Philosophy of Virtue

by Ronald J. Glotzbach

This site is devoted to the philosophical issue of virtue as presented by Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, and Locke.

What do I consider virtue to be?

It is something that I normally do not stop to think about, but through the readings have come to a better and possibly deeper understanding of the term. It is interesting looking back at the Socrates and Meno discussion; Meno described virtue as a swarm of possibilities, with each person having their own virtue. In a sense, this is true. Each person may perceive virtue to be slightly different from another and may act slightly differently from other people, while still following the underlying guidelines of what virtue is. Socrates believed though, that virtue had one common underlying principle that ran through everybody, or at least through anybody who had virtue. Socrates believed that it should be possible to define a term without having conditions that make the definition different under varying circumstances.

Does virtue come from knowledge?

In Meno, Socrates reasoned that virtue could not be taught, and therefore was not learned. Before reading Protagoras, I saw this idea as being fundamentally flawed. For virtue to simply be bestowed upon certain individuals, as though divinely given, and for only those people to be able to act in a good, virtuous way was beyond comprehension. I felt that it was well within the ability of anybody, well, anybody of sound mind, to act in a virtuous way. The ability to be good, right, and just, and use those in a given situation is something that I feel people learn as they go through life. While it may be taught to some degree in the classroom, I think virtue is more often taught outside the classroom, through the things you see your parents, relatives, and others around you doing as you are growing up. I would argue that yes, virtue is based on knowledge. Through what a person has learned in life, they have formed an opinion of what it takes to have virtue and act in a virtuous way. The knowledge that is gained through life experiences contributes to the way a person behaves. Protagoras argued just that. Protagoras believed that virtue was learned and could be taught. While each person may be inherently gifted with some sense of virtue, through natural love of one’s parents, or the natural actions of a baby, as they progress through life, they learn right from wrong, and are constantly guided in the direction of right. Protagoras noted especially that through punishment, people are led to the behavior that others would consider virtuous.

What do I think virtue is?

I think virtue is, simply put, doing good. One of the earliest lessons I was taught was to “do unto others as you wish done unto you,” often called the golden rule. The meaning of the saying is easy enough to grasp; it tells us that if we want good things to happen to us or to be done for us, that we should act in a good way towards others or do good things for others. Through exercising these moral standards, others will see the good will and some of those will be touched by it and follow in those footsteps.

About Virtue

A virtuous person is one that has continually proven himself/herself to be a good person, who steers clear of wrongdoing, who makes the correct moral and ethical decisions.