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Not so long ago there were cardinal virtues that were central to our lives, taught, passed down from generation to generation and considered essential values to live by as individuals, communities and nations. The word, virtue, is rarely mentioned and few could define it or see many examples of it routinely lived out or set out as models. But they have been around as guiding principles since 430 BC, created by Greek philosopher, Plato.
Plato identified 4 cardinal virtues he considered necessary for a happy individual and a good society and the ideal state would be one with people with such virtues. The 4 he identified were prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice. We hear about the word, justice, more often but the meaning has taken on more of a personal bias than a universal principle. The other words are likely as common as a horse drawn carriage in 2024.
How would you define those words?
The dictionary (hopefully not biased) defines the 4 as follows:
Prudence – The quality of fact of being prudent, or wise in practical affairs, as by providing for the future; discretion; care for managing resources, economy; frugality
Temperance – Moderation or self-restraint in action, statement; self-control; habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion
Fortitude – Mental and emotional strength in facing difficulty, adversity, danger, or temptation courageously
Justice – The quality of being just; righteous, equitableness, or moral rightness; lawfulness; the moral principle determining just conduct
Later various faiths or religions developed their own lists of versions of these. For centuries they were respected despite lack of perfecting them in the lives of individuals, cultures, or communities. There can be lists of reasons why but the source of most would be the sin nature residing in each one of us that balks at these virtues.
How can we flourish as individuals or societies without these?
“Our lives only genuinely improve when we grow in virtue. The virtue of patience improves our lives. It improves our relationships. Two patient people will always have a better relationship than two impatient people. The same is true for generosity, perseverance, compassion, humility and courage. Growing in virtue leads to the personal and spiritual expansion that are the hallmarks of human flourishing.”
Matthew Kelly
The Christian faith speaks in multiple ways about virtues but are perhaps best summarized in the teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount found in the New Testament in Matthew 5-7. Those chapters lay out how we are to live and treat others and if we do, we develop character.
“Virtues are the building blocks of character. ‘Character is destiny,’ the Greek philosopher Heraclitus observed. This is true for a person, a marriage, a family, community, nation, and indeed, the whole human collective. Character is moral and ethical excellence, and it is built one virtue upon another, and the progress of the human race depends on it.”
Matthew Kelly
When I was in grade school (Yes, a long time ago since I am 80.), my report card had two portions – one was for grades for the various subjects and the other was for my conduct (citizenship) with scores of satisfactory, unsatisfactory, or excellent. A look at this other side reflected evidence of the very virtues I have been writing about here. They were part of the public educational system not my Sunday School curriculum.
Somewhere along the line with emphasis on letting children develop their own identities and self-actualization, their own values, etc., these stopped being a part of that system that had served the individuals, communities, and nations well. Did it happen when prayer in public schools was outlawed or was it really the cause of that decision that eliminated citizenship?
Somehow we have come to value what we call progress as a setting aside things that had been central for a very long time. We stopped citizenship evaluations. We stopped teaching civics. We stopped teaching cursive writing and a long list of things known to much of western civilizations. What did it get us? Is that what caused the overall loss of a moral compass no matter what faith we have chosen to believe.
We must have decided something on to the road to “success” was missing when identifying emotional intelligence (EQ) was lacking since it was a greater predictor of “success” than IQ.
“But when will we begin the epic conversation that our culture so desperately needs around Spiritual Intelligence.”
Matthew Kelly
Individuals and societies have abandoned virtues as backward thinking and old-fashioned and I might ask, “How’s that working out?”
It can seem overwhelming when we look at the negative domino effects of our individual and collective choices to make progress the goal in an ever-changing nebulous set of ideals.
If we recall these virtues and consider them of value, perhaps change begins with each one making a decision to look at their own citizenship or deportment and aligning these to those very virtues.
“The world is desperately in need of change. We are agreed on that. The real question is, what are you willing to do about it?”
Matthew Kelly
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