Deciding what's Good | 4 Cardinal Virtues
Old Categories in 300 words or less
A large problem in our modern world, is the inability to assess the goodness of our statements or actions according to something other than our own opinions. We have lost an understanding of what virtue is and how to apply it in our modern world.
People are walking around determining for themselves the goodness of things or their interactions usually according to what provides benefit or gives pleasure. There is very little universal standard upon which most people can relate.
Virtues used to be common place and accepted standards by which all behaviour would be assessed. To use a modern concept, they would have been mental models by which behaviour would be assessed.
The ability to depend on external and objective measures to assess a particular situation is invaluable. By doing so, it neutralises unfounded emotion which clouds reason and avoids iron clad laws of behaviour since virtue applied, is always unique, nuanced and situation dependent. This avoids creating ironclad laws and expectations that result in conflict. And perhaps most important of all, it creates an atmosphere of humility in which such an assessment might be proffered. This itself is virtuous.
According to tradition there are 4 cardinal virtues; justice, prudence, temperance and fortitude. They are cardinal since they stem from the Latin cardo which means hinge. Apparently there are 66 virtues in total, but they all hinge on these 4 virtues. Which is quite bewildering to think that all virtuous behaviour can fit 4 categories.
Sadly we no longer live in a culture that encourages mastering all 66 virtues, but just knowing and putting these 4 into practice, should create a more orderly and virtuous life.
The Book of Judges is all about God's people determining for themselves what's good (subjective good).
Each time they stray from God's will (objective good) ill befalls them.
Judges teaches us about the finite capacity of man (as a finite being situated in a particular time and context) to understand the objective good (that exists across all time and all contexts).
The Cardinal Virtues are an expression of that objective good, and the Bible the record of it's implementation (and lack thereof) across time as evidence for their truth.
The rejection of these values with enlightenment thinking (reliance on human rationality, as opposed to traditional thought), in some ways was the darkening of the human intellect by reducing it from the amassed knowledge of centuries of thought and experience, to the ability to model reality in the space between our ears in the here and now.
Objective external measures of what is good are not only important, they integral to being a successful human.
Next up the three theological virtues: faith, hope and charity ;)
To summarize these points into the 'ultimate goal' of the virtues: to benefit as many people as much as possible