Living The Virtuous Life
Intermingling Religious and Philosophical Ethics
Greek Virtue and The Teleological Life
Virtue is defined as a habit or quality that allows individuals to succeed at their purpose. Socrates and Aristotle are referenced considerably about virtuosity. They believed that being virtuous was in our nature, that being virtuous is acting with excellence and acting rightly. One needed to examine one’s life to become virtuous; so, self-awareness and self-reflection were inextricable. In other words, this is called self-realization — which is the awareness of one’s nature and then the development of oneself. Ultimately, this type of mindset and endeavor is what brings about happiness, joy, and purpose. In Nina Rosenstand’s book, The Moral of the Story, she writes: “For Aristotle…there is no difference between fulfilling one’s purpose, being virtuous, doing something with excellence, and being morally good”. Some may disagree today: Happiness is making six figures and driving a luxury car; Happiness is having over 1000 followers on Twitter; Happiness is being able to relax and drink with one’s buddies. The Greeks would contend that this neoteric paradigm is anti-teleological — contrary to the belief that everything, let alone everyone, has meaning and purpose. They would say 21st-century-people are foolishly ignorant, and this is backed up by moderners’ viewpoints about life and the way in which they live their lives. Aptly, “the unexamined life is not worth living.”
Temperance — Moderation and The Golden Rule
Living by a weekly budget not due to financial scarcity, having just one glass of Cabernet Sauvignon at your favorite Italian spot, and watching one show a night with your wife are all acts of temperance.
In the book of Titus in the Bible, it instructs to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and oppositely, live self-controlled and upright. Ungodliness can seem amorphous and nebulous but one can infer and relate this term to present-day: Ungodliness can be an attachment to the physical — materialism; so, a budget that delimits shopping sprees would not be ungodly. Ungodliness can be drunkenness; so, responsible alcohol consumption would not be ungodly. And ungodliness can be static and perfunctory activities like TV absorption; so, a disciplined approach to technology would not be ungodly.
Money, drugs, and devices are all modern-day “appetites” — a term used by Socrates. In other words, desires (a key part of Buddhism — which they posit causes suffering). When one’s “spirit” or “willpower” trumps our reason, our rational, one might feel guilt or regret, like: spending $200 on a pair of ’heels, or getting “trashed” at a get-together, or “binge-watching” four hours of Keeping Up with the Kardashians. But, Rosenstand asserts, “…when the appetites are completely controlled, the person is temperate.”
Temperance is crucial to virtue. Temperance is one of the Cardinal Virtues in Catholicism. It is written in Mark in the New Testament, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” The way in which someone lives in moderation — by automatized, ingrained repetition and action, Socratically, and by help from a higher source, religiously — can vary but the principle is shared. Plato influenced Saint Augustine of Hippo, 4th- and 5th-century North African Christian thinker and philosopher, who would go on and dynamically influence Western Christianity. Plato’s writing about shunning physical desire inspired St. Augustine. Aristotle argued that doing the right thing, in the right time, in the right proportions (moderation) was integral to virtue. Being temperate is “good for man” — where a man can excel, knowing what to do, and finding happiness. He pens about what is called “The Golden Mean”:
“Virtue, then, is a state of character concerned with choice, lying in a mean, i.e., the mean relative to us, this being determined by a rational principle by which the man of practical wisdom would determine it. Now it is a mean between two vices, that which depends on excess and that which depends on defect; and again it is a mean because the vices respectively fall short of or exceed what is right in both passions and actions, while virtue finds and chooses that which is intermediate.”
This concept of excess and deficiency — both extremes, both vices — with the mean — the virtue — in between is relevant still. Too much patience can turn into passivity, e.g. waiting weeks for your date to give you a call back; while too little patience can materialize into impatience, e.g. selling a stock after one bad week. Further, too much honesty can be felt as bluntness, like telling a friend their outfit isn’t attractive; and too little can be seen as withholding or willful deception, like a high school student not telling their parent they’re failing English.
The Bible contains virtues such as self-control, kindness, and patience. The Catholic Church’s doctrine consists of “deadly sins,” some of which are pride, lust, and anger. Additionally, Confucius — the ancient Chinese thinker — subscribed to moderation too. Temperance provides a worthy and noble life, not being dictating by desires nor ruled by emotions nor racked with fleeting pleasures.
Prudence — Judicious Decisions and Reasoned Action
Quitting your job because your boss is rude, going 90 on the highway, and using a credit card so flippantly are all choices that don’t use reasoned and dispassionate judgment.
Rosenstand declares that when reason rules, the person is wise. Chinese philosophy calls this yi; Greek philosophy calls this contemplation; Christianity calls this prudence. With no job, you won’t have an income to pay rent, buy groceries, and so forth; with a ticket of that severity, you’ll owe hundreds of dollars, your insurance most likely will go up, and you could have your license revoked; while in debt, your credit score will skyrocket and you’ll become overwhelmed with the implications.
Father John A. Hardon notes prudence as “the knowledge of things that ought to be done and of things ought to be avoided.” Having no income, losing your driving privileges, and getting in debt are evidently things that shouldn’t be desirable. By reason, one can strive to live a virtuous life, knowing right from wrong, good from evil. Proverbs, in the Holy Bible, expresses, “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, And I find knowledge and discretion.” With prudence, one can weigh the consequences of not having a job and decide a different direction to go with one’s frustration (like requesting a meeting or venting to a friend); with prudence, one can hit the brakes — irrespective of the circumstances — and travel more safely and reasonably (like being more on-time if that’s the deal); and with prudence, one can stop, think, and not buy this or that notwithstanding the urge and draw to (exhibiting more self-restraint about money and purchasing).
