The Virtues , the Emotions, and the Good Life.

Emotional Stability and Happiness.

School of Positive PsychologyMartin Seligman (former president of the APA)

Conrad Baars M.D.

…man’s emotions have an innate need to be guided and directed by reason.  That is to say that they need and desire to be guided by their very nature.  …When an emotion receives its proper guidance, it is satisfied and is now disposed to submit to the decision of the will as to what course of action shall be taken.

The Kalon (the morally beautiful)

The morally right

The noble

The good

The beautiful

The happy man is the noble man. Noble (kalon): attractive, morally beautiful, virtuous. The noble man is beautiful.

384-322 BC

Aristotle

Oscar Wilde1854-1900

“Sin is a thing that writes itself across a man’s face. It cannot be concealed. People talk sometimes of secret vices. There are no such things. If a wretched man has a vice, it shows itself in the lines of his mouth, the droop of his eyelids, the moulding of his hands even.”

Socrates 469 - 399 B.C.

Socrates was able to divide people into three, on the basis of what each one regarded as happiness.

Majority

Second to majority

Minority. The philosophers.

Happiness: the perfection of the soul

Theoretical Contemplation

Knowing the highest things

...the activity of our intelligence constitutes the complete happiness of man,...So if it is true that intelligence is divine in comparison with man, then a life guided by intelligence is divine in comparison with human life. We must not follow those who advise us to have human thoughts, since we are only men, and mortal thoughts, as mortals should; on the contrary, we should try to become immortal as far as that is possible and do our utmost to live in accordance with what is highest in us.

The human person must strive to know, to develop his mind, to enjoy the contemplation of truth

But man is not a “separate substance” (pure form). Man is a rational animal.

Sometimes the appetites rebel against reason

I.e.,

The person who easily gives up when things become difficult.

The person who runs when there is danger.

The person who cannot hold a job because he has no self-control over alcoholic drink.

The person who has no control over his sexual appetite, and so can think of nothing other than sex.

The good life begins by bringing order to one’s life.

Disorder

Concupiscible appetite

Irascible appetite

IntellectIntellect

WillWill

BestialBestial

Ordered Life

Concupiscible appetite Irascible appetite

WillWill

ReasonReason

Order is harmony, beauty, kaleo, kalon: noble

The Intellectual Virtues:

Wisdom, Science, Understanding.

The Intellect

The Will

The irascible appetite

The concupiscible appetite

Prudence

Justice

Courage

Temperance

The Moral Virtues

Beautiful (Noble) CharacterBeautiful (Noble) Character

St. Augustine

Man comes from God, and it is his destiny to return to God. It is through virtue that man achieves his destiny.

“Oh Lord, you made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.”

God has revealed Himself in the Person of Christ, and it is revealed that we shall see God as He is:

It is written (1 John 3:2): "When He shall appear, we shall be like to Him; and [Vulg.: 'because'] we shall see Him as He is."

Perfect happiness is now a real possibility for everyone. Our destiny is to contemplate the Highest Being: Ipsum Esse Subsistens.

Human Acts

A specifically human act is intelligently motivated, that is, motivated by intelligible human goods, not sensible goods.

Sensible goods:

The taste of a burger

A pleasant odor

The warmth of a beach

Intelligible goods:

Friendships

A game of chess (leisure)

A religious action

Truth

Scratching an itch is not a specifically human act

Asking a question is a specifically human action that is motivated by a desire to possess an intelligible human good (truth).

The Sensitive Appetites

The emotions have an innate need to be guided by reason

Why?

Because virtue perfects the powers of the soul. In other words, virtue disposes the powers of the soul to their proper activity.

Happiness: Activity in accordance with perfect virtue

Human life is a quest for the Supreme and Perfect Good. But human nature is not proportioned to it. The Supreme Good exceeds the capacity of human nature.

The Theological Virtues(Faith, Hope, and Charity)

Faith: pertains to the intellect, since truth is the object of faith. In fact, the object of faith is the first truth, that is, God Himself.

