The Moral Virtues: An Introduction
The True Foundation of the West
Our discussion on virtue is now going to take a sharp theological turn. The 4 Cardinal Virtues (Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, & Temperance) were written about repeatedly throughout the great literature in Greek days, but there seemed to be something missing in these writings.
According to Aristotle (The Ethics), the ultimate goal of the virtuous life was Happiness, which he defined as εὐδαιμονία (eudaimonia). Aristotle held that each human was uniquely created for a function, and that by living a virtuous life, each person would perform that function well.
The Encyclopedia Britannica describes “eudaimonia is the highest human good, the only human good that is desirable for its own sake (as an end in itself) rather than for the sake of something else (as a means toward some other end).”
For Aristotle, the purpose of the four cardinal functions was to live out your individual function, thereby fulfilling your unique gifting.
By that logic, if we seek virtue and function well as a human, we will flourish, right?
This is where the world of secular philosophy and Christian philosophy diverge. How do we explain the “successful” person who is miserable? Why are millionaires miserable? Why are teens, who have the world of entertainment at their fingertips, cutting themselves just to feel pain?
Perhaps there is something more to life than just maximizing our function.
Enter Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo (354-430 A.D.) was born to a Christian mother (St. Monica) and a pagan father in northern Africa. His father’s goal was to make him a great orator, so Augustine was sent to the best schools in the Roman world. Augustine flourished, eventually becoming the head of oratory at a school in Milan, Italy. By all measures, Augustine was successful. He was steeped in the philosophies of the age as he chased fame and pleasure wherever he went.
Despite this success, Augustine did not find fulfillment in this life. There was something missing that he couldn’t find in philosophy. Aristotle was of no use to him to explaining what he needed; instead, it was in the last place he wanted to look. Through his mother’s (St. Monica) fervent prayers, it was St. Ambrose of Milan, a man himself who had converted after a successful Roman political career, who would open the door for Augustine’s conversion.
Meaninglessness does not come from being weary of pain, it comes from being weary of pleasure - GK Chesterton
Augustine noticed that Aristotle’s ideals of virtue, as displayed in the great Roman citizens of the day, did not lead to the meaningful life that they promised. Specifically, Augustine noticed that the cardinal virtues struggled to deal with external shocks, such as death and suffering.
Cicero, who wrote Consolation after the death of his daughter, was nearly destroyed by grief. A man of the highest virtue and education, Cicero took years to overcome the loss of a child.
Similarly, Augustine used the example of Cato the Younger, one of the great Roman statesmen, who was renowned for his virtue and stoic lifestyle, who committed suicide when his opposition to Caesar began to crumble. How was it that a man of his stature would choose suicide over a life under Caesar’s rule? Was his life no longer “happy”? Was it his fortitude that caused him to commit suicide? Or his weakness? But if meaning is purely the result of our internal virtue, how could it all end?
Was Stoicism Enough?
One of the great philosophies of Augustine’s day was stoicism. Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius were two of the most influential schools of thought, but stoicism ran through much of the Roman world, especially in the nobility at this time.
Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations is one of the great works of philosophy. His musings, largely intended only for himself, mark the mind of a man committed to self-restraint and seeking virtue. He is the embodiment of Plato’s ideal Philosopher-King, someone with near unlimited power, yet the self-restraint to use this power virtuously, rather than simply seeking pleasure.
Epictetus on the other hand ran a school of stoicism where he taught more the practical realities of the faith. Fittingly, the two most revered authors on stoicism representing the full spectrum of Roman life, from an emperor (Aurelius) to a freed slave (Epictetus).
Getting back to the topic, Augustine noticed these great philosophies of his day talked about how to deal with the tragedies in life, but people were still unable to deal with life’s tragedies.
In his treatise City of God, Augustine makes the argument that Aristotle’s virtues and stoicism’s philosophies are not sufficient to understand the human experience. Aristotle’s point was that the supreme good, Happiness, was a result of the individual. Augustine disagreed in that the supreme good had to be found outside of the individual, otherwise virtuous men would never suffer the strains exampled by Cicero and Cato. Instead, the supreme good could only be understood by seeking God in our lives.
More Than the Individual
I recently read a post about how elite schools, such as Stanford, have developed programs for high-achieving individuals to find contentment in their lives as they get older. These are people who were CEOs of companies like Cisco, who suddenly realized that it was all empty in the end. They had money; they had power; they had drive, but there was still a void. They had no contentment.
Happiness is a thing which a person wishes only for himself; goodness is a thing which a person wishes for himself and for others. Happiness can be achieved by struggle; goodness, on the contrary, by being humble. Real Goodness is to serve God. - Leo Tolstoy
Thinking through these issues reveals an important distinction between happiness and contentment. Merriam-Webster defines contentment as satisfaction with one’s possessions, status, or situation. While happiness is largely situational and fleeting, contentment is about the heart. Did I meet my potential? Have I done enough? Have I given my best to God?
