What is Virtue?
Brian
Joi Ito's blog....had this very interesting piece on wisdom of virtue...
Joi went to a workshop done by Lou Marinoff, author of "The Middle Way; Finding Happiness in a World of Extremes", 2007
Here is what Joi wrote about it....
Here is the outline of the workshop:
- The ABSs of Virtue: Aristotle, Budha and Confucius
- The cardinal virtues: Courage, Temperance, Justice, Wisdom
- The pace of virtue in the global village
- Linkage with Richard Olivier's and Miha Pogacnik's workshops
- Courage is implicated in leadership
- Temperance is implicated in creativity
- Focus on Justice and Wisdom
- Justice: doing the right thing at the right time
- Wisdom: understanding what is right
- Eleven ways of being right
- Main strengths and weaknesses of contending ethical systems
He started out the session by telling us that Plato thought a lot about the definition of what is Good and couldn't answer it. The idea was that if you could figure out what was Good you could determine what was Right. After you could judge what was Right, Justice could be rendered.
Aristotle said that Virtue is the Golden Mean between two extremes. It was all about balance. "Rational" comes from "ratio". The idea was to triangulate from two extremes of vice. For example, Courage is the mean between cowardice and rashness.Then came the Eleven Way of Being Right.Buddha said that Virtue is the practice of the Middle Way. Temperance means neither Abstention nor over-indulgence but rather, moderation.
Confucius said that Virtue is the application of the Tao (the Way), striving for balance and harmony.
Hegel talked about transcendence which means to simultaneously negate and preserve. For instance, someone who is courageous becomes independent of his/her nationality, religion, ethnicity, gender, etc. while at the same time allowing the person not to renounce his/her nationality, religion, ethnicity, gender, etc. This is true of all virtues.
The main philosophical task confronting inhabitants of the global village in the 21st century is to transcend their most lethal, destructive and counter-productive differences. The inculcation of virtues conducive to this end requires global education reform. Such reform is much less costly, and much more longer-lasting than every form of coercion. Neither sovereign governments, nor organized religions, nor academic institutions, are able to bear sufficient responsibility for supporting or implementing global educational reform. this responsibility falls to global business interests, to the WEF, and to the philosophical practitioners on the ground.
- deontology - rules tell us what is right and wrong
- teleology - The end justifies (or sanctifies) the means
- virtue ethics - goodness comes from virtues, which are like habits
- humanistic existentialism - what we choose to do determines what we value
- nihilistic existentialism - "God is dead." And we killed him. So all moral bets are off.
- analytic ethics - "Goodness" cannot be defined or analyzed
- correlative ethics - every right entails an obligation, and vice-versa
- sociobiology - ideas of "right" and "wrong" are motivated by our genes
- feminist ethics - women have different moral priorities: e.g. ethics of caring
- legal moralism - if it's legal, it's ethical
- meta-ethical relativism - each situation has its own unique ethical dimension
Response by Stewart Butterfield
"I think that something really important about Aristotle got lost there. While being the mean is a characteristic of virtue, that is not what virtue is -- and actions are not virtuous because they are the mean between two extremes (this is articulated in Book II of the Nichomachean Ethics). It is definitely not "all about" balance.
Virtue (aretê) meant the same thing for Aristotle as it did for all Greeks: that which causes a thing to be excellent, or to perform its function well (the cannonical example is a knife: sharpness is its virtue and an excellent knife is one that cuts well). So, the virtue(s) of human beings are those behaviours/actions/habits which causes them to perform their function well, or to be excellent. Inquiries into virtue become inquiries into the 'function' or purpose of human beings. (Aristotle's inquiry here is the Politics.)
This makes a difference because it suggests a specific action as the 'main philosophical task' (other than 'transcend differences'): enter into a shared inquiry towards the purposes, desires, goals, aims, etc. of the new global community. If we all aim towards different fundamental ends, transcendance is an empty hope: everyone needs a bedrock and it is unrealistic to expect people to give up their most fundamental beliefs.
But it is not unrealistic to expect them to talk about those things, and perhaps even agree that the purposes we have in common, whatever they are (health? prosperity? sustainability? freedom?), should be given priority."
I agree with Lou, that the power to transform the world comes through education to create a new world culture. I also love Stewart's response and explanation that for the Greek philophers, Virtue is truly be excellent and perform a function well. Brian Johnson who started Zaadz, even has a site and daily email called "think Arete" ...according to Brian, Arete "has a deeper meaningsomething closer to “constantly striving to reach your highest potential.”
Stewart is on the money when he says, "it suggests a specific action as the 'main philosophical task' (other than 'transcend differences'): enter into a shared inquiry towards the purposes, desires, goals, aims, etc. of the new global community. More than transendence...we need to look into what is the highest purpose of human beings. To look into how we can engage in the world, performing at the highest level...to become the sword of Manjrushi, using wisdom to cut through the ignorance and see things as they really are, then to make those Virtuous distinctions...taking specific action to create a new culture and a new world.
Access: Public
arete
May 2008 