Virtues

Another approach to ethics is to concentrate on virtues and ideals. What are the characteristics that we would most like to see in our society, in ourselves, and in others? One view is that the purpose of life is to acquire virtues and that the true worth of a person is in their knowledge and character.

Here are some ideal words: freedom, justice, compassion, tolerance, peace, courtesy, kindness, patience, trustworthiness, love, courage, honesty, moderation, hope, creativity, competence, joy.

The ideal words listed here are some of the most common virtues and ideals that are praised by many cultures.

Each ideal word can be looked at in terms of whether it should be maximized or exercised in moderation. For example, courage, if maximized, could be considered recklessness. On the other hand, justice in most cases should be maximized. Different ideals should also be balanced off of each other. For example, freedom should be balanced against justice. We want as much freedom as possible that does not at the same time infringe on the freedom of others.

These ideal words are so important to us that at times we have invented a whole separate world for them. We know that they are only imperfectly realized in this world. It could be that they exist in a pure form in some world beyond this and this world is an imperfect reflection of that world. At other times we have considered their perfect expression to be God, and we are imperfect images or expressions of that ideal person. But it is also possible to take a more pragmatic view.

Starting with freedom, we all have desires that we would like to fulfill. Society has traditionally put constraints on the fulfillment of our desires. Freedom is the ideal that we should be given as much latitude as possible to seek whatever we want. The limitations on our freedoms are then related to allowing the same freedom for others. Certain freedoms have had such central importance that they have been written in laws and constitutions. For example, the freedoms of religion, speech, opinion, and association are central in Western democracies. No one has the right to impose their religion and beliefs on anyone else, and everyone has the right to seek out ways of expressing their own religion and beliefs.

Freedom also has a more basic meaning that no one should be the slave of any one else. No person can be the property of another. In principle if someone does not like the conditions of their employment, they can change jobs. They cannot be forced to work in one place or to live in one place. There is freedom of movement.

At a more personal level, we usually disapprove of someone dominating or "lording it" over someone else. Everyone should be free to be their own person. And although it is often counteracted by peer pressure or general social pressure, people should be free to dress the way they like and pursue their own life style. Of course, society is not expected to pay for it, so economics often limits what we can do.

The ideal of freedom also extends to the personal level of inner freedom. Addictions and obsessions are a form of slavery, and we would like to help people get free of them. And at the more mystical level we, somewhat ironically, talk of being free of the slavery of desire.

There are of course practical limits to freedom. One is that we have to live with other people. They also have similar rights to freedom that we should respect if we want our freedoms to be respected. This brings us to justice.

The basic concept of justice is that everyone should be treated fairly. Especially in the justice system, justice should be blind, in the sense that everyone gets the same treatment irrespective of social and economic level or position. Society does not operate on absolute equality. Leadership can have its privileges. Wealth can buy more favored treatment. But in basic rights and position before the law, everyone should be treated the same.

This basic ideal of justice also applies to discrimination and prejudice. People should not be classified and treated differently based on race, gender, sexual orientation, social class, or national origin. Getting this basic standard of justice uniformly applied has been a long struggle, even in countries that have exalted ideals of freedom and justice.

Another aspect of justice is distributive justice. The goods and services of society should be distributed fairly. In most countries the main method controlling this distribution is the free market. However, there are times when the free market allows such a disparity of wealth that it seems that basic fairness is violated. So societies need to work out some means of redistributing wealth, usually through taxes but sometimes through direct transfer such as land reform. Justice does not mean absolute equality since we want to reward effort and the application of skill and intelligence. However, when the differences become extreme, our sense of justice often makes us feel that society should step in.

Even if everyone is treated fairly and equitably, there are times when through misfortune or past mistakes people need our help. This is when compassion comes in. Part of it is reciprocity. If my town is hit by a tornado, I would hope for society's help, so I am willing to grant such help for other communities when it happens to them. Other examples are special needs children. Out of compassion, we provide additional resources for their education and training. Another example is young people who have made a mistake and need some help getting turned around. We could just throw the book at them, but if we feel there is some hope, we want to give them a second chance.

I could say that it is not my fault that these things happen, so why should I have to pay, which from a strict justice point of view may be correct, but many of us do not want a society that shows no mercy. Of course, there is compassion fatigue and being taken advantage of by the recipients of compassion. These need to be factored in. But there is also the hope that if we are ever in an unfortunate situation that people will also have compassion for us.

The next set of ideals, tolerance, peace, courtesy, kindness, and patience, address how we deal with each other as individuals or groups. Tolerance of other people's views and life choices is related back to the ideal of freedom. In many areas there is no way to show conclusively that one way is right and all the other ways are wrong. Such a dogmatic attitude would naturally create conflict. On the other hand, there must be a limit to tolerance. We cannot tolerate killing, for example. But let's take a more difficult case, public nudity.

