I would like to speak on this overarching theme of virtue that is present in Meno. I do not want to focus on the original question that is raised in Meno, which is the question of whether virtue can be taught, but I want to examine the newly evolved question that was later raised in the text of what virtue is. For, before one can truly determine whether something can be taught, there has to be a stated definition of the subject at hand. Now, in the dialogue, Meno provides multiple characteristics of virtue, but he fails to provide a definition of virtue that describes virtue as a whole. As the dialogue comes to an end, Meno and Socrates still have not reached a conclusion of what virtue is, and they never do. However, I believe that if one is able to speak about something, then surely one is able to provide a definition that describes that thing as a whole.
In continuing to ponder this question of what virtue is, while reading for one of my classes, I came across a very intriguing passage from a book entitled The Courage to Create by phycologist Rollo May. This passage possibly holds the answer to this highly over processed question of the meaning of virtue. The passage is lengthy, but I feel it needs to be quoted in its entirety. It reads,
Courage is not a virtue or value among other personal values like love or fidelity. It is the foundation
that underlies and gives reality to all other virtues and personal values. Without courage our love pales
into mere dependency. Without courage our fidelity becomes conformism.
The word courage comes from the same stem as the French word coeur, meaning “heart.” Thus just as one’s
heart, by pumping blood to one’s arms, legs, and brain enables all the other physical organs to function, so
courage makes possible all the psychological virtues. Without courage other values wither away into mere
facsimiles of virtue. (May 13)
According to May, virtue is courage, and he does not mean that courage is an aspect, or characteristic of virtue but that it defines virtue as a whole. As for myself, I agree with him, but I would like to hear others’ thoughts on this extraordinary claim.
Works Cited: May, Rollo. The Courage to Create. New York: W.W. Norton, 1994. Print.
So May think that virtue is courage? I have to disagree with this, even though I think that it is a good attempt at defining what virtue is. From my understanding, virtue has to be something that exudes excellence. I can't see virtue as being anything without the word "excellence" attached to it.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I understand what you're saying. Perhaps, his claim is based upon the context in which he is righting, which is creativity and art. So, perhaps, May, himself, would not apply his definition of courage to Plato's definition, but I just wanted to explore this theory.
ReplyDeleteThe suggestion from May strikes me as a way of thinking about courage as a tool for achieving other virtues to the extent that, in Aristotle for instance, each virtue requires conquering pleasure and pain and stepping into the unknown. For instance not being an alcoholic requires standing up to the natural desire to drink. Or in the case of physical intimacy (the virtue of temperance) - it takes courage even to be able to be intimate with another person, no less to do it in the right way and in the right amount, etc. And not everybody can muster this courage. It takes a strong character and personal mettle.
ReplyDeleteThe Greeks also thought of courage as issuing in the heart, or thumos. Thumos is one of the three parts of the soul Socrates describes in the Republic.