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virtue

 
Dictionary: vir·tue   (vûr'chū) pronunciation
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n.
    1. Moral excellence and righteousness; goodness.
    2. An example or kind of moral excellence: the virtue of patience.
  2. Chastity, especially in a woman.
  3. A particularly efficacious, good, or beneficial quality; advantage: a plan with the virtue of being practical.
  4. Effective force or power: believed in the virtue of prayer.
  5. virtues Christianity. The fifth of the nine orders of angels in medieval angelology.
  6. Obsolete. Manly courage; valor.
idiom:

by (or in) virtue of

  1. On the grounds or basis of; by reason of: well-off by virtue of a large inheritance.

[Middle English vertu, from Old French, from Latin virtūs, manliness, excellence, goodness, from vir, man.]


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Thesaurus: virtue
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noun

  1. The quality or state of being morally sound: good, goodness, morality, probity, rectitude, righteousness, rightness, uprightness, virtuousness. See right/wrong.
  2. The condition of being chaste: chastity, decency, innocence, modesty, purity, virginity, virtuousness. See good/bad, restraint/unrestraint, sex/asexual.
  3. A special feature or quality that confers superiority: beauty, distinction, excellence, merit, perfection. See good/bad.
  4. A level of superiority that is usually high: caliber, merit, quality, stature, value, worth. See good/bad, value/worthlessness/evaluation.

Antonyms: virtue
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n

Definition: honor, integrity
Antonyms: dishonor, evil, immorality, vice

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: virtue
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Practical dispositions in conformity with standards of excellence or with principles of practical reason. The seven cardinal virtues of the Christian tradition include the four "natural," or cardinal, virtues, those inculcated in the old pagan world that spring from the common endowment of humanity, and the three "theological" virtues, those specifically prescribed in Christianity and arising as special gifts from God. The natural virtues are prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice; this enumeration, said to go back to Socrates, is found in Plato and Aristotle. To these St. Paul added the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love — virtues which, in Christian teaching, do not originate naturally in humanity but are instead imparted by God through Christ and then practiced by the believer.

For more information on virtue, visit Britannica.com.

Philosophy Dictionary: virtue
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A virtue is a trait of character that is to be admired: one rendering its possessor better, either morally, or intellectually, or in the conduct of specific affairs. Both Plato and Aristotle devote much time to the unity of the virtues, or the way in which possession of one in the right way requires possession of the others; another central concern is the way in which possession of virtue, which might seem to stand in the way of self-interest, in fact makes possible the achievement of self-interest prop-erly understood, or eudaimonia. But different conceptions of moral virtue and its relation to other virtue characterize Platonic, Aristotelian, Stoic, Christian, Enlightenment, Romantic, and 20th-century ethical writing. These divisions reflect central preoccupations of their time and needs of the cultures in which they gain predominance: the humility, charity, patience, and chastity of Christianity would have been unintelligible as ethical virtues to classical Greeks, whereas the ‘magnanimity’ of the great-souled man of Aristotle is hard for us to read as an unqualified good. Syntheses of Christian and Greek conceptions are attempted by many, including Aquinas, but a resolute return to an Aristotelian conception has been impossible since the emergence of generalized benevolence as a leading virtue. For Hume a virtue is a trait of character with the power of producing love or esteem of others, or pride in oneself, by being ‘useful or agreeable’ to its possessors and those affected by them. In Kant, virtue is purely a trait that can act as a handmaiden to the doing of duty, having no independent ethical value, and in utilitarianism, virtues are traits of character that further pursuit of the general happiness.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: virtue
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virtue [Lat.,=manliness], in philosophy, quality of good in human conduct. The cardinal virtues, as presented by Plato, were wisdom (or prudence), courage, temperance, and justice. They are to be interpreted as descriptive of conduct rather than innate qualities and are achieved through proper training and discipline. They have been called natural virtues, as contrasted with the Christian theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity. As early as the 14th cent. the Christian virtues were combined with the Platonic virtues and called the seven cardinal virtues, figuring largely, with the opposing seven deadly sins, in such medieval literature as Dante's Divine Comedy. Some contemporary philosophers, such as Alasdair MacIntyre, have argued that traditional notions of virtue provide the best framework for reflection in ethics.

History 1450-1789: Virtue
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Virtue refers to a valued human characteristic or to excellence, or to the sum of such qualities. Hence, the term has an inherently normative or evaluative connotation, since it selects out forms of knowledge and action that are approved and commended. The notion of virtue in Western thought stems from the Greek word arete as translated into the Latin virtus. The concept has a long history in Europe and was widely employed in a number of contexts—social and political as well as moral—during the early modern period.

In its earliest Greek expressions, "virtue" denoted the superlative prowess of the heroic warrior and thus possessed both highly individualistic and gendered implications. Although the latter never fully disappeared (hence the etymological connection between virtue and virility, both derived from the root vir, 'man'), the former was subsumed into the communal sphere with the rise of the classical polis. Virtue and the virtues came to be regarded in the city-states of the ancient world as coordinate with the laws and customs of a given community. Thinkers as diverse as Pythagoras, Plato, and Aristotle agreed that the moral character of the individual constituted a microcosm of the political character of the city. The Greeks commonly identified four so-called cardinal virtues—courage, wisdom, justice, and temperance—although they also upheld the worthiness of many other qualities.