By faith the Christian soul enters, as it were, into marriage with God…Before Christ’s coming no philosopher by his entire sustained effort could have known as much about God and the truths necessary for salvation as can a humble old woman now that Christ has come.

Exposition, Apostles’ Creed

Between knowledge through science and knowledge through faith there is this difference: science shines only on the mind, showing that God is the cause of everything, that he is one and wise, and so forth. Faith enlightens the mind and also warms the affections, telling us not merely that God is first cause, but also that he is saviour, redeemer, loving, made flesh for us.

Commentary, 2 Corinthians, ii, lect. 3

Hope: The supernatural virtue of hope (a gift as well) looks expectantly to the future. Through the virtue of hope, a person awaits in confidence the fulfillment of the promises of God. Hope also looks forward to personal immortality and the resurrection of the body.

Charity: The most important of the virtues, and the one most important for the development of the human person.

Charity is the love of God under the aspect of friendship. For on the purely natural level, man's greatest achievement is found in friendship (in the true sense of the word). That is why human friendship is the best way of explaining man's relationship to God brought about through charity.

Man's greatest achievement is going to be found in a perfect love of God through charity, and so his personal growth will be found in his increasing love of God under the aspect of personal friendship.

Charity is the form of all the virtues

PrudenceJusticeFortitudeTemperance

The Four Cardinal Virtues

These virtues perfect the four principal powers of the human person: Intellect, Will, Concupiscible, and Irascible powers.

Practical Intellect: perfected by the virtue of Prudence

Will – perfected by the virtue of: Justice.

Irascible Appetite: perfected by the virtue of: Fortitude

Concupiscible Appetite: perfected by the virtue of:

Temperance

Intellect -- Prudence

Will --- Justice

Concupiscibleappetite

Irascible appetite

Temperance

Fortitude

Before man can perfect his ability to act well in relation to others (justice), he must perfect his ability to act well with himself from within himself.

He will do so by cultivating temperance and fortitude.

Concupiscibleappetite

Irascible appetite

FortitudeTemperance

Temperance: The virtue which seeks to moderate, according to reason, the pleasures of touch, in particular those activities ordered to the preservation of the life of the individual and the species, namely the pleasures involved in eating and drinking (individual), and sexual activity (species).

The glutton does not eat to live, but lives to eat.

Fornication

Adultery

Incest

Seduction

Rape

Contraception

Sodomy

Masturbation

Necrophilia (Peter Singer)

one flesh union

procreation

Sex act

Moderate love of one’s own excellence

Inordinate love of one’s own excellence

Deficient love and of one’s own excellence

“Humility observes the rule of right reason whereby a man has true self-esteem.” 

“Wherefore meekness above all makes a man self-possessed.”

Clemency mitigates punishment according to the demands of right reason.  Severity is the virtue by which a person remains inflexible in the infliction of punishment when right reason requires it, and so is not opposed to clemency.  The opposing vice here is both cruelty on the one hand (which denotes excess in punishing) and leniency on the other, which is an unreasonable mitigation of punishment. 

Excessive modesty ?

Modesty of Apparel

Immodesty

Modesty of movementModesty of speechLeisure (play or the virtue of pleasantness)

“A man is said to be pleasant through having a happy turn of mind, whereby he gives his words and deeds a cheerful turn.” 

Fortitude: The virtue that moderates fear and daring and directs us to how and when we should attack evil.

Fortitude binds the will firmly to the good of reason in the face of the greatest evils, and the most fearful of all bodily evils is death

Pusillanimity (the unmagnanimous spirit)

Loitering at the local Tim Horton’s. Certainly not an example of the mind stretching forth to “great things”

Magnificent Works

Not So Magnificent Works

The virtue by which one persists long in something good until it is accomplished

Justice: The constant will to render to another that which is due to him or her.

The Common Good

A meal is not a common good, but a collective good. As the number of participants increases each one actually possesses less of that good.

A common good is not diminished by an increase in participants. It is a good possessed as a whole by each individual without its becoming anyone’s private good.

Examples:

SociabilityA familyTruthCultural heritageEducationGod and a religious heritage

Public securityInternational peaceA just and legal political systemEtc.,.

