I've been thinking about this so much that I'm losing the sense of what the word virtue means!
Is virtue the same thing as a life well lived?
Virtuous: honest, hard working, caring (for other people, animals, plants, the planet, and for your own self), kind, generous, brave. Not necessarily selfless but not selfish. Not giving in to one's lower self.
Is educating oneself a virtue? Is living like a hermit? Not by definition.
My attempt at living a simpler life is partly motivated by a desire to be more virtuous. I want to have a smaller ecological footprint.
I am primarily motivated by the desire to live a life that has more meaning. So, books rather than TV, to grow my mind. Making art and learning crafts, to enrich my spirit. Owning less so there is less maintenance and housework. Taking pleasure in the ordinary, which costs nothing and increases happiness. And so on.
That being said, "simple living" is a pretty amorphous philosophy.
So, you and the OP agree that
1) there is this thing known as virtue
2) “small ecological footprint” is equal to a virtuous life
so you two are on the same wavelength
Me, probably not in agreement. While I guess I agree with #1 but am struggling with the idea, I dont agree with #2.
UL asked upthread what, if anything, I consider a virtue. As I think about it,
I just do not like the word “virtue,” it sounds like something from a Victorian religious tract.
perhaps I would say “he was a good man” about someone who lived a long life of good intention and action. I would not say “he was a virtuous man.”
Last edited by iris lilies; 7-1-18 at 10:06pm.
Yeah, I think your problem is with the word, but I'm sure you agree that there are virtues. The opposite of vice is virtue. Do you believe in vice?
There are lots of lists of virtues. Here's a pretty all-encompassing one (it lists vices as well): http://beliefcloset.com/wp-content/u...aster-List.pdf
But there are subsets of virtue:
Here is list of Protestant virtues: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_t...estant_virtues
Here is a list of Catholic virtues: It's a very succinct list actually: prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance.
Here are Benjamin Franklin's list of virtues: https://www.artofmanliness.com/artic...-life-wrap-up/
And here is a list of secular virtues: http://alaindebotton.com/on-being-good/
There's a list of virtues for everyone! I think simple living falls under the virtue of temperance.
"Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
www.silententry.wordpress.com
Many folks consider kindness to animals a virtue.
But to get back to my question. Let's say he naturally loved dogs, loved'em! So of course he was kind to his dog.
Now, suppose he naturally disliked dogs -- hated them fleabags! -- but his wife loved dogs, so she got two. And he, despite hating dogs, treated those dogs with incredible kindness. And then let's say his wife died and left him a widower. But the two dogs were still around and he kept them and treated them as well as his wife would have wanted.
My question is, which is truly virtuous? Or which is more virtuous? The kindness to dogs that is naturally a man's inclination or the kindness to dogs that takes discipline and going against one's natural inclinations?
I don’t have an opinion either way. But I will admit that I mostly don’t like anything that starts with a “v”. I would not want, “He was a virtuous man.” on my tombstone.
I like the secular list; it seems to me to be a set of practical guidelines for living--without a lot of judgment.
The idea that constant self-denial is someyhing to be desired seems very puritanical to me; I can almost see Cotton Mather looming in the background. That's what the word "virtue" says to me.
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