The ancient Romans and the European Christians generally embraced both the private and the public aspects of virtue. The popularity of philosophical schools such as Stoicism and Epicureanism among cultivated Romans and the other-worldliness and asceticism of Christianity tended to locate forms of virtue in the individual and to promote the priority of personal happiness over public good. Yet the Romans (particularly in the period of the Republic) also hailed the sacrifices of leaders and fellow citizens who were motivated by purely civic goals. Likewise, medieval Christians expected that government would be conducted by rulers whose actions fully accorded with standards of earthly rectitude, justice primary among them. To the list of cardinal virtues came to be added the so-called Christian or theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity.

The conventional wisdom about the fate of virtue in modern Europe charts an arc of its repoliticization during the Renaissance (in the guise of so-called civic humanism), followed by a period of redefinition and disappearance from the public sphere occasioned by the Protestant Reformation, the emergence of liberalism, the rise of commercial society, and the spread of Enlightenment values. This interpretation requires some qualification, however, inasmuch as the process was less one of straightforward decline than of complex transformation.

The association of the Renaissance itself (especially in Italy) with the glorification of civic-minded virtue—the ethos of sacrifice for the sake of one's fellow citizens and city—shared by members of a community (the so-called "civic humanism" thesis pioneered by Hans Baron) has come under serious and deserved challenge. While it is true that many of the greatest humanists of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries embraced citizenship as the fullest expression of a virtuous human life, taking the Roman statesman-orator Cicero as their exemplar, others adopted alternative views. Praise of Caesar and the Roman Empire, and hence devaluation of civic virtue, was quite common among leading humanists. A further group of Renaissance thinkers maintained a more orthodox Christian account of virtue as essentially a mark of God's grace or a trait that demonstrated one's worthiness for salvation. Moreover, there was nothing essentially urban about the idea of public virtue as the foundation for a good state; such a view was as widespread at the courts of territorial monarchs as in the cities of the Italian peninsula. Conceptions of virtue in Renaissance thought simply lacked the uniformity implied by the civic humanism thesis as commonly stated.

Early modern Europe witnessed numerous attempts to redefine, challenge, or criticize both conventional public and private ideals of virtue. Perhaps the most famous example of this is Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527), who enjoys an infamous reputation for his attack on virtue, especially in its standard classical and Christian versions. In his Il principe (1513–1514; The prince), Machiavelli argues that virtue as taught by ancient philosophers and preached from pulpits is very often incompatible with effective use of political power. A ruler who seeks to govern according to the cardinal and theological virtues will lose his office, since others who are prepared to employ tactics that lack moral sanction will oust him in their own quest for position and glory. Machiavelli peppers his little book with tales of virtuous magistrates who have been ruined and vicious ones who have succeeded. According to Machiavelli, the only assurance that the prince can overcome the vicissitudes of politics is a readiness to act in a manner inconsistent with virtue when circumstances require it. The Machiavellian ruler is not above counseling murder, deception, manipulation, and nearly every other mode of conventionally immoral conduct, if these acts prove efficient in maintaining hold on the levers of power. Machiavelli calls this moral flexibility virtù (the standard Italian word for 'virtue'), thus apparently turning the conventional discourse of ethics on its head.

Yet Machiavelli is not guilty of "teaching evil," despite the accusation made against him. In fact, his conception of virtù suggests that the ruler should always act according to commonplace virtue whenever he can do so without undermining his own power. Conventionally evil means should only be used when absolutely necessary, and even then the prince must do his best to ensure that people do not perceive him to be acting immorally, lest his reputation be harmed. Moreover, Machiavelli seems to think that this advice pertains only in the case of holders of public office; Machiavellian virtù is, one might say, a distinctively political way of acting, not to be commended to private persons in their interactions with one another. Nor ought it be forgotten that in his own political loyalties and other political writings, Machiavelli stood for a republican conception of civic virtue that lauded the sacrifice of personal goals and desires for the sake of attaining the communal glory of one's city.

Machiavelli was not alone among early modern European authors in reformulating ideas about virtue inherited from the classical and Christian past. For example, many humanists posed questions about the connection between virtue and nobility as it had customarily been conceived. In this period, as in early times, blood and birth were regarded as bestowing nobility upon an individual, and nobility in turn qualified a person to wield power and rule over natural inferiors. But humanist writers proposed that virtue alone prepared men for political office, since those who were most virtuous were most likely to act for the common good. Hence, it was the virtuous who possessed true nobility (vera nobilitas), and virtue was by no means coextensive with paternity and landed wealth. In Italy and even more noticeably in northern Europe, invocations of virtue could easily be translated into challenges to the cherished principle that some people were "naturally born" to rule.

