Virtue is at the heart of Stoicism. The point of Stoic practice is to create people who express virtue in their every action. And yet, for all its centrality in our philosophy, I find that virtue is often obscured in modern stoic teaching. There’s likely a wide variety of reasons for this, not the least being that it’s a difficult subject. Making virtue feel “solid” isn’t an easy task. I also suspect that the word “virtue” itself is tainted; linked to a religious history that makes non-theists or practitioners of other faiths wary of the term. But the good flow of life that Stoics have been seeking since 300 BCE is a virtuous path. A clear-headed view of the subject will help us focus our Stoic practice so that we aren’t simply resilient in the face of life, but actively creating a fulfilling life. This episode begins a series dedicated to the virtues, first in general, and then each principal virtue in turn.
Hi, I’m Matt Van Natta and this is Good Fortune.
Today’s questions:
How does Stoicism describe virtue?
But what is virtue?
How can we be virtuous?
Ok. Let’s get started.
[Raven Caw]
How does Stoicism describe virtue?
Virtue is the only good. That is a core Stoic principle. When Stoics use the word “good” we are talking about virtue, when we say bad, we’re discussing “vice” and when referencing subjects outside of moral categorization, we call a thing, “indifferent.”
The four primary facets of virtue are, wisdom, temperance, courage, and justice, each of which have their own sub-categories. We’ll explore this in later episodes.
These names, and a label like, “good,” aren’t enough though, right? Virtue is good, good is virtue but what do these words mean to Stoics? In Diogenes Laertius’s historical summary of Stoic philosophy, we learn a bit more about virtue. He tells us that Chyrsippus the “second founder” of Stoicism asserted that, “virtue is a consistent disposition of the mind, worth choosing for its own sake, without being influenced by fear and hope, or by anything external. Moreover, it is in virtue that happiness consists, for virtue is that state of the soul which tends to make the whole of one’s life harmonious.”
Here virtue is a disposition of the mind, a state of the soul that leads to the good flow of life. And in Stoicism, the disposition of our mind is a choice. We do not stumble into virtue, we enact virtue. Recall Epictetus’s list of things we control: our opinions, our aim, our desires and aversions. It is through the proper use of these things that we live out the virtuous life. So we can learn to live virtuously, virtue can be taught! The goal of Stoic teaching is to bring us to an understanding of virtue so that we will live virtuously. This, by the way, is why Stoicism views vice or “evil” as a form of ignorance. Virtue, definitionally, leads us to happiness, to flourishing. Vicious choices are made with the intention of finding happiness as well, but the choice is a wrong one. Therefore the person living out a vice is misinformed about what best leads to a good life. They are ignorant of the better way.
Back to Diogenes’ history. The Stoics, “define good in a particular matter, as being what is perfectly in accord with nature for a rational being. And, secondly, they say that it is conformity to virtue, so that all actions which participate in virtue, and all good people, are themselves in some sense “good.” And in the third place, they speak of its consequences, joy, and gladness, and things like that.” Another synonym for virtue is excellence. To be virtuous is to be your moral best in a particular moment. Being excellent in this way leads to fulfillment, to happiness. So if we are going to participate in virtue in the hopes of enjoying consequences like joy and gladness, well, how exactly do we do that?
[Raven Caw]
What is virtue?
How should we understand virtue? Is it like the Force, from Star Wars; something we can tap into and utilize? Is it a universal rulebook, and if we follow some checklist, we can call ourselves virtuous? I’d like to share a metaphor and an analogy, the first from the past and the other from a contemporary scholar; both which shape my own understanding and practice of virtue.
The metaphor comes from the Roman statesman Cicero, who tells us that the Stoics referred to virtue as “ripeness.” I find ripeness to be a striking metaphor for the Stoic view of virtue. Ripe fruit, from a human point of view, is fruit at its peak. Ripeness is a particular mango or apple’s best expression, wait too long and it’s rotten. Moral virtue, like ripeness, also has its moment, in that a virtuous action can only be taken in the present. You can’t store up virtue. “I did ten virtuous things this morning, I’m good for the day.” No. You can’t bring forth excellence from the past, you can perform it now, in the ripeness of this moment. In fact, I would say that virtue is also like fruit in that if you store it for too long it rots. Too many people justify selfishness in the moment citing their supposed goodness in the past. Stoicism does not let us rest on our laurels. You don’t get a pass for being a jerk today because you tend to be nice most of the time. We are told that a person who is virtuous in a single moment is, at that time, just as virtuous as the mythic Stoic Sage who is at all times virtuous. Conversely, to enact a vice is to be as vicious as anyone else in that moment. That harm is not mitigated by your better self from yesterday. The immediate nature of virtue isn’t to say that the past practice of virtue is useless. Practice is a necessary part of building up our consistency in virtue and, hopefully, when we stumble our past practice helps us get back on the right path quickly. Still, it’s only in this particular moment where we can be our best self, or something else. A Stoic chooses to pursue a life of ripeness.
