The word “virtue” reeks of such hoary antiquity that it has become associated with a thick layer of dust on a dilapidated book resting on the shelf of a library built in the early Middle Ages. But the book of the Bible and the entire history of mankind show that neglecting virtue leads to innumerable troubles, and following it opens the way to endless blessings.
A sculpture by Romanian artist Albert Giorgi, depicting the emptiness of the soul, installed in Geneva in 2012
Brief Definition
Virtue is the thoughts and actions of a person nurtured by faith, which are characterized by holiness , justice, righteousness and honesty. According to Scripture, virtuous qualities are Christian qualities, collectively called the fruit of the Holy Spirit . That is, this is not ordinary integrity, characteristic of many people, including non-believers. It is about striving for an ideal state of harmony, perfection, truth and satisfaction from an ethical point of view, which is only achievable with the help of our Heavenly Father.
Interesting fact
Saint
Tikhon of Zadonsk called virtue any action, thought or word that is consistent with the Law of God.
Synonyms and antonyms
Main synonyms of the word:
- righteousness;
- moral;
- honesty;
- nobility.
Basic antonyms:
- vice;
- wickedness;
- cynicism;
- crime.
Concept in philosophy
Philosophers have been interested in virtue since ancient times. In their works they said that a person is not born virtuous, but becomes a result of upbringing and self-education. In this case, the rebirth of a person as a person occurs.
An outstanding concept of virtue was proposed by Immanuel Kant . He spoke of it as moral firmness in the performance of duty. It needs to be constantly reinforced with the right thoughts and decisions. At the same time, Kant did not consider virtue to be moderation between two vices, categorically disagreeing with Aristotle. One of the main achievements of his thought was the doctrine of the categorical imperative. According to him, we need to be guided by those principles that we consider binding on everyone. We are talking about the highest universal law.
Socrates: “Virtue is knowledge”
Socrates was very concerned about the relationship between knowledge and virtue. Unlike many, he believed that a person can be controlled not only by passion, but also by knowledge. Anyone who has learned the truth about good and evil, according to Socrates, will not voluntarily indulge in vice, because virtue is a direct and natural consequence of wisdom. Ethical knowledge embraces all aspects of human activity and is the golden key that opens the door leading to true happiness and prosperity.
Images of pagan thinkers and writers - frescoes from the dining room in the Bachkovo Monastery (Bulgaria) On Plato’s scroll it is written: “God has always existed, exists and will exist, as he has no beginning and will have no end.” From Socrates: “And he will receive flesh from the Jewish virgins and will be crucified. And blessed are those who listen to him. . "
Socrates could not imagine that one who possesses the truth about good and evil could choose short-term pleasure, knowing that in the end it will lead to incredible suffering.
In addition, the philosopher believed that with knowledge of true good there arises a desire to create it. After all, evil is unnatural for humans.
Aristotle's Doctrine of Virtue (briefly)
Aristotle his ethical teaching in an essay called Nicomachean Ethics. In it, he says that real ethics is not equal only to knowledge of the norms of goodness, because in addition to reason, a person also has strong feelings that can prevail over the activity of reason and encourage bad actions.
To achieve virtue, we need not only theoretical knowledge, but also exercises of the soul, through which goodness becomes a habitual and permanent property of our will, an integral trait of character.
The main feature of Aristotelian ethics is the doctrine that one must maintain a mean between extremes. For example, generosity is the middle ground between vanity and cowardice, and courage is between cowardice and reckless courage.
Aristotle's teaching on virtues. Table
Aristotle believed that the greatest good is not pleasure, but happiness based on obedience to the norms of virtue. Only those whose conscience is clear can be truly happy.
Virtue is in our power, just like vice, for we have the power to act in all those cases in which we have the power to refrain from action.
Aristotle
Virtues of the Stoics (overview)
The founder of Stoicism was the philosopher Zeno . He was the first of the Greek thinkers to express the conviction that the main goal of human existence is obedience to virtue. Zeno equated this to living in harmony with nature.
