ETHICS PART 4: VIRTUES, VICES AND PRINCIPLES
The last post laid out where values come from and why they're important. The next step is to start identifying them and figure out what are values for us as human beings (assuming you want to pursue life as a human and not some other creature!). The entire list of things that are values to us are too numerous to mention, as they could include everything from food to medicine, to love to your favorite song. What's more important is fundamental values; those which serve to realize our ultimate value (living as a human being) and which all other values originate from. These are reason, purpose and self-esteem.
In epistemology, we learned that reason is valid, and our only reliable source of knowledge. In Ethics Part 1 we saw that reason is man's primary tool of survival, as we are doomed without it. The corollary of that is to identify reason as our primary value. Holding reason as our primary value doesn't mean grudgingly accepting the fact that it's a value, but embracing it. The correct viewpoint is not, "well, I'd much rather be irrational, but since metaphysics and epistemology point me to reason, I guess I'll follow it." The correct viewpoint would be to wince at the thought of abandoning reason and being irrational. To understand the importance of our ability to reason in our life, and use that as a primary guiding principle. If reason is our means of survival, then there's nothing more valuable to a human.
Purpose is what using reason properly will achieve, which is a reason to live. This reason is ultimately the feeling of happiness. The pursuit of happiness is our purpose of living as a human, and is therefore the rational pursuit of life. Self-esteem comes from the certainty that your mind is competent and the feeling that you deserve happiness and deserve to live. These three primary values (reason, purpose, self-esteem) are necessary in order to fulfill our potential in life, and all other values are derivatives of them. The opposite of these values could be termed "anti-life". The fundamental anti-life "values" would be irrationality, misery, and self-loathing.
Identifying these primary values are an important first step, but useless unless we act to achieve them. This is where the concept of a "virtue" comes in.
Purpose is what using reason properly will achieve, which is a reason to live. This reason is ultimately the feeling of happiness. The pursuit of happiness is our purpose of living as a human, and is therefore the rational pursuit of life. Self-esteem comes from the certainty that your mind is competent and the feeling that you deserve happiness and deserve to live. These three primary values (reason, purpose, self-esteem) are necessary in order to fulfill our potential in life, and all other values are derivatives of them. The opposite of these values could be termed "anti-life". The fundamental anti-life "values" would be irrationality, misery, and self-loathing.
Identifying these primary values are an important first step, but useless unless we act to achieve them. This is where the concept of a "virtue" comes in.
VIRTUE AND VICE
The word "virtue" has been perverted over the years, with the help of religion, to often refer to chastity in a woman, or the amount of times one goes to church, so it's important to understand its true meaning. In the last post we learned that values are something that we act to gain and keep. They aren't just given to us by nature. This means that once we identify a value we should want to gain it and keep it. But how? The answer is by a virtue. A virtue is an action by which one is able to gain a value. Given that our fundamental value is reason, our fundamental virtue would be an action to gain that value. This action is rationality. Rationality, in this context, means to accept reason as the only means of knowledge and the proper guide to your actions. It means to to commit to living your life based on reason to the best of your abilities. Not to live in a haze or trance-like state, and occasionally awake from time to time to use reason. Not to follow your emotions half the time and reason the other half, but to consistently focus your mind in all aspects of your life, whether it be in school, choosing a girlfriend, a job, politics, or what kind of car to buy. It means making decisions based on thinking and not on whims. This can often be complex, and doesn't necessarily mean taking the safe route and accepting a steady job, or picking a spouse because they are rich or well-connected. It means recognizing that every action we take is not inconsequential to our life, but must either be for it or against it, good or evil. If the action is not for furthering your life, then it's for destroying it. If something isn't a pro-life value it's anti-life. Above all, it means not evading reality or avoiding thought, even when we might really want to evade reality. If reason is our means of knowledge and survival, then the virtue of rationality is paramount to living our lives properly.
Pursuing the virtue of rationality doesn't mean you have to become a great scientist, or an intellectual that makes a groundbreaking discovery in some field. It doesn't even mean you have to be good at math or science! It means to focus and use your brain to the best of your abilities, and to learn to enjoy the power and ability of your own mind to reason. To not rely on your ability to feel, but your ability to think. Rationality is the primary human virtue, and all other virtues are derivatives of it. In the next posts we'll examine some of these derivative virtues more in detail, as they are the key virtues to achieving those three primary values listed above. These virtues are: independence, integrity, honesty, justice, productiveness and pride.
