Sarah asked in a comment:
So, here’s my question for you. What constitutes virtue? Is it REALLY virtuous to abstain from gobbling ice cream, or is it merely healthy? What is the difference between healthy habits and virtuous habits? Doesn’t virtue, by definition, have to benefit somebody ELSE? Or can you be virtuous and strictly self-serving at the same time?
I think that’s really two questions, (what is virtue? and, can virtue be self-serving?) so I’ll try to deal with them one at a time.
What constitutes virtue?
Seeking human perfection?
I’m mainly working from the Western classical definitions of the cardinal virtues and the theological virtues. The quickest and simplest definition I’ve come up with is, Virtue is a good habit.
But that assumes we all agree on what “good” means.
The approach I’m taking is that “good” (at least in this context) means, in accord with the design of nature. So, it is good for the eye to see colors. It is good for the heart to pump blood. It is bad if they don’t do these things.
But my own life is a lot more complicated than just organic functioning. I don’t just want what’s good for my body. I want what’s good for me as a person. And that includes things like: a sense of meaning in life; work that really contributes to the world around me; friendships that allow me to love and be loved; and ultimately (as I mentioned in the previous post) eternal union with God in heaven.
Your list may differ a little from mine. But I would guess it doesn’t differ all that much. The Greeks called this goal eudaimonia, which is usually translated “happiness”. It literally means “good spirit -ness” or “goodness of soul”. So virtue is a habit of life that leads to goodness of soul, to my good as a whole person.
How selfish!
I think it’s one of the problems of our contemporary culture that we tend to pit individuals against society or against institutions. So, if something is good for me, it must be bad for those around me. But I think that’s just not true. Amy pointed out in another comment some practical results of apparently selfish, yet virtuous, action.
But I think there’s a deeper explanation, too. We human beings are not, first and foremost, individuals. We are social beings. We grow and define ourselves in the context of other people, of cultures and institutions, of various kinds of relationships. There is nothing I can do that affects only myself.
When I grow in virtue, even in some small part of my life, (like keeping my bedroom clean, or eating more healthily,) then I also become a better part of the various communities I belong to. My housemates recognize that I can be trusted with my property; my friends notice that I am physically capable of more activity; and so on.
In short, what’s truly good for me is naturally, inevitably good for others, too.
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