Another modification of traditional conceptions of virtue came with the continuing commercialization of European economic relations and social values. Whereas for the ancient philosophers and medieval Christian theologians the private accumulation of liquid wealth had been widely viewed as incompatible with virtue, early modern authors began to reevaluate this doctrine. Some thinkers, such as the Italian civic humanists Leonardo Bruni (c. 1370–1444) and Gian Francesco Poggio Bracciolini (1380–1459), contended that citizens should proudly acknowledge industriousness and self-acquired possessions as the foundation of morality and the greatness of their cities. Other authors went further. The Dutch-born Bernard de Mandeville (1670–1733) proposed in his Fable of the Bees (1714/1729) the famous principle that private vices yield public goods, which is to say that the pursuit of personal gain, and indeed the desire for comfort and luxury, lead directly to the enrichment of society as a whole and the consequent benefit of all its members.

In spite of recent claims that the Enlightenment project of grounding morality on human reason alone led to the erosion of virtue-based ethics, thinkers of the eighteenth century continued to uphold virtue as central to the worthwhile human life. The central document of the Enlightenment, the Encyclopédie (1751–1758) compiled by Denis Diderot and Jean Le Rond d'Alembert, treated virtue as an indwelling sense given to all members of mankind universally and without exception and thus invariable in its content across time and place. While the Discours sur l'origine et les fondements de l'inégalité parmi les hommes (1755; Discourse on the origins of inequality) and the Émile (1762) of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) seem to treat the conventional virtues as affectations imposed artificially and detrimentally upon naturally good humanity, their author still insisted upon virtue as indispensable for a free society. Using language that any civic republican might endorse, Rousseau stipulated in Discours sur l'économie politique (1755; A discourse on political economy) that virtue is realized when citizens conform their particular wills to the determinations of the general will. While the discourse of virtue may have been further transformed during the early Enlightenment, it by no means disappeared.

Bibliography

Primary Sources

Kohl, Benjamin G., and Ronald G. Witt, eds. The Earthly Republic: Italian Humanists on Government and Society. Philadelphia, 1978.

Kraye, Jill, ed. Cambridge Translations of Renaissance Philosophical Texts. Vol. 2, Political Philosophy. Cambridge, U.K., and New York, 1997.

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. The Social Contract and Discourses. Edited by G. D. H. Cole. Revised by J. H. Brumfitt, and John C. Hall. New York, 1993.

Secondary Sources

Baron, Hans. The Crisis of the Early Italian Renaissance: Civic Humanism and Republican Liberty in an Age of Classicism and Tyranny. Rev. ed. Princeton, 1966.

Burtt, Shelley. Virtue Transformed: Political Argument in England, 1688–1740. Cambridge, U.K., and New York, 1992.

Hankins, James, ed. Renaissance Civic Humanism: Reappraisals and Reflections. Cambridge, U.K., and New York, 2000.

Mac Intyre, Alasdair. After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory. 2nd ed. Notre Dame, Ind., 1984.

Pagden, Anthony, ed. The Languages of Political Theory in Early-Modern Europe. Cambridge, U.K., and New York, 1987.

Skinner, Quentin. Visions of Politics. Vol. 2, Renaissance Virtues. Cambridge, U.K., and New York, 2002.

—CARY J. NEDERMAN

Devil's Dictionary: virtues
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A cynical view of the world by Ambrose Bierce


n.pl.

Certain abstentions.

Word Tutor: virtue
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pronunciation

IN BRIEF: The quality of doing what is right and avoiding what is wrong. Also: Any admirable quality or attribute.

pronunciation Wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is doing it. — David Starr Jordan (1851-1931)

Quotes About: Virtue
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Quotes:

"Great necessities call out great virtues." - Abigail Adams

"Some virtues are only seen in affliction and others only in prosperity." - Joseph Addison

"A homely face and no figure have aided many women heavenward." - Minna Antrim

"All virtue is summed up in dealing justly." - Aristotle

"Of all the varieties of virtues, liberalism is the most beloved." - Aristotle

"The greatest virtues are those which are most useful to other persons." - Aristotle

See more famous quotes about Virtue

Wikipedia: Virtue
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For other uses, see Virtue (disambiguation).
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Personification of virtue (Greek ἀρετή) in Celsus Library in Ephesos, Turkey
Virtue, sword in hand, with her foot on the prostrate form of Tyranny on the Great Seal of Virginia.

Virtue (Latin virtus; Greek ἀρετή) is moral excellence. A virtue is a character trait or quality valued as being good.

Personal virtues are characteristics valued as promoting individual and collective well-being, and thus good by definition. The opposite of virtue is vice.

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Virtues and values

Virtues can be placed into a broader context of values. Each individual has a core of underlying values that contribute to our system of beliefs, ideas and/or opinions (see value in semiotics). Integrity in the application of a value ensures its continuity and this continuity separates a value from beliefs, opinion and ideas. In this context a value (e.g., Truth or Equality or Creed) is the core from which we operate or react. Societies have values that are shared among many of the participants in that culture. An individual's values typically are largely, but not entirely, in agreement with their culture's values.