He tried to combine logic, physics and ethics into a single whole. The Stoics believed that philosophy is like the human body, in which logic is the skeleton, physics the soul, and ethics the muscles. The Stoics considered wisdom, courage, moderation and justice to be the main virtues.
Definition of “virtue”
Virtue is a philosophical and religious term that means a positive moral character trait of a certain person, determined by his will and actions; constant active direction of the will to fulfill the moral law (commandments). It is an antonym of the word "sin". /Philosophical Dictionary/
Virtue is Virtues comprise both a person’s good deeds and the good disposition of his soul, from which the deeds themselves arise. Briefly, we can say that virtue is goodness that has become a habit.
Virtues are
Virtue is nothing /teacher Simeon the New Theologian/
Virtue is /St. Tikhon Zadonsky/
Essential Qualities of Virtue
There is more than one list of virtues. categories that influence human morality, Immanuel Kant
A person's duty to himself, consisting of:
- self-preservation;
- truthfulness;
- self-esteem;
- conscience.
Duty to society includes:
- love for people;
- Gratitude;
- compassion;
- compassion;
- modesty;
- respectfulness.
7 virtues in Orthodoxy: list
In the Christian value system, virtue is one of the main concepts. Here are its main, but far from the only components:
- Longsuffering is steadfastness in enduring trials and the ability not to become irritated with others.
- Prayer is the ardent aspiration of the Christian soul to the Creator and communication with Him.
- Chastity - purity of body, beauty of spirit, moral integrity, resistance to temptation.
- Mercy and almsgiving are a manifestation of compassion for neighbors, selfless and selfless provision of material support to them.
- Self-control is the ability to keep your desires in check.
- Humility is the absence of arrogance, a sober assessment of one’s knowledge, abilities and qualities.
- Love is selfless and selfless service to others, based not on a sense of duty, but on recognizing them as God's creations, worthy of the same care and respect as we are.
Contrasting with sins
Virtue is opposed to vice. These are mortal sins that destroy the soul like poison. They deprive eternal life of those who follow the path of sin, unwilling to repent.
Each virtue is opposed to specific sins:
- humility - pride, thirsting for admiration;
- mercy - spiritual callousness, indifference to someone else's misfortune;
- chastity - fornication and debauchery;
- self-control - gluttony and anger;
- prayer - despondency and complacency;
- love - selfishness;
- long-suffering - irritability and pickiness towards the shortcomings of others.
Main Christian virtue
The basis of all other virtues is love for God and people. It's not just a feeling in the heart. We are talking about active, selfless concern for the good of others.
Relationship of virtues
“All virtues are interconnected, like links in a spiritual chain, and depend on one another.” /Venerable Macarius of Egypt/
“All virtues are good, but they must have a head and legs, like a body. The feet of virtue are humility, and the head is love. Under love are: compassion, mercy, generosity, kindness, generosity, charity and philanthropy, which together with it make a person a god by grace” / St. Ambrose of Milan/
Advice to those who want to acquire virtues: you should not take on the acquisition of all virtues or several at once, but you must first choose one to work on acquiring, and then another.
To acquire virtue you need:
- right faith
- goodwill
- consciousness
- prudence
- Love
- abstinence and self-control
- moderation in everything
- spiritual zeal
- repentance
- godlike humility
- obedience to the will of God (and His Commandments)
Who is virtue?
If you ask this question to someone on the street, you can hear the answer that a virtue is someone who does good. For example, he helps the poor, brings grandmothers across the road and removes kittens from trees. All this is wonderful, but a kind person who does not lead a highly moral lifestyle cannot be considered virtuous.
What is a virtuous person?