The opposite of a virtue would, of course, be a vice. If a virtue is a way to gain a pro-life value, vice is a way to gain an anti-life "value". If man's primary virtue is rationality, then his primary vice is irrationality. Irrationality is the root of all evil, and from which all other vices originate from. The main derivatives being evading thought, acting on unexamined emotions, and the initiation of force on others.
The word "virtue" has been perverted over the years, with the help of religion, to often refer to chastity in a woman, or the amount of times one goes to church, so it's important to understand its true meaning. In the last post we learned that values are something that we act to gain and keep. They aren't just given to us by nature. This means that once we identify a value we should want to gain it and keep it. But how? The answer is by a virtue. A virtue is an action by which one is able to gain a value. Given that our fundamental value is reason, our fundamental virtue would be an action to gain that value. This action is rationality. Rationality, in this context, means to accept reason as the only means of knowledge and the proper guide to your actions. It means to to commit to living your life based on reason to the best of your abilities. Not to live in a haze or trance-like state, and occasionally awake from time to time to use reason. Not to follow your emotions half the time and reason the other half, but to consistently focus your mind in all aspects of your life, whether it be in school, choosing a girlfriend, a job, politics, or what kind of car to buy. It means making decisions based on thinking and not on whims. This can often be complex, and doesn't necessarily mean taking the safe route and accepting a steady job, or picking a spouse because they are rich or well-connected. It means recognizing that every action we take is not inconsequential to our life, but must either be for it or against it, good or evil. If the action is not for furthering your life, then it's for destroying it. If something isn't a pro-life value it's anti-life. Above all, it means not evading reality or avoiding thought, even when we might really want to evade reality. If reason is our means of knowledge and survival, then the virtue of rationality is paramount to living our lives properly.
Pursuing the virtue of rationality doesn't mean you have to become a great scientist, or an intellectual that makes a groundbreaking discovery in some field. It doesn't even mean you have to be good at math or science! It means to focus and use your brain to the best of your abilities, and to learn to enjoy the power and ability of your own mind to reason. To not rely on your ability to feel, but your ability to think. Rationality is the primary human virtue, and all other virtues are derivatives of it. In the next posts we'll examine some of these derivative virtues more in detail, as they are the key virtues to achieving those three primary values listed above. These virtues are: independence, integrity, honesty, justice, productiveness and pride.
The opposite of a virtue would, of course, be a vice. If a virtue is a way to gain a pro-life value, vice is a way to gain an anti-life "value". If man's primary virtue is rationality, then his primary vice is irrationality. Irrationality is the root of all evil, and from which all other vices originate from. The main derivatives being evading thought, acting on unexamined emotions, and the initiation of force on others.
No, not this vice.
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This vice!
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One of the few principled politicians
PRINCIPLES
In any study of ethics, the idea of principles will necessarily come up. A principle is a fundamental or general truth on which other truths depend. They are not exclusive to ethics, as they are found in most other studies (Bernoulli's Principle, for example, in aviation), but in ethics they are particularly important because they are general truths that guide our actions. In order to obtain long-term goals in our lives (like achieving happiness and self-esteem) it is essential to identify and follow principles. They are kind of like a rule book of ethics. Just like with everything else in ethics, principles should be determined rationally and based on one's observations and experiences, not necessarily what is popular and told to us in our culture. Most principles can be derived from the values and virtues we identify. For example, if you consider reason a virtue, it would be a principle to follow rationality over irrationality. If you consider honesty a virtue, then honesty is the "best policy", etc. Whatever principles you identify, make sure you can justify them rationally, and then stick to them. A principle is useless if it's not adhered to, as furthering our life requires acting in the physical world. Choose carefully, though. The path and quality of your life will depend on whether or not your principles are true or false, and whether or not you stick to them.
The action of adhering to principles is often under attack, as it has been for some time. Often a person who does is considered crazy, an extremist, an idealist, or merely "impractical". Now, it must be said that if you choose principles that are irrational like that the Aryans are the superior race, or that all Americans are infidels that must be killed, then you will become evil or "crazy" if you adhere to them. However, if you pick the correct principles, you are not an "extremist" or "impractical" for following them, but the opposite. You are following the virtue of rationality, and furthering your life. You are the good.
