The Four Virtues

Virtue is the habitual, well-established, readiness or disposition of man’s powers directing them to some goodness of act. As applied to humans, a virtue is a good character trait. The Latin word virtus literally means “manliness,” from vir, “man” in the masculine sense; and referred originally to masculine, warlike virtues such as courage. In one of the many ironies of etymology, in English the word virtue is often used to refer to a woman’s chastity.

Virtue is “habitual excellence”. It is something practiced at all times. The virtue of perseverance is needed for all and any virtue since it is a habit of character and must be used continuously in order

for any person to maintain oneself in virtue.

Classically, some philosophers, most notably Aristotle, said that in order to pursue any of these virtues perfectly, one would have to master them all. For example, in order to be just, one must be wise. The thesis of the unity of the virtues is controversial. One might argue that humans can be courageous without being wise, or good tempered without being just.

However, as Aristotle noted, the virtues can have several opposites. Virtues can be considered the mean between two extremes. For instance, both cowardice and rashness are opposites of courage; contrary to prudence are both over-caution and insufficient caution. A more “modern” virtue, tolerance, can be considered the mean between the two extremes of narrow-mindedness on the one hand and soft-headedness on the other. Vices can therefore be identified as the

opposites of virtues, but with the caveat that each virtue could have many different opposites, all distinct from each other.

List of Eastern and Western Virtues

Eastern Ideas of Virtue

Virtue is also an important concept in Chinese philosophies such as Confucianism and Taoism. Chinese virtues include:

• Humanity
• Xiao - usually translated as filial piety
• Zhong - meaning loyalty.

One important normative value in much of Chinese thinking is that one’s social status should be the result of the amount of virtue that one could demonstrate rather than by one’s birth. In the Analects, Confucius stated that perfect virtue consists of the global practice of five things:

• Gravity
• Generosity of soul
• Sincerity
• Earnestness
• Kindness

The four classic Islam “cardinal” virtues are:

• Shiddiq : prudence/wisdom/truthful
• Tabligh : communicative
• Amanah : trustworthy
• Fathanah : intelligent or smart

Western Ideas of Virtue

In Christianity, the theological virtues are:

• Faith
• Hope
• Charity

From 1 Corinthians 13:13. St. Paul defined these three chief virtues. Christian Church authorities called them the “Three Theological Virtues” because they believed these virtues were not natural to man in his fallen state, but were conferred at Baptism.

The Four Cardinal Virtues:

• Fortitude (Courage)
• Temperance (Temperance)
• Prudence (Wisdom)
• Justice (Justice)

From Wisdom 8:7
The Seven Heavenly Virtues:

• Faith
• Hope
• Charity
• Courage
• Justice
• Temperance
• Wisdom

The Heavenly Virtues combine the four Cardinal Virtues and the three Theological Virtues.

The Seven Contrary Virtues:

• Humility
• Kindness
• Abstinence
• Chastity
• Patience
• Liberality
• Diligence

The Contrary Virtues were derived from the Psychomachia (”Battle for the Soul”), an epic poem written by Prudentius (c. 410).

Practicing these virtues is alleged to protect one against temptation toward the Seven Deadly Sins: humility against pride, kindness against envy, abstinence against gluttony, chastity against lust, patience against anger, liberality against greed, and diligence against sloth.