Meaning is not just about internal virtue. Meaning is about finding something worth the struggle, humbling yourself before that thing, and submitting your personal desires for the greater good.
Growth of Christianity
By the time of Augustine’s writings, the early Christian church had gone from a minor Jewish sect to an estimated 20% of the Roman population. This remarkable growth was largely related to the meaning found in Christianity, something desperately missing in the Roman world. Modern scholars, such a Rodney Stark, have identified several keys to the attractiveness of the early church.
1. Helping the Sick
The earliest writers said Christians never avoided epidemics or plagues. Christians preached that life still had meaning, even in the face of tragedy. It was this meaning that was so attractive to others, and that meaning was often in the form of helping others.
Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, argued that only the pagans had anything to fear from a plague.
Dionysius saw this as a test of his faith, and opportunity to prove his faith in God. “Most of our brother Christians showed unbounded love and loyalty, never sparing themselves and thinking only of one another. Heedless of danger, they too charge of the sick, attending to their every need and ministering to them in Christ.” - Dionysius Easter Letter
2. Social Networks
Christianity taught that ALL people in God’s image, not just the men of power. This cannot be more opposite to ancient culture.
The following list is of prominent first-century women mentioned in the New Testament: Philip’s daughters (Acts 21:9), Priscilla (Acts 18:26; Rom. 16:3-5, etc.), Phoebe (Rom. 16:1-2), Junia (Rom. 16:7), Chloe (1 Cor. 1:11), Euodia and Syntyche (Phil. 4:2-3), Nympha (Col. 4:15), Apphia (Phlm. 2), “the chosen lady” (2 John 1), “the chosen sister” (2 John 13), and Lydia (Acts 16:40), etc.
This is why women of means were often early converts, who then often converted their sons (Augustine, Constantine, etc.)
3. Pro-Life Stances
Jews always saw children as a gift from God, which Christians continued. Large families were seen as a blessing, which was the opposite of the Roman culture.
Roman fertility was rapidly decreasing. Fewer Roman men were marrying as prostitution and pederasty were socially acceptable. Women were expected to be chaste at marriage, men were expected to be well experienced.
Seneca recommended drowning unwanted children.
Plato and Aristotle thought infanticide was a reasonable state policy.
A sewer under a bathhouse in Rome was found to have over 100 bodies. The vast majority of these unwanted births were girls.
Early Christian doctrine explicitly forbad abortion and infanticide. “We have been taught that it is wicked to expose even newly-born children…for we would then be murderers” - Justin Martyr
4. Culture of Sacrifice
The bravery of early Christians shook the pagan communities. Most people trembled at the thought of death, but Christians would sing hymns and encourage one another.
Almost every early martyrdom contains stories of this, from Peter and his wife to Justin and Polycarp. To Eusebius, “the bravery and steadfastness of the martyrs was proof of Christian virtue.”
In the post-modern Roman culture, this courage in the face of death was shocking. Pilate famously asked Jesus: “what is truth?” But these Christians believed in truth so strongly they were willing to be tortured for it.
For the Roman culture that we devoted to finding meaning in the individual at this time, what did these Christians believe that allowed them to live such devout, meaningful lives?
Enter the Moral Virtues
What distinguishes the Moral (Theological) Virtues from the Cardinal Virtues is that they are not cultivated for their own sake. The cardinal virtues were the end unto themselves, but the moral virtues point towards a greater good, a greater end, something worth the sacrifice.
1 Corinthians 13 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Faith: The theological virtue by which we submit to God because He is truth itself.
Hope: The theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven, placing our trust in God and not on our own strength.
Love (Charity): The theological virtue by which we love God above all things, and our neighbor as ourselves.
I once heard a homily describing faith, hope, and love. The priest described each of them is a sliding scale. For faith, the associated vice is disbelief. For hope, it is despair. But love is interesting. Most people would say that the vice of love is hate. However, you can both love and hate at the same time. What prevents love is pride. When we are prideful, we are unable to love others because we are too busy loving ourselves.
Over the next few weeks we will unpack these moral virtues in depth. The important point here is that this was a necessary development. Augustine noted that in the Roman world of his day (including his previous life), personal virtue was not enough. Even if a man was virtuous in his actions, he could still be lost to despair and nihilism.
But there was something different about Christians, something different about the meaning they found in their lives that stood in stark contrast to the Roman world at the time. It was the introduction of these moral virtues, as illustrated by the early Christian martyrs, that helped explain the true aim for the human experience. It is this new philosophy that would be the foundation of western culture moving forward.