Some people feel that it is only natural to expose some or all of their body. Why should society restrict their freedom? On the other hand, I may say that that is their right, but I also have the right to not have to look at their bodies, and especially I may feel that my children should not be exposed to them. Some societies have resolved this by having places set aside for public nudity, such as clothing optional beaches. Most people are happy with that, but what about various forms of dress that emphasize the body or expose parts of it, like translucent or mesh materials, scanty cloths, and other ways of pushing the limits? Should we try to enforce some standard of modesty in public places? When we don't, some people talk about the decay of morals, as if the most important moral issue is how we dress. Is exposing the human body really a moral issue? Were native people who went largely without cloths immoral because of that? Is it just a matter of preference? We need to take into account many factors. One is that nudity in our culture is largely confined to sexuality (or to doctor visits), so public nudity can be very distracting to the business at hand. If we are trying to get some business done and someone walks by in very "suggestive" cloths, it can be distracting. It is entirely possible that that person has no intention of suggesting anything sexual, but maybe they should try to be tolerant of the narrow views of those around them. Still, dress that would have been considered highly suggestive in the past is hardly noticed today.

Peace in our relations with others is also an ideal. Excessive conflict undermines order within a society or between societies. Sometimes conflict is necessary, but we need peaceful ways to resolve it. Considerable effort is put into mediation and consultation to avoid open (and expensive) conflict in the courts or on the battlefield. Striving for peace requires the application of other ideals such as tolerance and patience and a real effort to understand the language, experience, and desire of others.

One essential tool in peaceful coexistence is courtesy. Taken to an extreme this can be artificial and stilted, and some cultures enjoy some rough and tumble and "animated discussion". However, they need to know when they have crossed the line to rudeness and insult. How many terrible episodes in history can be ultimately traced back to insult or lack of sensitivity? Just a routine level of common courtesy helps society to function more smoothly and makes life more pleasant for everyone.

Kindness and patience have similar benefits. A society that discourages cruelty and is willing to wait when necessary functions better and the individual members feel better about themselves and each other.

Trustworthiness is related to truthfulness and competence. Being able to trust what people say and to rely on them to do their part is essential for our mutual survival.

Love is a very complex word with many meanings. On the one hand, there is romantic and sexual love, which dominates much of our thoughts and popular culture. Then there is love for friends and family, and especially love for our children. This has the connotation of affection and liking their company as well as hating to see them harmed. Broader is love of our fellow human beings. This is a generalized feeling of good will and a desire that no harm come to them. Love also applies to things and practices. We can love nature or writing or stamp collecting or sports. Love is so central to our lives that one philosopher has defined the good life as one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.

Courage is important at many levels. There is the raw physical courage that has been so importance in war and exploration. There is the courage to stand up for our convictions in the face of social opposition leading even to death. There is courage in the face of disaster and difficulties. There is the courage to face the fear of failure and to keep going. Finally, there is the courage to be ourselves, to take our own path. All of these kinds of courage can be extremely beneficial to the ongoing survival of society and to the progress of the individual.

A basic level of honesty, as with trustworthiness, is necessary for the functioning of society. It is related to truthfulness. It is also related to following the rules. If we feel that we are the only ones following the rules, social order will break down. There has to be a general belief that most people are following the same rules that we are and that those who do not will be punished. So I may benefit in the short run by dishonesty, but in the long run we will all suffer. And my dishonesty will only work as long a most others are honest. This is not a scam that can last forever.

Moderation is important for individual well-being as well as for society as a whole. Many health problems are caused by lack of moderation. Extreme behavior in general is more dangerous than moderate behavior. Lack of moderation can also lead to fanaticism and obsession that can damage the individual as well as all those around them. Moderation also needs to be applied to moderation. There are times when we need to go all of the way and push ourselves to the limit.

Hope can be a foolish dream, but there are many cases where a lack of hope causes us to give up too early, to dismiss possibilities that however remote they may seem could yield to long and hard effort. For example, if slaves and abolitionists had given up hope, the whole grand drama of freedom leading to emancipation and eventually to the civil rights movement would have never got going. At the time it must have seemed hopeless. The same applies to many huge problems. It may take generations, but if we loose hope now, it will never get going. This also applies to individual achievement. It may seem impossible that I could ever get to be a great scientist or artist or athlete, but it will definitely not happen if I give up.

Creativity and competence are different sorts of ideals. They are not commonly considered to be moral concepts, but they are very important values and are essential to society and to progress in art, science, technology, and many other areas. They are so important that we have even considered them divine. The Creator, the Maker, the All Powerful are names we give to God. We admire them so much that we admire people for them even when otherwise we would condemn them. Take the example of stories about assassins or the gunmen of the Wild West. They are just killers, after all, but we are fascinated by their ability and trace step by step how they are able to accomplish their crimes. We also admire other more positive heroes of accomplishment, such as athletes or astronauts, even if they are not personally great people.

The final ideal word on our list is joy. We talk about people who have a joy for living with admiration. We talk about the simple joys of life. The ability to appreciate life and take joy in it can enrich us and those around us.

There are other ideals and virtues that could be listed. They define what we would like to strive for. It is a useful practice to just contemplate them and see how they can be applied to our lives and can be encouraged in others. But here again, they do not have an absolute warrant. They help us meet our most basic desires and they express some of our most treasured hopes. It is very useful to promote them, but we cannot claim a cosmic tragedy if some people disagree on their importance.