Many can act with haste, irrationality, injudiciousness, rashness, or impulsivity — passion or fury are powerful states. However, being able to think clearly, act logically, and speak controllably are all critical in living a virtuous life.
Altruism — Selfless Treatment and Sacrificial Love
Not letting a car merging into traffic from the on-ramp, listening poorly to a girlfriend while at lunch and instead focusing on your phone-screen, and cleaning just your dishes in the sink after your husband made dinner are all action of selfishness and a lack of concern for others.
Lithuanian-French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas, from a unique relationship with the Nazi atrocities, developed a philosophical framework that was other-focused and other-centered. Levinas coined the term ideal altruism, which is normative and is giving up one’s own self-interest for others. It is an extreme stance.
This is illustrated in Christianity when Jesus, God’s son, dies on a cross to absolve the sins of humanity — past, present, and future. He suffered a terrible execution after being mocked and flogged by being controversially deemed guilty. 1st Peter says, “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit”. Jesus ended his life, a life of significance and remarkability, for the good and the not-so-good. This sacrificial love is the embodiment of “the Other.”
Levinas contends that the Other is more important than oneself. Jesus’ selfless offering is of that philosophy. Levinas continues with: the Other’s needs is one’s own responsibility — their need is of highest importance. In Matthew, Jesus goes about different cities and villages, teaching, preaching, and healing all sicknesses and diseases — such as leprosy, blindness, lameness, and demonic possessions. At times, Jesus grew weary and tired but that didn’t take precedent.
American philosopher Pete Singer’s reciprocal altruism is akin to Jesus’ Golden Rule: do unto others as you would like done unto you. If you adopt Levinas’ philosophy and act in accordance with Jesus, you’d let that car ahead of you, you’d put your phone down and hear her out, and you’d cleanup the whole kitchen. Objections to Levinas theory complain that the Other is feminine — thus, it’s sexist. Actually, Levinas is not saying the Other is female and the subject is male.
Masculinity and femininity are not mutually exclusive to the respective male and female gender; in fact, they are present in each gender. Masculine traits include ambition and strength and feminine traits include tenderness and kindness. In our evolving world, these traits should be encouraged in all. Selflessness is a virtue that augments oneself while uplifting, supporting, and offering assistance to others without expectation.
Emotions — Where Compassion and Empathy Influence Morality
Your two-year old son is crying non-stop and you don’t realize, one of your students is intentionally locked out of the room after being a few minutes late, and a kid at school is sitting, again, alone at lunch are instances that call for an act of compassion, a pull towards empathy.
David Hume, 18th century Scottish philosopher, argues that actually our emotions can play a role in our moral makeup (as opposed to the Greco ideology of sole reason). For Confucius, benevolence — acts of kindness — is the prime virtue. Additionally, Confucian protégé, Mencius, in one of his books, utters, “Benevolence is the heart of man, and rightness his road” (Rosenstand, 2013). The God of the Old Testament, like in the book of Isaiah, shows compassion and mercy on His people. And many of Jesus’ miracles, healings, were said to be done from a compassionate place and a heart of empathy. The well-known example of the Good Samaritan in the book of Luke is one of compassion and human welfare and other-care.
Compassion would comfort your son, compassion would let the student in, and compassion would go and give the kid some company and human connection. An objection is the benefits of selfish acts: hoarding one’s money or receiving laughs by jabbing at someone. These behaviors might be satisfying, exhilarating, or pleasurable but they are temporary and superficial. They don’t lead to happiness, because they are antithetical to virtue.
Moreover, one could argue that what about someone who lacks concern for others? who is apathetic? — psychopathic by definition. This isn’t normal as we know now that our brains are wired for empathy. This type of person is capable of what Richard Taylor calls “crimes against compassion” — malicious acts. This is where one’s moral compass, conscience is missing. Without empathy, reason would be relied upon. To influence this individual, you could use the aforementioned Would you like this done to you? If this gets nowhere, then punishment needs to be issued, i.e. a prison sentence for an unlawful act.
On another objection, Jesse Prinz claims that empathy can be misguided by a “cuteness effect”— an appeal to appearance; also, empathy can be partial to in-group bias, like your urban neighbors/ethnic conglomerate. A profusion of empathy can cloud one’s judgment because of its vicarious effect. So, to combat these potentialities we need to interdigitate reason, our rational functions with emotions like empathy. A virtuous individual cares for others, helps others, and makes others’ lives better.
Coming Full Circle — Implications
In New York Times bestseller author and Redeemer Church founder and pastor’s book, Making Sense of God, Tim Keller reveals that a Pew research study shows that actually religion is on the rise while “nones” (or non-believers) are becoming conversely more prevalent. Thus, we can be concerned of an ethical dilemma, a moral crossroads as some draw closer to religion and others repel it.
Hopefully however, this piece explicates that virtues of temperance or self-control, prudence or forethought, unselfishness or altruism, and compassion or empathy are shared by both philosophy and religion. One can be virtuous with philosophy and with religion, or with morality and without religion. The consequences of this reality gives light to the changing landscape we see and how individuals, groups, and institutions can be good in and of themselves and good to others.
