VIRTUES IN SOCIETY

The Virtues in Society

 Repeatedly the assertion was made that as a society we are somewhat adrift when it comes to being clear about the moral basis for our lives. Points were made about the long, slow withdrawal from a consensus around Christian principles, values and behaviour. But equal concern was expressed in the lack of any alternative, any shared basis for behaviour that can be taught and authentically shared. This was surely the point being made by Pope Benedict in his remarkable speech in Westminster Hall on 17 September when he said that “the world of reason and the world of faith – the world of secular reality and the world of religious belief – need one another and should not be afraid to enter into a profound and ongoing dialogue, for the good of our civilisation”.

One way of doing this is to explore some of the treasures held in trust by the Christian tradition of the virtues which can be an extremely fruitful point of profound and ongoing dialogue between the secular reality and the world of religious belief.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “a virtue is an habitual and firm disposition to do that which is good. It allows the person not only to perform good acts, but to give the best of himself. The virtuous person tends towards the good with all his sensory and spiritual powers; he pursues the good and chooses it in concrete action.”

The classic description of these human virtues numbers them as four and calls them the “cardinal virtues”, those on which all else hinges, and a description derived from cardo, meaning hinge. They are prudence, courage, justice and temperance. Perhaps we have seen in our society an expansion of regulation taking the place of the exercise of virtue. A society that is held together just by obedience to rules is open to further abuses which will be met by a further expansion of regulation. This cannot be enough. The virtues are not about what one is allowed to do but who one is formed to be. They strengthen us to become moral agents, the source of our own actions. The classical virtues form us as people who are prudent, just, temperate and courageous. To them is added, in the Christian lexicon and life, the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity, by which we see that our human growth is rooted in the gifts of God and forms us for our ultimate happiness: friendship with God.

The virtue of prudence does not mean excessive or fearful caution. It can mean acting boldly where necessary, for it is the virtue of right reason in action. So its opposite is rashness and carelessness. This virtue engages us in considering consequences, advantages and disadvantages. It means critically weighing up the swell of popular opinion to see if it is actually beneficial rather than merely popular.

The exercise of prudence enables us to discern the good in any circumstance and the right way to achieve it. It is rational and intelligent, including emotional intelligence.

Courage ensures firmness and the readiness to stand by what we believe, even in times of difficulty. It is the opposite of opportunism and evasiveness. Courage frees us from being enslaved by fear, even fear of death. It is the practice of fortitude in the face of difficulty. It produces heroism in battle and in social reform. It resists the pressure to conform to the destructive expectations of others and helps us to challenge the assumptions of a

culture. Courage is an important element in artistic creativity and it helps those who battle against sickness, injustice or depression.

Justice is the virtue by which we strive to give what is due to others by respecting their rights and fulfilling our duties towards them.

It expands our notion of self by strengthening the ties between us all. Through justice we discover in practice that those who suffer are bound to us; they are our brothers and sisters.

So a just person is one who is alive to the demands of social and international justice, especially towards the poor. A just person will recognise their duties towards the truth, avoid dishonesty and obey just laws. In this way, the virtue of justice is an essential component of democracy. As Augustine said, a society without true justice is just a gang of thieves. Finally, temperance helps to moderate our appetites and our use of the world’s created goods. It is the opposite of consumerism and the uninhibited pursuit of pleasure.

Temperance can govern our use of the fragile goods of the created world which increasingly need the exercise of this virtue if they are not to be ruinously exploited.

An important part of our recovery as a society will be achieved through the practice of these virtues. Then we will build the trust which lies at the heart of human relationships. This is the pathway down which institutions also have to travel in order to restore trust. I don’t doubt that this is what the vast majority of ordinary British people instinctively want, to belong to a world in which people care for one another. At a profound level, they care more for quality of life than for the value of property. Yet the structures and values built into the way society works often frustrate that better instinct. We need to find ways of releasing this instinctive generosity, often seen in times of extreme emergency.

How can we motivate each other to have these wider horizons? Can we build up a true and lasting sense of service between us all, not because it serves our individual advancement but because it is a genuine value, a vital search for the good of all, from which alone all can truly benefit? This will have to happen locally, just as the acquisition of virtue begins best within the family.

The years ahead will make clear our need for that new culture. Our financial institutions may just be beginning to recognise it and acknowledge the vital importance of their social role and responsibilities. Only time will tell if we can translate these aspirations into practice in daily life. And the narrative of the development of mutual social responsibility can readily employ the language of the virtues.  More important than the language, it will be the practice of those virtues that will mark us out as a worthy people, capable of seeing each other through and marking us with the dignity and endurance that some previous generations have borne with pride.

 

 

 

 

Roundup to my book The Virtues

Pope Benedict in his remarkable speech in Westminster Hall on 17 September when he said that “the world of reason and the world of faith – the world of secular reality and the world of religious belief – need one another and should not be afraid to enter into a profound and ongoing dialogue, for the good of our civilisation”.

One way of doing this is to explore some of the treasures held in trust by the Christian tradition of the virtues which can be an extremely fruitful point of profound and ongoing dialogue between the secular reality and the world of religious belief.

A society that is held together just by obedience to rules is open to further abuses which will be met by a further expansion of regulation. This cannot be enough. The virtues are not about what one is allowed to do but who one is formed to be. They strengthen us to become moral agents, the source of our own actions. The classical virtues form us as people who are prudent, just, temperate and courageous. To them is added, in the Christian lexicon and life, the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity, by which we see that our human growth is rooted in the gifts of God and forms us for our ultimate happiness: friendship with God.

An important part of our recovery as a society will be achieved through the practice of these virtues. Then we will build the trust which lies at the heart of human relationships. This is the pathway down which institutions also have to travel in order to restore trust. And the narrative of the development of mutual social responsibility can readily employ the language of the virtues.  More important than the language, it will be the practice of those virtues that will mark us out as a worthy people, capable of seeing each other through and marking us with the dignity and endurance that some previous generations have borne with pride.