Individual virtues can be grouped into one of four categories of values:

Examples of virtues include:

Four classic Western virtues

Main article: Cardinal virtues

The four classic Western Cardinal virtues are:

This enumeration is traced to Greek philosophy, and was listed at least by Plato, if not also by Socrates, from whom no attributable written works exist. Plato also mentions "Holiness".

It is likely that Plato believed that virtue was, in fact, a single thing, and that this enumeration was created by others in order to better define virtue. In Protagoras and Meno, he states that the separate virtues can't exist independently, and offers as evidence the contradictions of acting with wisdom (prudence), yet in an unjust way, or acting with bravery (fortitude), yet without knowing (prudence).

Aristotle's virtues

In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle defined a virtue as a balance point between a deficiency and an excess of a trait. The point of greatest virtue lies not in the exact middle, but at a golden mean sometimes closer to one extreme than the other. For example, courage is the mean between cowardice and foolhardiness, confidence the mean between self-deprecation and vanity, and generosity the mean between miserliness and extravagance.

Prudence and virtue

Seneca, the Roman Stoic, said that perfect prudence is indistinguishable from perfect virtue. Thus, in considering all consequences, a prudent person would act in the same way as a virtuous person.

The same rationale was followed by Plato in Meno, when he wrote that people only act for what they perceive will maximize the good. It is the lack of wisdom which results in the making of a bad choice, rather than a good one. In this way, wisdom is the central part of virtue. However, he realized that if virtue was synonymous with wisdom, then it could be taught, a possibility he had earlier discounted. He then added "correct belief" as an alternative to knowledge, proposing that knowledge is merely correct belief that has been thought through and "tethered".

Roman virtues

  • Auctoritas — "Spiritual Authority" — The sense of one's social standing, built up through experience, Pietas, and Industria.
  • Comitas — "Humour" — Ease of manner, courtesy, openness, and friendliness.
  • Constantia — "Perseverance" — Military stamina, mental and physical endurance.
  • Clementia — "Mercy" — Mildness and gentleness.
  • Dignitas — "Dignity" — A sense of self-worth, personal pride.
  • Disciplina — "Discipline" — Military oath under Roman protective law & citizenship.
  • Firmitas — "Tenacity" — Strength of mind, the ability to stick to one's purpose.
  • Frugalitas — "Frugality" — Economy and simplicity of style, without being miserly.
  • Gravitas — "Gravity" — A sense of the importance of the matter at hand, responsibility and earnestness.
  • Honestas — "Respectability" — The image that one presents as a respectable member of society.
  • Humanitas — "Humanity" — Refinement, civilization, learning, and being cultured.
  • Industria — "Industriousness" — Hard work.
  • Iustitia — "Justice" — Sense of moral worth to an action.
  • Pietas — "Dutifulness" — More than religious piety; a respect for the natural order socially, politically, and religiously. Includes the ideas of patriotism and devotion to others.
  • Prudentia — "Prudence" — Foresight, wisdom, and personal discretion.
  • Salubritas — "Wholesomeness" — Health and cleanliness.
  • Severitas — "Sternness" — Gravity, self-control.
  • Veritas — "Truthfulness" — Honesty in dealing with others.
  • Virtus - "Manliness" - Valor, excellence, courage, character, and worth. Vir meaning "man".

Abrahamic religions

The Jewish tradition

In the Jewish tradition God is the Compassionate and is invoked as the Father of Compassion: hence Raḥmana or Compassionate becomes the usual designation for His revealed word. (Compare, below, the frequent use of raḥman in the Qur'an).[1]

Sorrow and pity for one in distress, creating a desire to relieve, is a feeling ascribed alike to man and God: in Biblical Hebrew, ("riḥam," from "reḥem," the mother, womb), "to pity" or "to show mercy" in view of the sufferer's helplessness, hence also "to forgive" (Hab. iii. 2); , "to forbear" (Ex. ii. 6; I Sam. xv. 3; Jer. xv. 15, xxi. 7.) The Rabbis speak of the "thirteen attributes of compassion." The Biblical conception of compassion is the feeling of the parent for the child. Hence the prophet's appeal in confirmation of his trust in God invokes the feeling of a mother for her offspring (Isa. xlix. 15). [1]

Lack of compassion, by contrast, marks a people as cruel (Jer. vi. 23). The repeated injunctions of the Law and the Prophets that the widow, the orphan and the stranger should be protected show how deeply, it is argued, the feeling of compassion was rooted in the hearts of the righteous in ancient Israel.[2]

A classic articulation of the Golden Rule (see above) came from the first century Rabbi Hillel the Elder. Renowned in the Jewish tradition as a sage and a scholar, he is associated with the development of the Mishnah and the Talmud and, as such, one of the most important figures in Jewish history. Asked for a summary of the Jewish religion in the most concise terms, Hillel replied (reputedly while standing on one leg): "That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah. The rest is the explanation; go and learn." [3]

Post 9/11, the words of Rabbi Hillel are frequently quoted in public lectures and interviews around the world by the prominent writer on comparative religion Karen Armstrong.