Legal (General) Justice – the virtue by which we exercise the acts of all the virtues in relation to the common good.

General Injustice – general lawlessness. Indifference to the common good.

Vices Against Commutative Justice

In general, the vice opposed to commutative justice is the willing of inequality with respect to what is due the willing of inequality with respect to what is due anotheranother..

Deed

MurderPhysical AssaultFalse imprisonmentAdultery

Word

False accusationsFalse statements (attorney)False testimonyDetraction (attacking the good name of another person)Contumely (speaking in a manner derogatory to the honor and reputation of another).Gossiping (secretly talking about the defects of another with the intention of destroying friendship).Cursing (willing injury to another by invoking evil upon him).Mockery (the vice by which a person laughs contemptuously at another or intends to cause shame in another by making known, in a jesting manner, his vices).

Vices Against Commutative Justice

Fraud (the deliberate use of deception to cause the loss of some value to one of the two individuals. Both buyer and seller). Defective product without discount, Selling short in number and weight. Buyer aware that the seller is ignorant of true value of the article, takes

advantage, or takes advantage of an error in calculation.

Deceptive advertising

Usury (charging excessive interest on a loan of money. In ancient times, usury meant the charging of any interest on money borrowed).

Virtues Allied with Justice

Potential parts of justice (fall short of the strict meaning of justice). Moral debt rather than a strict legal debt.

Spending money on the flesh that leads one to take no pleasure in virtue

The proper and reasonable stewardship of excess riches

Inordinate love of possessing

The virtue of speaking and acting in accord with truth. We have a moral debt to express ourselves truthfully.

The virtue by which one acknowledges some benefit or favor done by someone else.

Vindication: the virtue by which one, in conformity with relevant circumstances, observes due measure in meting out punishment to one who has committed some moral offense. It is willing of punishment for the sake of preserving the just order and restraining evildoers.

Affability: the virtue by which one promotes and maintains agreeable relations in social life. It is a friendliness, an establishment of cordial relations with others (not the same as friendship).

The virtue inclining the will to correct law when law fails to apply in particular instances.

The Most Important Virtues Allied with Justice

Piety: The virtue by which we manifest the respect and honor we owe to our relatives, especially our parents (filial piety), and our country (patriotism).

The Most Important Virtues Allied with Justice

Veneration (Observance): The virtue by which we show honor and respect to persons who are in a position of dignity and/or authority. Ie, Prime Minister, a court judge, Premier of a Province, teacher, vice-principal, principal, police officer, etc.,.

The Most Important Virtues Allied with Justice

Religion: The habit of rendering in some way what is due to God.

Man cannot do complete justice to God. In order to give anything back to Him, we have to be given it first.

Gift always precedes justice.

Acts of Religion

Interior Exterior

Devotion Prayer Adoration Sacrifice

Vices contrary to Religion:

superstition (excess) irreligiousness or irreverence.

Prudence

The intellectual/moral virtue which rightly directs particular human acts, through rightly ordered appetite, toward a good end.

• A prudent man does not merely know what is good. He is above all one who does the good.

Right appetite is thus part and parcel of prudence. Ie., one who does not will justice cannot be prudent.

Universal principles certainty

Particular situations less certain

Requiring a special virtue, an intellectual/moral virtue (requiring right appetite)

Integral Parts of Prudence

MemoryUnderstanding of first principles

DocilityShrewdness

Discursive ReasoningForesight

CircumspectionCaution

Integral Parts of Prudence Memory

“There are none so blind as those who will not see”

I may choose to forget the evidence that presents itself to me about this man who appears to be my friend. I choose not to ponder the clues and what they could mean, for fear of what I might discover.

Integral Parts of Prudence Understanding of first principles

Synderesis

Intellectual knowledge Rational appetite(knowledge of things intelligible) (intelligible goods)

LifeTruthLeisureSociabilityReligionMarriageIntegrity

Naturally inclined to these human and intelligible goods

Integral Parts of Prudence Docility

The recognition of one’s finitude and need for advice.

