The Emotions and the Virtues

Conrad Baars M.D. …man’s emotions have an innate need to be guided and directed by reason. That is to say that they need and desire to be guided by their very nature. …When an emotion receives its proper guidance, it is satisfied and is now disposed to submit to the decision of the will as to what course of action shall be taken.

Oscar Wilde “Sin is a thing that writes itself across a man’s face. It cannot be concealed. People talk sometimes of secret vices. There are no such things. If a wretched man has a vice, it shows itself in the lines of his mouth, the droop of his eyelids, the moulding of his hands even.”

Socrates B.C.

Human Acts A specifically human act is intelligently motivated, that is, motivated by intelligible human goods, not sensible goods.

Sensible goods: The taste of a burger A pleasant odor The warmth of a beach Intelligible goods: Friendships A game of chess (leisure) A religious action Truth

Scratching an itch is not a specifically human act Asking a question is a specifically human action that is motivated by a desire to possess an intelligible human good (truth).

The Sensitive Appetites

The Four Cardinal Virtues These virtues perfect the four principal powers of the human person: Intellect, Will, Concupiscible, and Irascible powers.

Practical Intellect: perfected by the virtue of Prudence

Will – perfected by the virtue of: Justice.

Irascible Appetite: perfected by the virtue of: Fortitude

Concupiscible Appetite: perfected by the virtue of: Temperance

Intellect -- Prudence Will --- Justice Concupiscible appetite Irascible appetite Temperance Fortitude

Before man can perfect his ability to act well in relation to others (justice), he must perfect his ability to act well with himself from within himself. He will do so by cultivating temperance and fortitude. Concupiscible appetite Irascible appetite Fortitude Temperance

Temperance: The virtue which seeks to moderate, according to reason, the pleasures of touch, in particular those activities ordered to the preservation of the life of the individual and the species, namely the pleasures involved in eating and drinking (individual), and sexual activity (species).

The glutton does not eat to live, but lives to eat.

Fornication Adultery Incest Seduction Rape Contraception Sodomy Masturbation Necrophilia (Peter Singer) one flesh union procreation Sex act

Moderate love of one’s own excellence Inordinate love of one’s own excellence Deficient love and of one’s own excellence “Humility observes the rule of right reason whereby a man has true self-esteem.”

“Wherefore meekness above all makes a man self-possessed.”

Clemency mitigates punishment according to the demands of right reason. Severity is the virtue by which a person remains inflexible in the infliction of punishment when right reason requires it, and so is not opposed to clemency. The opposing vice here is both cruelty on the one hand (which denotes excess in punishing) and leniency on the other, which is an unreasonable mitigation of punishment.

Excessive modesty ?

Modesty of Apparel

Immodesty

Modesty of movement Modesty of speech Leisure (play or the virtue of pleasantness) “ A man is said to be pleasant through having a happy turn of mind, whereby he gives his words and deeds a cheerful turn.”

Fortitude: The virtue that moderates fear and daring and directs us to how and when we should attack evil.

Fortitude binds the will firmly to the good of reason in the face of the greatest evils, and the most fearful of all bodily evils is death

Pusillanimity (the unmagnanimous spirit) Loitering at the local Tim Horton’s. Certainly not an example of the mind stretching forth to “great things”

Magnificent Works

Not So Magnificent Works

The virtue by which one persists long in something good until it is accomplished

Justice: The constant will to render to another that which is due to him or her.

The Common Good A meal is not a common good, but a collective good. As the number of participants increases each one actually possesses less of that good. A common good is not diminished by an increase in participants. It is a good possessed as a whole by each individual without its becoming anyone’s private good.

Examples: Sociability A family Truth Cultural heritage Education God and a religious heritage Public security International peace A just and legal political system Etc.,.

Legal (General) Justice – the virtue by which we exercise the acts of all the virtues in relation to the common good. General Injustice – general lawlessness. Indifference to the common good.

Vices Against Commutative Justice the willing of inequality with respect to what is due another. In general, the vice opposed to commutative justice is the willing of inequality with respect to what is due another.

Deed Murder Physical Assault False imprisonment Adultery Word False accusations False statements (attorney) False testimony Detraction (attacking the good name of another person) Contumely (speaking in a manner derogatory to the honor and reputation of another). Gossiping (secretly talking about the defects of another with the intention of destroying friendship). Cursing (willing injury to another by invoking evil upon him). Mockery (the vice by which a person laughs contemptuously at another or intends to cause shame in another by making known, in a jesting manner, his vices). Vices Against Commutative Justice Fraud (the deliberate use of deception to cause the loss of some value to one of the two individuals. Both buyer and seller). Defective product without discount, Selling short in number and weight. Buyer aware that the seller is ignorant of true value of the article, takes advantage, or takes advantage of an error in calculation. Deceptive advertising Usury (charging excessive interest on a loan of money. In ancient times, usury meant the charging of any interest on money borrowed).

Virtues Allied with Justice Potential parts of justice (fall short of the strict meaning of justice). Moral debt rather than a strict legal debt.

Spending money on the flesh that leads one to take no pleasure in virtue The proper and reasonable stewardship of excess riches Inordinate love of possessing

The virtue of speaking and acting in accord with truth. We have a moral debt to express ourselves truthfully.

The virtue by which one acknowledges some benefit or favor done by someone else.

Vindication: the virtue by which one, in conformity with relevant circumstances, observes due measure in meting out punishment to one who has committed some moral offense. It is willing of punishment for the sake of preserving the just order and restraining evildoers.