The Christian tradition

See also: Seven virtues

In Christianity, the theological virtues are faith, hope and charity or love/agape, a list which comes from 1 Corinthians 13:13 (νυνι δε μενει πιστις ελπις αγαπη τα τρια ταυτα μειζων δε τουτων η αγαπη pistis, elpis, agape). These are said to perfect one's love of God and Man and therefore to harmonize and partake of prudence.

There are many listings of virtue additional to the traditional Christian virtues (faith, hope and love) in the Christian Bible. One is the "Fruit of the Spirit," found in Galatians 5:22-23: "By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things."

The Holy Bible : New Revised Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989).

22 Ὁ δὲ καρπὸς τοῦ πνεύματός ἐστιν ἀγάπη χαρὰ εἰρήνη, μακροθυμία χρηστότης ἀγαθωσύνη, πίστις 23 πραΰτης ἐγκράτεια· κατὰ τῶν τοιούτων οὐκ ἔστιν νόμος. Barbara Aland, Kurt Aland, Matthew Black, Carlo M. Martini, Bruce M. Metzger and Allen Wikgren, The Greek New Testament, 4th ed. (Federal Republic of Germany: United Bible Societies, 1993, c1979).

The Muslim tradition

In the Muslim tradition the Qur'an is, as the word of God, the great repository of all virtue in earthly form, and the Prophet, particularly via his hadiths or reported sayings, the exemplar of virtue in human form.

The very name of Islam, meaning "acceptance," proclaims the virtue of submission to the will of God, the acceptance of the way things are. Foremost among God's attributes are mercy and compassion or, in the canonical language of Arabic, Rahman and Rahim. Each of the 114 chapters of the Qur'an, with one exception, begins with the verse, "In the name of God the Compassionate, the Merciful". [4]

The Arabic for compassion is rahmah. As a cultural influence, its roots abound in the Qur'an. A good Muslim is to commence each day, each prayer and each significant action by invoking God the Merciful and Compassionate, i.e. by reciting Bi Ism-i-Allah al-Rahman al-Rahim. The Muslim scriptures urge compassion towards captives as well as to widows, orphans and the poor. Traditionally, Zakat, a toll tax to help the poor and needy, is obligatory upon all Muslims (9:60). One of the practical purposes of fasting or sawm during the month of Ramadan is to help one empathize with the hunger pangs of those less fortunate, to enhance sensitivity to the suffering of others and develop compassion for the poor and destitute. [5]

The Muslim virtues are: prayer, repentance, honesty, loyalty, sincerity, frugality, prudence, moderation, self-restraint, discipline, perseverance, patience, hope, dignity, courage, justice, tolerance, wisdom, good speech, respect, purity, courtesy, kindness, gratitude, generosity, contentment, and others.[citation needed]

Hindu virtues

Hinduism, or Sanatana Dharma (Dharma means moral duty), has pivotal virtues that everyone keeping their Dharma is asked to follow. For they are distinct qualities of manusya (mankind), that allow one to be in the mode of goodness. There are three modes of material nature (guna), as described in the Vedas and other Indian Scriptures: Sattva (goodness, creation, stillness, intelligence), Rajas (passion, maintenance, energy, activity) , and Tamas (ignorance, restraint, inertia, destruction). Every person harbours a mixture of these modes in varying degrees. A person in the mode of Sattva has that mode in prominence in his nature, which he obtains by following the virtues of the Dharma .

The modes of Sattva are as following.[citation needed]

  • Altruism: Selfless Service to all humanity
  • Restraint and Moderation: This is having restraint and moderation in all things. Sexual relations, eating, and other pleasurable activities should be kept in moderation. Some orthodox followers also believe in sex only in marriage, and being chaste. It depends on the sect and belief system, some people believe this means celibacy... While others believe in walking the golden path of moderation, i.e. Not to far to the side of forceful control and total abandon of human pleasures, but also not too far to the side of total indulgence and total abandon for moderation.
  • Honesty: One is require to be honest with themselves, honest to their family, friends, and all of humanity.
  • Cleanliness: Outer cleaniness is to be cultivated for good health and hygiene, inner cleaniness is cultivated through devotion to god, selflessness, non-violence and all the other virtues; which is maintained by refraining from intoxicants.
  • Protection and reverence for the Earth.
  • Universality: Showing tolerance and respect for everyone, everything and the way of the Universe.
  • Peace: One must cultivate a peaceful manner in order to benefit themselves and those around them.
  • Non-Violence/Ahimsa: This means not killing, or being violent in any way to any life form or sentient being. This is why those who practice this Dharma are vegetarians because they see the slaughter of animals for the purpose of food as violent, when there are less violent ways to maintain a healthy diet.
  • Reverence for elders and teachers: This is virtue is very important to learn respect and reverence for those who have wisdom and those who selflessly teach in love. The Guru or spiritual teacher is one of the highest principals in many Vedic based spiritualities, and is likened to that of God.

The Buddhist tradition

Buddhist practice as outlined in the Noble Eightfold Path can be regarded as a progressive list of virtues.