The ability to learn from others, to seek out and accept their advice.

An open-mindedness

Integral Parts of Prudence

Shrewdnesssolertia

Clear-sighted objectivity in unexpected circumstances

The ability to quickly size up a situation

Intuitive.

Integral Parts of Prudence Discursive Reasoning

The ability to research and compare alternative possibilities and to reason well from premises to conclusions in practical matters.

Integral Parts of PrudenceForesight

The capacity to estimate whether a particular action will lead to the realization of our goal

Integral Parts of Prudence Circumspection

The ability to take all relevant circumstances into account, since otherwise what seems to be a good end and a good means can be vitiated by factors that have not been considered.

Integral Parts of PrudenceCaution

Care to avoid, when choosing good means to a good end--or at least anticipate-- those evils that will likely result from a good act that we contemplate doing. So it is by caution that we take steps, if necessary, to avoid such evils. So to be cautious is to be on the lookout especially for the bad consequences of a contemplated action

Potential Parts of Prudence

Counsel – inquiring into the means and circumstances.

Practical Judgment – an assent to good and suitable means.

Command – the direct application of the counseling and judging of action.

Eubulia – the perfection by which we rightly deliberate about available means that will lead to a desired good end.

Synesis – good common sense in making judgments about what to do and what not to do in ordinary matters.

Gnome – the virtue by which a person, seeking to preserve the spirit of what is just, judges it right to perform an action not required strictly by the letter of the law. Belonging to a good judge when dealing with problems not wholly covered by the law.The principal act of prudence

Vices contrary to prudence

Inconstancy: (wavering) – failure to complete a moral act by refusing to command that an act be done (giving way to inordinate pleasure).

Negligence: a defect on the part of the intellect to direct the will in carrying out some good action.

Impetuosity: the vice of acting too quickly – failure to consider adequately the available means.

Thoughtlessness: a defect of practical judgment – opposed to synesis and gnome

Contrary to command

False PrudencePrudence of the Flesh

The vice by which one is excessively concerned about the good of the body or sensual pleasure.

False PrudenceExcessive thought and concern about attaining various objects of desire, or excessive solicitude about attaining power, position, wealth, fame.

Cunning: the intellectual disposition by which one is able to employ improper means to attain a desired end.

Three former NatWest bankers. Gary Mulgrew, Giles Darby and David Bermingham - have each been accused of seven counts of "wire fraud" by US authorities. They all worked for Greenwich Natwest, the bank's capital markets division, at the time of the alleged fraud four years ago.

Intellect -- Prudence

Will --- Justicereasoningunderstandingcircumspectionforesightdocilitycautionmemory

False Prudence:

- craftiness- guile- unduly solicitous of temporal matters

legal justice [>]commutative justicedistributive justice

liberalityreligionpietyobservancegratitudetruth affabilityequity

Concupiscibleappetite

Irascible appetite

temperanceabstinencesobrietychastityhumilitymeeknessclemencymodesty

fortitudemagnanimitymagnificencepatienceperseverance

Three Elements of the Human Action

Moral Object: What is being done?

Motive: Why is it being done?

Circumstances: The particulars (conditions) that accompany the act.

Each element must be good for the entire act to be good.

God• Ipsum Esse Subsistens (Being Itself)• Properties of Being: one, true, good, and beautiful.• God is Supremely One, Supremely Good, and

Supremely Beautiful.• Life is to be an aspiring after God, the Supreme

Good. The purpose of life is to aspire towards integrity (oneness), goodness, and the beauty, and one does this through the unceasing cultivation of virtue.

Ethics: Not merely about what NOT to do.

It is also about what to do, about acquiring positive characteristics (virtues) that beautify character and lead one to happiness and our ultimate end.

The Rational AppetiteThe Will

Sense knowledge Sense appetite (sensible goods)

Intellectual knowledge Rational appetite(knowledge of things intelligible) (specifically human intelligible goods)

LifeTruthLeisureSociabilityReligionMarriageIntegrity

Human action involves the pursuit of intelligible goods