Truly virtuous is the one who lives in accordance with the high standards of God constantly, in any, even the most difficult circumstances. This is not affected by your well-being or state of mind. Real righteous people hate evil and love good at any time and of their own free will, and not just because they dream of going to heaven. Virtue also evaluates its thoughts, feelings, words and actions according to the holy standards of the Creator and does not stop until it achieves perfect likeness to God.
What is virtue? This is freedom that does not choose. A virtuous person does not think that he needs to do good deeds; goodness has become natural to him. Let's say that we, in general, honest people, can bend our hearts from time to time, although we mostly try to tell the truth. This is what distinguishes us from truly virtuous people. A person who has established himself in virtue simply cannot lie . A virtuous person is faithful in small matters.
Archpriest Alexy Uminsky
Virtue in two meanings
- In the external aspect - virtue as a good deed (give alms, forgive an offender, endure temptation)
- In the internal aspect - virtue as a spiritual and moral state of the individual (“he is meek”, “she is merciful”...)
“We should call actions according to the commandment good deeds, and good dispositions of the soul rooted in experience as virtues” / Rev. Gregory Sinait/
True virtue is
- submit your will to the will of God and
- to conquer with good is evil,
- overcome pride with humility,
- meekness and patience - anger,
- love - hate.
This is a Christian victory, more glorious than the victory over the nations.
God demands this from us: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21) /St. Tikhon Zadonsky/
What does virtue mean for society?
The ancient Greek philosopher Plato believed that a society that lives only to satisfy physiological needs is not much different from a herd of pigs. Unfortunately, modern Russian society, as sociologists, philosophers, psychologists and other specialists say, is degrading at tremendous speed. This is due to the fact that many consider not spirituality , but material prosperity as the main basis of personal and national happiness.
Altar in a ruined church. New Ladoga. Author of the photo: Nastya Laktionova Taken: August 23, 2009
But our main problem is not that we do not live like in the United Arab Emirates, but that society is mired in sins. Loyalty to love and moral purity is the true source of solving our problems: corruption, family breakdown, poverty, unemployment, environmental degradation, crime, etc.
Interesting fact
At the beginning of 2022, the Russian Ministry of Culture initiated a public discussion of a presidential decree on the fundamentals of state policy preserving and strengthening traditional Russian spiritual and moral values. This was done to counteract those forces that within the country and outside are seeking to corrupt our people.
Modern rethinking of concepts
The second half of the twentieth century is characterized by a turn in philosophy towards an understanding of virtue as a moral phenomenon. As a result, a new direction of ethical research has emerged - virtue ethics, which stands on a par with deontology (the doctrine of duty) and consequentialism (the doctrine of the choice of moral standards taking into account the consequences of one or another behavior).
The idea of virtue ethics was proposed in 1958 by British philosophy professor Elizabeth Anscombe.
The professor noted that for many years Western philosophy was dominated by ethics in which laws were overvalued to the detriment of the importance of human character, upbringing, motives, wisdom, insight and real life. Since the second half of the twentieth century, virtue ethics began to return to the idea of \u200b\u200bthe education of moral character and its improvement.
On the education of virtues
Both the philosophers of Ancient Greece and the evangelical authors wrote that virtue should be a single system of godly qualities and actions that complement each other and create a harmoniously developed personality.
Temptation of Jesus Christ by the Devil during his forty-day fast in the desert
In order to develop such a personality, it is important to obtain accurate knowledge about each godly quality. The best illustration of their manifestation is the life of Jesus Christ . It is also important to pray for a change in your personality and courageously please God in your family, work, and in any other setting.
If you decide to struggle against some passion and cultivate the opposite virtue not for five minutes, but for a long time, then you will achieve the fact that along with a specific defeated passion you will get rid of other passions. In addition, virtues that are opposite to these passions will develop in you.
Venerable Paisiy Svyatogorets
True virtue is its own reward
“Where there is true virtue, there is love; where there is love, there is a good and calm conscience; where there is a calm conscience, there is peace and tranquility; where there is peace and tranquility, there is consolation and joy.” /St. Tikhon Zadonsky/
Virtue is the path to the Kingdom of Heaven.