  1. Right View - Realizing the Four Noble Truths (samyag-dṛṣṭi, sammā-diṭṭhi)
  2. Right Intention - Commitment to mental and ethical growth in moderation (samyak-saṃkalpa, sammā-saṅkappa)
  3. Right Speech - One speaks in a non hurtful, not exaggerated, truthful way (samyag-vāc, sammā-vācā)
  4. Right Action - Wholesome action, avoiding action that would do harm (samyak-karmānta, sammā-kammanta)
  5. Right Livelihood - One's job does not harm in any way oneself or others; directly or indirectly (samyag-ājīva, sammā-ājīva)
  6. Right Effort - One makes an effort to improve (samyag-vyāyāma, sammā-vāyāma)
  7. Right Mindfulness - Mental ability to see things for what they are with clear consciousness (samyak-smṛti, sammā-sati)
  8. Right Concentration - Wholesome one-pointedness of mind (samyak-samādhi, sammā-samādhi)

Buddhism's four brahmavihara ("Divine States") can be more properly regarded as virtues in the European sense. They are:

  1. Metta/Maitri: loving-kindness towards all; the hope that a person will be well; loving kindness is "the wish that all sentient beings, without any exception, be happy."[6]
  2. Karuna: compassion; the hope that a person's sufferings will diminish; compassion is the "wish for all sentient beings to be free from suffering."[6]
  3. Mudita: altruistic joy in the accomplishments of a person, oneself or other; sympathetic joy, "is the wholesome attitude of rejoicing in the happiness and virtues of all sentient beings."[6]
  4. Upekkha/Upeksha: equanimity, or learning to accept both loss and gain, praise and blame, success and failure with detachment, equally, for oneself and for others; equanimity means "not to distinguish between friend, enemy or stranger, but regard every sentient being as equal. It is a clear-minded tranquil state of mind - not being overpowered by delusions, mental dullness or agitation."[7]

There are also the Paramitas ("perfections").

In Theravada Buddhism's canonical Buddhavamsa[8] the Ten Perfections (dasa pāramiyo) are (original terms in Pali):

  1. Dāna parami : generosity, giving of oneself
  2. Sīla parami : virtue, morality, proper conduct
  3. Nekkhamma parami : renunciation
  4. Paññā parami : transcendental wisdom, insight
  5. Viriya (also spelt vīriya) parami : energy, diligence, vigour, effort
  6. Khanti parami : patience, tolerance, forbearance, acceptance, endurance
  7. Sacca parami : truthfulness, honesty
  8. Adhiṭṭhāna (adhitthana) parami : determination, resolution
  9. Mettā parami : loving-kindness
  10. Upekkhā (also spelt upekhā) parami : equanimity, serenity

In Mahayana Buddhism, the Lotus Sutra (Saddharmapundarika), lists the Six Perfections as (original terms in Sanskrit):

  1. Dāna paramita: generosity, giving of oneself (in Chinese, 布施波羅蜜)
  2. Śīla paramita : virtue, morality, discipline, proper conduct (持戒波羅蜜)
  3. Kṣānti (kshanti) paramita : patience, tolerance, forbearance, acceptance, endurance (忍辱波羅蜜)
  4. Vīrya paramita : energy, diligence, vigour, effort, perseverance (精進波羅蜜)
  5. Dhyāna paramita : one-pointed concentration, contemplation (禪定波羅蜜)
  6. Prajñā paramita : wisdom, insight (智慧波羅蜜)

In the Ten Stages (Dasabhumika) Sutra, four more Paramitas are listed:

7. Upāya paramita: skillful means
8. Praṇidhāna (pranidhana) paramita: vow, resolution, aspiration, determination
9. Bala paramita: spiritual power
10. Jñāna paramita: knowledge

Virtue in Chinese philosophy

"Virtue", translated from Chinese de (德), is also an important concept in Chinese philosophy, particularly Daoism. De (Chinese: 德; pinyin: dé; Wade-Giles: te) originally meant normative "virtue" in the sense of "personal character; inner strength; integrity", but semantically changed to moral "virtue; kindness; morality". Note the semantic parallel for English virtue, with an archaic meaning of "inner potency; divine power" (as in "by virtue of") and a modern one of "moral excellence; goodness".

Confucian moral manifestations of "virtue" include ren ("humanity"), xiao ("filial piety"), and zhong ("loyalty") In Confucianism the notion of ren according to Simon Leys means "humanity" and "goodness". Originally ren had the archaic meaning in the Confucian Book of Poems of "virility", then progressively took on shades of ethical meaning. (On the origins and transformations of this concept see Lin Yu-sheng: "The evolution of the pre-Confucian meaning of jen and the Confucian concept of moral autonomy," Monumenta Serica, vol31, 1974-75.)

The Daoist concept of De, however, is more subtle, pertaining to the "virtue" or ability that an individual realizes by following the Dao ("the Way"). One important normative value in much of Chinese thinking is that one's social status should result from the amount of virtue that one demonstrates rather than from one's birth. In the Analects, Confucius explains de: "He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it."[9]

Chinese martial morality

Samurai values

In Hagakure, the quintessential book of the samurai, Yamamoto Tsunetomo encapsulates his views on 'virtue' in the four vows he makes daily:

  1. Never to be outdone in the way of the samurai or Bushidō
  2. To be of good use to the master.
  3. To be filial to my parents.
  4. To manifest great compassion, and act for the sake of Man.

