Since the markets are closed for the storm, might as well curl up with a glass of wine and think about the history of our culture....:)
How did the Greek virtues evolve, during a period dominated by a Christian point of view?
“From classical Greece came the four cardinal virtues of Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance. To them were added the three theological virtues – so called because they have God as their object, and are poured into men by God alone – the Faith, Hope, and Love of Paul, completing the tale of seven. And the greatest of these was Love.”
(The Making of the Modern Mind, J. Randall, p52.)
While some of the classical virtues were retained, their focus and meaning shifted to accommodate a supernatural focus:
“The cardinal virtues, however, scarcely corresponded to their Greek namesakes. Prudence becomes the search for truth and the thirst for a fuller knowledge of God; Justice overflows the strict bounds of giving every man his due and becomes virtually a part of love; Fortitude includes the bravery of the soldier, but culminates in patience, long-suffering, and martyrdom; and Temperance, when honored in the observance, is moderation in fasting and ascetic practices. Faith is, of course, faith in the Christian doctrine; it includes intelligence and science, and its opposites are infidelity, heresy, apostasy, blasphemy, and spiritual blindness. Hope is hope in salvation, opposed to desperation and presumption alike. But Love fills the whole moral life, ranging from joy and delight to sympathy for the sufferings of others.”
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(The Making of the Modern Mind, J. Randall, p52-3.)
Pride is missing from the list of Christian virtues. For Aristotle, pride was the crown of virtues, the best reward for a successful life. It rested on confidence in ones ability to think and act in a manner suitable to achieve the goals necessary for life. From a supernatural point of view, pride became the foundation of vice, as it embodied placing ones own judgement above the supernatural source of truth.
“With Dante all evil is due to some defect in love. In the scheme …perverted love gives rise to Pride, Envy, and Wrath; defective love, to Sloth; and excessive love to Avarice, Gluttony, and Lust. It is significant that the sin most easily pardoned, highest on the mount of Purgatory, the outermost Circle of Hell, is that love of man for woman that, transcending its proper limits, becomes lust; and the eternal punishment of Paolo and Francesca, the very type of love that is too strong, is only that everlasting continuance of love that cuts them off from participation in other spiritual joys. On the other hand, the most heinous offense is pride, expressing itself in the greatest crime in feudal society based on the mutual performance of obligations – treachery, …in the lowest pit of Hell, frozen deep in the ice of Cocytus, farthest removed from the light and warmth of the divine love that is God, lies Satan, supreme example of Pride refusing obedience to the will of the Most High…”
(The Making of the Modern Mind, J. Randall, p53)
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