The lack of principles can most clearly be seen in our political landscape, where it's now considered proper to compromise in order to "get things done". The result is that the power brokers are the ones with no principles, while the ones who stick to principles even when it's tough are labeled loons or extremists, and end up being ignored. The only way away from this is for people to identify their principles and understand that adhering to them is not idealistic but practical. Being pragmatic is not rational, it's thinking and acting short term, and ignoring the long-term consequences. Thinking, "Gee, if I vote that way I might lose some support and I might not win the next election" is an example of being pragmatic. Being pragmatic does not further one's life, as it will generally lead to losing self-esteem and achieving true happiness. In short, "selling out" doesn't lead to happiness or self-esteem, which are the fundamental goals in our lives. Therefore, being pragmatic is often irrational.
Now, here are some principles about principles!
In any study of ethics, the idea of principles will necessarily come up. A principle is a fundamental or general truth on which other truths depend. They are not exclusive to ethics, as they are found in most other studies (Bernoulli's Principle, for example, in aviation), but in ethics they are particularly important because they are general truths that guide our actions. In order to obtain long-term goals in our lives (like achieving happiness and self-esteem) it is essential to identify and follow principles. They are kind of like a rule book of ethics. Just like with everything else in ethics, principles should be determined rationally and based on one's observations and experiences, not necessarily what is popular and told to us in our culture. Most principles can be derived from the values and virtues we identify. For example, if you consider reason a virtue, it would be a principle to follow rationality over irrationality. If you consider honesty a virtue, then honesty is the "best policy", etc. Whatever principles you identify, make sure you can justify them rationally, and then stick to them. A principle is useless if it's not adhered to, as furthering our life requires acting in the physical world. Choose carefully, though. The path and quality of your life will depend on whether or not your principles are true or false, and whether or not you stick to them.
The action of adhering to principles is often under attack, as it has been for some time. Often a person who does is considered crazy, an extremist, an idealist, or merely "impractical". Now, it must be said that if you choose principles that are irrational like that the Aryans are the superior race, or that all Americans are infidels that must be killed, then you will become evil or "crazy" if you adhere to them. However, if you pick the correct principles, you are not an "extremist" or "impractical" for following them, but the opposite. You are following the virtue of rationality, and furthering your life. You are the good.
The lack of principles can most clearly be seen in our political landscape, where it's now considered proper to compromise in order to "get things done". The result is that the power brokers are the ones with no principles, while the ones who stick to principles even when it's tough are labeled loons or extremists, and end up being ignored. The only way away from this is for people to identify their principles and understand that adhering to them is not idealistic but practical. Being pragmatic is not rational, it's thinking and acting short term, and ignoring the long-term consequences. Thinking, "Gee, if I vote that way I might lose some support and I might not win the next election" is an example of being pragmatic. Being pragmatic does not further one's life, as it will generally lead to losing self-esteem and achieving true happiness. In short, "selling out" doesn't lead to happiness or self-esteem, which are the fundamental goals in our lives. Therefore, being pragmatic is often irrational.
Now, here are some principles about principles!
- In any conflict between two men (or two groups) who hold the same basic principles, it is the more consistent one who wins.
- In any collaboration between two men (or two groups) who hold different basic principles, it is the more evil or irrational one who wins.
- When opposite basic principles are clearly and openly defined, it works to the advantage of the rational side; when they are not clearly defined, but are hidden or evaded, it works to the advantage of the irrational side.
Ahh, good 'ole compromise!
Ethically speaking, compromising is evil, while mutual agreements are good (assuming they're rational). When you're at a street fair haggling over a price of a painting, the resulting deal is not a compromise between the two
parties, but an agreement that benefits each party. Both sides might have wanted a better deal, but still ended up benefiting themselves without going against any ethical principles. The resulting trade was simply both parties accepting economic reality, realizing that was the only way to trade peacefully. A guy that decides
to go to the opera with his wife is not compromising any principles, but
actually affirming them (assuming he loves his wife!). Even if he wanted to stay home watching football, he knows it will make her happy, which makes the action worth it to him. However, if his wife wished him to help her embezzle funds from her work, agreeing to that would be compromising his principles and thus an evil act, no matter how upset it makes her. In politics, agreeing to less than your side wants might be perfectly moral. For instance, agreeing to a military budget of $100 billion when you wanted $150 billion could be fine. Agreeing to a budget that allocates money for domestic spying would be a compromise, assuming you hold that political principle. Agreements
between two parties are fine and should be encouraged. Compromising
one's principles is not fine, and will result in chaos and
destruction of one's life to the extent they are compromised. The difference between compromising and mutual agreements lie in whether one side is going against a rationally held principle. Whether in politics, business life or personal life, this quote
rings true: "In any compromise between food and poison, it is only
death that can win. In any compromise between good and evil, it is only
evil that can profit."