Tsunetomo goes on to say:

If one dedicates these four vows to the gods and Buddhas every morning, he will have the strength of two men and never slip backward. One must edge forward like the inchworm, bit by bit. The gods and Buddhas, too, first started with a vow.

The Bushidō code is typified by seven virtues^ :

  • Rectitude (義 ,gi)
  • Courage (勇 ,yuu)
  • Benevolence (仁 ,jin)
  • Respect (礼 ,rei)
  • Honesty (誠 ,sei)
  • Honor (誉 ,yo)
  • Loyalty (忠 ,chuu)

Others that are sometimes added to these:

  • Filial piety (孝 ,kō)
  • Wisdom (智 ,chi)
  • Care for the aged (悌 ,tei)

Nietzsche on virtue

Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche often took a more cynical view on virtue. A few of his key thoughts:

  • "One virtue is more of a virtue than two, because it is more of a knot for one's destiny to cling to."
  • "Virtue itself is offensive."
  • "When virtue has slept, it will arise all the more vigorous."
  • "Genuine honesty, assuming that this is our virtue and we cannot get rid of it, we free spirits – well then, we will want to work on it with all the love and malice at our disposal and not get tired of ‘perfecting’ ourselves in our virtue, the only one we have left: may its glory come to rest like a gilded, blue evening glow of mockery over this aging culture and its dull and dismal seriousness!" (Beyond Good and Evil, §227)

Virtues according to Benjamin Franklin

These are the virtues[10] that Benjamin Franklin used to develop what he called 'moral perfection'. He had a checklist in a notebook to measure each day how he lived up to his virtues.

They became known through Benjamin Franklin's autobiography and inspired many people all around the world. Authors and speakers in the self-help movement report being influenced by him, for example Anthony Robbins who based a part of his 'Date with Destiny' seminar on Franklin's concept.

  1. Temperance: Eat not to Dullness. Drink not to Elevation.
  2. Silence: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself. Avoid trifling Conversation.
  3. Order: Let all your Things have their Places. Let each Part of your Business have its Time.
  4. Resolution: Resolve to perform what you ought. Perform without fail what you resolve.
  5. Frugality: Make no Expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e. Waste nothing.
  6. Industry: Lose no Time. Be always employ'd in something useful. Cut off all unnecessary Actions.
  7. Sincerity: Use no hurtful Deceit. Think innocently and justly; and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
  8. Justice: Wrong none, by doing Injuries or omitting the Benefits that are your Duty.
  9. Moderation: Avoid Extremes. Forbear resenting Injuries so much as you think they deserve.
  10. Cleanliness: Tolerate no Uncleanness in Body, Clothes or Habitation.
  11. Tranquility: Be not disturbed at Trifles, or at Accidents common or unavoidable.
  12. Chastity: Rarely use Venery but for Health or Offspring; Never to Dullness, Weakness, or the Injury of your own or another's Peace or Reputation.
  13. Humility: Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

Virtues of Ayn Rand's philosophy: Objectivism

Ayn Rand holds that there are three fundamental values that one develops and achieves in life: Reason, Purpose and Self-Esteem. A value is "that which one acts to gain and/or keep ... and the virtue[s] [are] the act[ions] by which one gains and/or keeps it."[11] These values are achieved by passionate and consistent action and the virtues are the policies for achieving those fundamental values.[12]. Ayn Rand describes seven virtues: rationality, productiveness, pride, independence, integrity, honesty and justice. The first three represent the three primary virtues that correspond to the three fundamental values, whereas the final four are derived from the virtue of rationality.

Virtue and vice

Main article: Vice

The opposite of a virtue is a vice. One way of organizing the vices is as the corruption of the virtues.

As Aristotle noted, however, the virtues can have several opposites. Virtues can be considered the mean between two extremes, as the Latin maxim dictates in medio stat virtus -in the centre lies virtue. For instance, both cowardice and rashness are opposites of courage; contrary to prudence are both over-caution and insufficient caution. A more "modern" virtue, tolerance, can be considered the mean between the two extremes of narrow-mindedness on the one hand and soft-heartedness on the other. Vices can therefore be identified as the opposites of virtues, but with the caveat that each virtue could have many different opposites, all distinct from each other.

