness, Joy, Nobility, Justice, Dutifulness, Prudence, Wholesomeness, Sternness, Truthfulness, and Manliness. Veritas served as the mother of Virtus. She was considered the root of all virtue. A person living an honest life was bound to be virtuous.

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• 2. Plato And Aristotle On Excellence

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  Plato listed four classic cardinal virtues: prudence, fortitude, temperance, and justice. He also added piety and replaced prudence with wisdom in some accounts. In Protagoras and Meno he stated that separate virtues cannot exist independently. Socrates asked his student what virtue is. The student replied with a list of virtues displayed in different ways. Plato explored contradictions like acting with wisdom yet in an unjust way. Aristotle defined a virtue as a point between deficiency and excess. His Nicomachean Ethics described this golden mean as closer to one extreme than another. The desirableness of the trait consists in its disposition to be chosen under proper guidance of reason. This fosters human flourishing as an end to be realized. Aristotle noted that at the right times and on the right occasions lies the best course. Generosity sits between miserliness and profligacy. Courage exists between cowardice and foolhardiness. Confidence balances self-deprecation and conceit. He identified intellectual virtues including knowledge, art, practical judgement, intuition, and wisdom.

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• 3. Faith And Truth Across Civilizations

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  Maat was the ancient Egyptian goddess of truth, balance, order, law, morality, and justice. Her feather represented truth. She regulated the stars, seasons, and actions of mortals and deities. Isfet symbolized chaos, lies, and injustice as her ideological counterpart. Charlemagne published a list of knightly virtues upon his coronation as Holy Roman Emperor. The list included loving God, loving your neighbor, giving alms to the poor, and entertaining strangers. It also commanded visiting the sick, being merciful to prisoners, and defending the cause of widows. Aurelius Prudentius Clemens listed seven heavenly virtues in his book Psychomachia. These included faith, chastity, endurance, humility, hope, sobriety, reason, devotion, peace, harmony, and wisdom. In Islam, Muhammad is considered an ideal example of virtue in human form. Wabisah bin Ma'bad reported that virtue opposes sin. Rabbi Hillel the Elder stood on one leg when asked for a summary of Jewish religion. He replied that what is hateful to you do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah. Confucius explained that he who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star.

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• 4. Modern Psychology And Character Strengths

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  Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman set out to develop a list of Character Strengths and Virtues. They recognized the deficiency inherent in psychology's tendency to focus on dysfunction. After three years of study they identified 24 traits classified into six broad areas. These categories include courage, justice, humanity, temperance, transcendence, and wisdom. Some psychologists suggest these 24 traits have been grouped into simply Cognitive Strengths, Temperance Strengths, and Social Strengths. Marc Jackson identifies virtues as good emotions like love, kindness, joy, faith, awe, and pity. Immanuel Kant predicted and replied to this view in Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime. He argued that acting merely episodically motivated by limited feelings does not constitute true virtue. One must act for a universal motive rather than responding to end personal distress arising from sentiments.

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• 5. Descartes Reason Versus Nietzsche Will

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  René Descartes believed virtue consists in correct reasoning guiding our actions. Men should seek sovereign good which produces blessedness or pleasure. This spiritual pleasure is better than bodily pleasure according to Zeno. Friedrich Nietzsche promoted virtues of higher men like Goethe and Beethoven. He praised their creative powers and psychological resilience. The higher type strives instinctively for a citadel and secrecy where he is saved from the crowd. Solitude stands as one of the highest virtues for us since contact between people inevitably makes things unclean. Nietzsche also saw truthfulness as a virtue. He stated we free spirits will want to work on it with all the love and malice at our disposal. Benjamin Franklin used twelve specific virtues to develop moral perfection. His checklist included temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity, and humility. He measured each day how he lived up to these standards in his autobiography.

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