Affability: the virtue by which one promotes and maintains agreeable relations in social life. It is a friendliness, an establishment of cordial relations with others (not the same as friendship).

The virtue inclining the will to correct law when law fails to apply in particular instances.

The Most Important Virtues Allied with Justice Piety: The virtue by which we manifest the respect and honor we owe to our relatives, especially our parents (filial piety), and our country (patriotism).

The Most Important Virtues Allied with Justice Veneration (Observance): The virtue by which we show honor and respect to persons who are in a position of dignity and/or authority. Ie, Prime Minister, a court judge, Premier of a Province, teacher, vice-principal, principal, police officer, etc.,.

The Most Important Virtues Allied with Justice Religion: The habit of rendering in some way what is due to God. Man cannot do complete justice to God. In order to give anything back to Him, we have to be given it first. Gift always precedes justice.

Acts of Religion InteriorExterior Devotion Prayer Adoration Sacrifice Vices contrary to Religion: superstition (excess) irreligiousness or irreverence.

Prudence The intellectual/moral virtue which rightly directs particular human acts, through rightly ordered appetite, toward a good end. A prudent man does not merely know what is good. He is above all one who does the good. Right appetite is thus part and parcel of prudence. Ie., one who does not will justice cannot be prudent.

Universal principles certainty Particular situations less certain Requiring a special virtue, an intellectual/moral virtue (requiring right appetite)

Integral Parts of Prudence Memory Understanding of first principles Docility Shrewdness Discursive Reasoning Foresight Circumspection Caution

Integral Parts of Prudence Memory “There are none so blind as those who will not see” I may choose to forget the evidence that presents itself to me about this man who appears to be my friend. I choose not to ponder the clues and what they could mean, for fear of what I might discover.

Integral Parts of Prudence Understanding of first principles Synderesis Intellectual knowledge Rational appetite (knowledge of things intelligible) (intelligible goods) Life Truth Leisure Sociability Religion Marriage Integrity Naturally inclined to these human and intelligible goods

Integral Parts of Prudence Docility The recognition of one’s finitude and need for advice. The ability to learn from others, to seek out and accept their advice. An open-mindedness

Integral Parts of Prudence Shrewdness solertia Clear-sighted objectivity in unexpected circumstances The ability to quickly size up a situation Intuitive.

Integral Parts of Prudence Discursive Reasoning The ability to research and compare alternative possibilities and to reason well from premises to conclusions in practical matters.

Integral Parts of Prudence Foresight The capacity to estimate whether a particular action will lead to the realization of our goal

Integral Parts of Prudence Circumspection The ability to take all relevant circumstances into account, since otherwise what seems to be a good end and a good means can be vitiated by factors that have not been considered.

Integral Parts of Prudence Caution Care to avoid, when choosing good means to a good end--or at least anticipate-- those evils that will likely result from a good act that we contemplate doing. So it is by caution that we take steps, if necessary, to avoid such evils. So to be cautious is to be on the lookout especially for the bad consequences of a contemplated action

Potential Parts of Prudence Counsel – inquiring into the means and circumstances. Practical Judgment – an assent to good and suitable means. Command – the direct application of the counseling and judging of action. Eubulia – the perfection by which we rightly deliberate about available means that will lead to a desired good end. Synesis – good common sense in making judgments about what to do and what not to do in ordinary matters. Gnome – the virtue by which a person, seeking to preserve the spirit of what is just, judges it right to perform an action not required strictly by the letter of the law. Belonging to a good judge when dealing with problems not wholly covered by the law. The principal act of prudence

Vices contrary to prudence Inconstancy: (wavering) – failure to complete a moral act by refusing to command that an act be done (giving way to inordinate pleasure). Negligence: a defect on the part of the intellect to direct the will in carrying out some good action. Impetuosity: the vice of acting too quickly – failure to consider adequately the available means. Thoughtlessness: a defect of practical judgment – opposed to synesis and gnome Contrary to command

False Prudence Prudence of the Flesh The vice by which one is excessively concerned about the good of the body or sensual pleasure.

False Prudence Excessive thought and concern about attaining various objects of desire, or excessive solicitude about attaining power, position, wealth, fame.

Cunning : the intellectual disposition by which one is able to employ improper means to attain a desired end. Three former NatWest bankers. Gary Mulgrew, Giles Darby and David Bermingham - have each been accused of seven counts of "wire fraud" by US authorities. They all worked for Greenwich Natwest, the bank's capital markets division, at the time of the alleged fraud four years ago.

Intellect -- Prudence Will --- Justice reasoning understanding circumspection foresight docility caution memory False Prudence: - craftiness - guile - unduly solicitous of temporal matters legal justice [>]> commutative justice distributive justice liberality religion piety observance gratitude truth affability equity

Concupiscible appetite Irascible appetite temperance abstinence sobriety chastity humility meekness clemency modesty fortitude magnanimity magnificence patience perseverance

Three Elements of the Human Action Moral Object: What is being done? Motive: Why is it being done? Circumstances: The particulars (conditions) that accompany the act. Each element must be good for the entire act to be good.

Ethics: Not merely about what NOT to do. It is also about what to do, about acquiring positive characteristics (virtues) that beautify character and lead one to happiness and our ultimate end.

The Rational Appetite The Will Sense knowledge Sense appetite (sensible goods) Intellectual knowledge Rational appetite (knowledge of things intelligible) (specifically human intelligible goods) Life Truth Leisure Sociability Religion Marriage Integrity Human action involves the pursuit of intelligible goods