Virtue in modern psychology

Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman, two leading researchers in positive psychology, recognizing the deficiency inherent in psychology's tendency to focus on dysfunction rather than on what makes a healthy and stable personality, set out to develop a list of "Character Strengths and Virtues"[13] After three years of study, six broad areas of virtue were identified, having "a surprising amount of similarity across cultures and strongly indicat[ing] a historical and cross-cultural convergence."[14] These six categories of virtue are courage, justice, humanity, temperance, transcendence, and wisdom.[15]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=699&letter=C&search=compassion | The Jewish Encyclopedia
  2. ^ http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=699&letter=C&search=compassion |The Jewish Encyclopedia
  3. ^ Babylonian Talmud, tractate Shabbat 31a. See also the ethic of reciprocity or "The Golden rule."
  4. ^ http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/tawheed/conceptofgod.html | University of Southern California
  5. ^ http://www.milligazette.com/Archives/15122001/1512200144.html
  6. ^ a b c http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/buddhism/bs-s15.htm Buddhist Studies for Secondary Students, Unit 6: The Four Immeasurables
  7. ^ http://buddhism.kalachakranet.org/immeasurables_love_compassion_equanimity_rejoicing.html A View on Buddhism, THE FOUR IMMEASURABLES: Love, Compassion, Joy and Equanimity
  8. ^ Buddhavamsa, chapter 2. For an on-line reference to the Buddhavamsa's seminality in the Theravada notion of parami, see Bodhi (2005).
    In terms of other examples in the Pali literature, Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25), p. 454, entry for "Pāramī," (retrieved 2007-06-24) cites Jataka i.73 and Dhammapada Atthakatha i.84. Bodhi (2005) also mentions Acariya Dhammapala's treatise in the Cariyapitaka-Atthakatha and the Brahmajala Sutta subcommentary (tika).
  9. ^ Lunyu 2/1, tr. James Legge
  10. ^ Franklin's 13 Virtues Extract of Franklin's autobiography, compiled by Paul Ford.
  11. ^ Rand, Ayn The Virtue of Selfishness, p. 27
  12. ^ Gotthelf, Allan On Ayn Rand; p. 86
  13. ^ Peterson, C., & Seligman, M.E.P. (2004). Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification. Oxford University Press. (ISBN 0195167015)
  14. ^ Peterson, C., & Seligman, M.E.P. (2004). Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification. Oxford University Press. p. 36. (ISBN 0195167015)
  15. ^ Peterson, C., & Seligman, M.E.P. (2004). Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification. Oxford University Press. p. 36-39. (ISBN 0195167015)

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Translations: Virtue
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Dansk (Danish)
n. - dyd, fortrin, evne, kraft

idioms:

  • by virtue of    i kraft af
  • in virtue of    i kraft af
  • make a virtue of    gøre en dyd af

Nederlands (Dutch)
verdienste, moraliteit, goedheid, deugd, engelengroep, moed, kracht, kuisheid

Français (French)
n. - vertu, avantage, mérites

idioms:

  • by virtue of    en raison de
  • in virtue of    en vertu de
  • make a virtue of    faire (de nécessité) vertu

Deutsch (German)
n. - Tugend, Tugendhaftigkeit, Vorzug

idioms:

  • by virtue of    aufgrund
  • in virtue of    aufgrund
  • make a virtue of    eine Tugend aus etwas machen

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - αρετή, ικανότητα, δραστικότητα, προσόν, προτέρημα, χρηστοήθεια, χρηστότητα

idioms:

  • by virtue of    λόγω του, δυνάμει, επί τη βάσει
  • in virtue of    δυνάμει, επί τη βάσει, συνεπεία, λόγω, εξαιτίας
  • make a virtue of    την ανάγκη φιλοτιμία ποιούμαι

Italiano (Italian)
virtù

idioms:

  • by virtue of    in virtù di
  • in virtue of    in virtù di
  • make a virtue of    fare di necessitý virtù

Português (Portuguese)
n. - virtude (f), probidade (f), eficácia (f), pureza (f)

idioms:

  • by/in virtue of    por/em virtude de
  • make a virtue of    fazer o melhor de

Русский (Russian)
добродетель, достоинство, эффективность

idioms:

  • by/in virtue of    в силу чего-л.
  • make a virtue of    ставить в заслугу

Español (Spanish)
n. - virtud, castidad, honra, ventaja

idioms:

  • by virtue of    en virtud de
  • in virtue of    en virtud de
  • make a virtue of    convertir en virtud (algo que no lo es)

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - dygd, förmåga, fördel

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
德行, 贞操, 美德

idioms:

  • by virtue of    依靠, 由于
  • in virtue of    由于
  • make a virtue of    心甘情愿地做非做不可的事, 不得已而甘愿为之

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 德行, 貞操, 美德

idioms:

  • by virtue of    依靠, 由於
  • in virtue of    由於
  • make a virtue of    心甘情願地做非做不可的事, 不得已而甘願為之

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 덕행, 정절, 효능

idioms:

  • by virtue of    ~의 힘으로, ~이라는 이유로
  • in virtue of    ~의 효력에 의하여
  • make a virtue of    ~한 일을 쾌히 행하다, 공치사 하다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 徳, 美徳, 高潔, 長所, 効き目, 効力, 貞操

idioms:

  • by/in virtue of    力で
  • make a virtue of    手柄顔をする

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) فضيله, اخلاقيه, تواضع, عدل‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮טוב, יושר, מוסריות, מידה טובה, חסידות, צניעות, טוהר, כוח, יעילות, יתרון, סגולה, מצווה, מעלה‬

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