Showing posts with label Plato and virtues. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Plato and virtues. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Plato

Plato describes the four cardinal virtues in The Republic to be:[1]

* Wisdom (calculative) - see the whole
* Courage (spirited) - preserve the whole
* Moderation (appetitive) - serve the whole
* Justice (founding/preserving virtue) - "mind your own business" ie "tend to your soul"/"know yourself"

Plato defines how an individual can attain these virtues: Wisdom comes from exercising reason; Courage from exercising emotions or spirit; Moderation (sometimes "temperance") from allowing reason to overrule desires; and from these Justice ensues, a state in which all elements of the mind are in concord with one another.[2]