The term virtue means a disposition of mind oriented towards good. The ability of a man to excel at something, to perform a certain act optimally, to be virtuous. In its etymology, virtue derives from the Latin virtus, that is, virility, which in turn comes from vir (man), to better express those typically masculine characteristics of physical strength and courage.
On the other hand, in modern language, virtue is the quality of moral excellence, for both men and women. The term commonly refers to a characteristic trait considered positive. Virtues are understood as positive qualities of moral excellence as opposed to the practice of vice, which constitute a perfect and exemplary way of being. In this Psychology-Online article, we will see what are the virtues of a personwhat they are and some examples.
What are the virtues
Since ancient times, people have already talked about the qualities and virtues of people. Next, we will see what virtues are using different ancient models.
Platonic-Aristotelian ethics
The Platonic-Aristotelian elaboration of the concept of virtue is based on the cultural premises of the archaic and classical Greek world, but it overcomes them and accentuates the importance of man’s intellectual gifts.
For Plato, virtue corresponds to the control of the rational part of the soul over the passions. Four main virtues are indicated for the first time:
- Temperance: moderation of desires that, if excessive, lead to irregularity.
- Courage or strength of mind: necessary to carry out virtuous behaviors.
- Wisdom: understood as control of the passions and the basis of all other virtues.
- Justice: the balance of all the other virtues present in the virtuous man and in the perfect state.
According to Aristotle, virtue is a condition of what arises between two extremes, which is why he defines two types of virtues:
- Intellectuals: the exercise of reason that presides over knowledge, that is, intellect, science and wisdom.
- Morales: dominion of reason over sensitive impulses. Ethical virtue consists of reducing the faculty of desire to the dictates of reason. This virtue is obtained through habit. In this article, we tell you what the .
Christian thought
Later, Christian thought defined virtue as a habitual and firm disposition to do good. It allows the person not only to perform good acts, but to give the best of themselves. The goal of a virtuous life is to become like God. Two types of virtues are distinguished.
- human virtues: firm attitudes that regulate our actions, order our passions and guide our conduct according to reason and faith. There are four cardinal human virtues: prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance.
- theological virtues: refer directly to God. They dispose Christians to live in relationship with the Holy Trinity and found, encourage and characterize the moral action of the Christian. There are three theological virtues: faith, hope and charity.
Classification of virtues
One of the main goals of positive psychology is to try to understand what makes life worth living. In this panorama, the concept of “” and “potentialities” are developed, as paths through which to acquire virtues.
Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman (2004) identify six categories of virtues, taken from the classical models just presented, within which the positive character resources are classified. The two authors took into consideration the cultures that most influenced the history of man, following the great traditions of ancient Greece, Christianity and Islam. They also supported their hypotheses using concepts expressed by Confucianism and Taoism for China and Buddhism and Hinduism for South Asia.
In this way, lists of similar virtues have been created, grouped into six broader concepts called “core virtues.” Thus, these hierarchically superior categories are wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance and transcendence. In the following sections we will explain each of them in detail.
The wisdom
Wisdom is one of the best virtues of a person. This virtue can be defined as knowledge that has been fought hard for and then used for good. A form of noble intelligence in the presence of which no one resents and everyone appreciates. The strengths contained in wisdom are those that involve the acquisition and use of knowledge in human affairs.
In this case, some examples of a person’s virtues would be creativity, curiosity, judgment, and perspective.
Courage
Courage is one of the good virtues of a person. Following the intuitions of Putnam (1997), it is possible to outline three different categories of this virtue:
- Physical value: search for physical well-being. They satisfy the need for security.
- Moral value: maintaining your authenticity and ethical integrity despite the risk of clashing and losing friendships or prestige; a kind of shout out of the chorus but in harmony with yes and doing the right thing.
- Psychological value: arises when facing debilitating illnesses such as harmful situations and habits. Courage is thus outlined as the virtue of always “doing the right thing, even when there is much to lose.” In this you can test your courage.
The humanity
Among the list of a person’s virtues, it is worth highlighting the importance of humanity. This virtue refers particularly to those evidently and sincerely altruistic behaviorsdevoid of any expectation or benefit and totally unrelated to a cost-benefit analysis.
These behaviors are manifested through the exercise of reason and are studied through the observation of altruistic and prosocial behaviors.
Justice
Among the qualities and virtues of a person, the notion of justice undoubtedly stands out. A virtue that consists of putting certain decisions into practice in order to protect something that is intuitively correct. The potentialities that are part of it are manifested mainly in civic actions.
There are different modalities through which justice is delivered and related, such as, the community, the nation and the world.
Temperance
Another of the strengths and virtues of a person is temperance. This virtue is defined as the ability to control excesses driven by one’s own impulses and emotions, thus showing the ability to self-regulateeven in the absence of external guidance.
The inhibition of one’s own instincts and one’s most pleasant appetites. For this reason, temperance is essential to live in harmony with society.
The transcendence
To finish the list of a person’s virtues we will talk about transcendence. Peterson and Seligman understand this virtue as the connection to something bigger than ourselvesthe existence of a meaning in one’s life provided by something that does not need to be ultraterrestrial or divine, but that inspires our path and makes us grateful and confident of what surrounds us.
In this sense, it is emphasized that transcendence is distinguished from religiosity and spirituality. In general, these are potentialities that transcend us, connecting us to something vaster and more permanent. For example, other people, the future, evolution, the divine, and the universe. Discover in this article the relationship between the.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
- Laudadio, A., Mancuso, S. (2015). Manual of Positive Psychology. Milan: Franco Angeli.
- Peterson, C., Seligman, M.E.P. (2004). Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification. Oxford: Oxford University Press.