The goal of virtue is to get closer
“If the soul does good deeds, the Holy Spirit dwells in it.” /Reverend Abba Isaiah/
“Virtue brings true freedom.” /Saint John Chrysostom/
“The soul of each of us is like a lamp, doing good is oil, love is the wick on which the grace of the Divine Spirit rests like light. When there is a lack of oil, that is, good deeds, then love dries up and the light of Divine grace... goes out, because virtue and love, disappearing, take away grace-filled gifts with them. When God turns away His face, complete darkness sets in.” /St. Gregory Palama/
“Three virtues serve as a sign of achieving salvation:
a) reasoning that distinguishes good from evil in all cases; b) timely provision of both good and evil (with the exclusion of evil); c) freedom from external influence (that can hinder salvation)” /Abba Isaiah/
“Whoever has the hardworking Martha - all-round good deeds, and Mary, sitting at the feet of Jesus - an attentive and warm appeal to the Lord with all her heart, the Lord Himself will come to him and raise Lazarus - his spirit, and release him from all bonds of soul and body. Then a truly new life will begin for him - incorporeal in the body and unearthly on earth. And this will be a true resurrection in the spirit before the future resurrection with the body!” /St. Feofan the Recluse /
Examples of virtue and vice from life
You don’t have to look far for examples of a vicious life. Many adults and even young children drink, smoke, swear, and lead dissolute lifestyles. It is much more difficult to find an example worthy of praise.
Holy Elder Paisios Svyatogorets in his youth
One day Paisius the Svyatogorets was visited by a father who asked the elder to pray for his sick daughter. Paisiy replied:
“Okay, I’ll pray, but you also need to do something for the child’s health, if you can’t pray as you should. At least stop smoking, at least force yourself to do this ”.
After these words, my father stopped smoking right in the church, leaving his cigarettes and lighter.
Virtue of a Nurse
The ethical standards of a nurse are no less important for her successful work than practical skills. The nurse should:
- to do good;
- speak the truth;
- respect the feelings and rights of patients;
- show mercy;
- be tactful and patient;
- maintain sanity and chastity.
It is important that all these norms help the nurse to form a new character. Then her work will be truly useful for people.
Virtue – Divine-human action
“Every gospel virtue is woven from the action of God’s grace and human free will; each of the virtues is a Divine-human action, a Divine-human fact” /Reverend Justin (Popovich)/
The source of any virtue is God /Mark the Ascetic/.
Virtues are not our property and merit: they are given by God. No matter how much you work, no matter how hard you try, do not consider your good deed to be yours, because if you did not receive help from above, all your labors would be in vain. /Saint John Chrysostom/
About the ages of virtuous Christian life
Infancy
This is the period from the beginning of Christian life to the formation of the order of this life and the rules of Christian action in general.
At St. John Climacus ascribes primarily physical feats to the novices: fasting, sackcloth, ashes, silence, labor, vigil, tears, etc.
Adolescence
This is a time of struggle and feat to eradicate passions and plant good dispositions.
At St. John of the Climacus primarily attributes spiritual deeds to this age: lack of vanity, lack of anger, trustworthiness, gentle admonition, immaculate prayer, love of money.
Male age
This is the time when the internal struggle subsides, and a person begins to taste the peace and sweetness of spiritual blessings.
St. John Climacus assimilates to them primarily life in the spirit and remaining motionless in God: an unenslaved heart, perfect love, the mind moving out of the world and into Christ, heavenly light in the soul and thoughts during prayer, non-depredation, the abundance of God’s enlightenment, the desire for death, hatred life, containment of heavenly secrets, power over demons, storage of God’s inscrutable destinies, etc.
There are no limits to growth in a virtuous life, for we are commanded to be “perfect, even as the Heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).