The analogy I would like to share comes from Julia Annas and is found in her book Intelligent Virtue. Virtue is a practical skill. Now the thought that virtue is a skill is also found in the Stoic literature, but I want to discuss the ins and outs of the analogy as found in Annas’s work. In her view, virtue is like a practical skill in that it must be practiced, and that practice involves learning, understanding, and an aspiration on the part of the practitioner to become better.
In the skill analogy we must differentiate between a practical skill and mere routine. A person with a disposition of virtue is engaged in the practice of that virtue, they are not acting mindlessly. To clarify this, Annas contrasts learning the route to work versus learning to play the piano. Yes, learning the way to work takes some skill, but it quickly becomes a routine. Contrast that to piano playing which demands a greater engagement of the mind if the person is striving to become a skilled player. In the same way, a just person does not stumble into justice, but has an understanding of justice and applies themself towards enacting it.
Also like a practical skill, virtue requires a learning process and, through that process, a deepening understanding of the virtue through that learning. A chess player learns how the individual pieces move, but eventually learns strategies as well as how to apply those strategies against an opponent. We also need to learn virtue. What does it mean for me to be excellent in a certain context? And as we learn that, we in turn must deepen our understanding so as to be free to apply virtue towards an ever changing world.
To gain that understanding we also have to have an aspirational mindset. We must want and choose to be virtuous. As Annas puts it, “where the aspiration to improve fails, we relapse into simple repetition and routine.” We must be engaged with our virtue or it isn’t really virtue. Which brings me to a final aspect of the skill analogy.
Virtue only happens in a particular place, a particular time, or in Annas’s terms, virtue takes place in an “embedded context.” Another quote. “We always learn to be virtuous in a given context, there is no such thing as just learning to be generous or loyal in the abstract.” This comes up constantly in the old Stoic literature. Epictetus and Musonius did not care if you could talk about Stoic justice or courage or temperance if you were not just, courageous, and temperate in your life, among your friends, and in interaction with the strangers you meet. Virtue is a practical skill that requires learning and continual practice if a virtuous disposition is to be realized. A Stoic chooses to participate in virtue. So how do we do that?
[Raven Caw]
How can we be virtuous?
Practice makes perfect or, at least, it keeps us on the path of improvement. Musonius Rufus said that, “the person who wants to be good must not only learn the lessons which pertain to virtue but train themself to follow them eagerly and rigorously.”
No student entered the Stoa as a virtuous person. A Stoic teacher’s mission was to strip away years of misguided thinking so that a student could begin to think clearly about life and finally learn how to truly flourish. Society told them that money was good, prestige was good, safety was good. Stoicism says the good is found in you, in your character. It says that a virtuous disposition leads to joy and gladness, no matter your access to power and resources. If this philosophy doesn’t shift our point of view towards virtue, and if our actions do not reflect that change, then we’re wasting our time. And the only way this change will come is if we challenge ourselves. We must examine our notions of the world and change them. We must practice new ways of interacting with people and with the world. Again, from Musonius, “practicing each virtue always must follow learning the lessons appropriate to it, or it is pointless for us to learn about it.”
In upcoming episodes we’ll look at the virtuous dispositions. We’ll puzzle over wisdom, and justice, temperance, and courage. Focusing on these facets of virtue will, hopefully, provide us with specific areas of practice. Still, I know that just the concepts we’ve covered today have helped me. I meditate on ripeness and on what parts of my life and in what moments of my life I’ve been unripe or rotten. I work to take my growth in the skill of virtue seriously. I want to apply the same effort towards my character that I would to any other life skill. Virtue is the point. It’s an old term, but it’s a fresh perspective for most of us.
Do you embody virtue? Are your actions so in harmony with the world that you can claim a good flow of life, one that brings forth joy? Every moment provides the opportunity to do things well, with excellence. Musonius said you can eat with virtue. Epictetus said you could bathe virtuously. Most importantly, we can interact virtuously with other people. Again, the next episodes will focus on specifics, but you don’t need to wait to redouble your effort to be your best self. You can do that right now.
[Raven Caw]
Thank you for listening to Episode 19 of Good Fortune. Good Fortune is hosted on SoundCloud and can be found on iTunes, Stitcher, and many other places. If you are willing to leave reviews on those services, they are always appreciated. The music is by Tryad off of their album Public Domain.
My books, The Beginner’s Guide to Stoicism and The 5-Minute Stoic Journal are available wherever books are sold. My self-published book, The Good Fortune Handbook, is available on Amazon and its sales directly support this podcast and ImmoderateStoic.com. If you’ve read and enjoyed that one, it could really use some reviews.
And finally, always remember, 'misfortune born nobly is good fortune.' And therefore, I wish you all good fortune until next time.
[Raven Caw]
