Ethics: Chapter 7
Virtue and Vices
1
Virtues and Vices

Virtues and Vices
All moral theories respect virtues and
deplore vices, though to different degrees
 Jesus of Nazareth gave us a set of Virtues
 Mercy, love of righteousness, meekness
and love of one’s enemies
 Jesus also gave us a set of vices
 Lust, vengefulness and hate

2
Virtues and Vices

The Sermon On the Mount

Jesus sets forth a radical ethic of
nonviolence and love
 Happy are those who know they are
spiritually poor; the kingdom of heaven
belongs to them
 Happy are those who morn; God will
comfort them
 Happy are the meek; they will receive
what God has promised…
3
Virtues and Vices

The Sermon On the Mount

Jesus sets forth a radical ethic of
nonviolence and love
 Your light must shine before people, so
that they will see the good things you
do
 I come not to do away with the Law of
Moses, but to make their teachings
come true
4
Virtues and Vices

The Sermon On the Mount

Jesus sets forth a radical ethic of
nonviolence and love
 Whoever obeys the Law and teaches
others to do the same will be great in
the Kingdom of Heaven
 Do not murder, that is against the law,
but I say do not become angry with
your brother because that is wrong also
5
Virtues and Vices

The Sermon On the Mount

Jesus sets forth a radical ethic of
nonviolence and love
 So, if your right eye causes you to sin,
take it out and throw it away
 It is better for you to enter into heaven
missing a part of your body than to be
thrown into hell
 Don’t make promises you can’t keep
and down swear by the heavens
6
Virtues and Vices

The Sermon On the Mount

Jesus sets forth a radical ethic of
nonviolence and love
 We have all heard of “an eye for an eye
and a tooth for a tooth”, but I am telling
you do not take revenge on someone
when they do you wrong
 When someone slaps you on your cheek
offer them you other cheek too
7
Virtues and Vices

The Sermon On the Mount

Jesus sets forth a radical ethic of
nonviolence and love
 When someone asks you for something
give it to them
 Love your enemies and pray for those
who persecute you
 Why should God reward you if you love
only the people who love you?
8
Virtues and Vices

The Sermon of “The Good Samaritan”

The Samaritans were a despised ethnic
group, with whom the Jews would have no
relations
 So, a priest comes by
 Then, a Levite
 Finally, a Samaritan
 Jesus then asks, “Which one of these
three acted like a fellow man toward the
man attacked by the robbers?”
9
Virtues and Vices

How Much Land Does a Man Need?
During the last years of his life, Tolstoy
liberated peasants, gave away most of his
possessions and lived like a peasant
himself
 We get a picture of his life in the parable
of “How Much Land Does a Man Need?”

10
Virtues and Vices

How Much Land Does a Man Need?
Pahom always compared himself to others
and lamented on what he didn’t have and
how much others did have and that they
should not be so harsh on those that did
not have land
 Pahom made a statement “If he had
enough land he would be happy”
 So the devil was going to make sure he
had enough land

11
Virtues and Vices

How Much Land Does a Man Need?
First, Pahom bought 40 acres and
prospered, but the peasants kept
trespassing on his land
 At first he forgave them, but when it kept
happening again and again he finally took
the trespassers to court
 Then Pahom believed the peasants were
trespassing on purpose and started
accusing others of act they did not do

12
Virtues and Vices

How Much Land Does a Man Need?
Pahom argued with everyone, peasants
and judges and was disliked by most
everyone, but he had land
 Pahom met a traveler and the traveler told
Pahom of a place where he could get good
land very reasonable and Pahom was filled
with desire
 So he sold his land at a profit and bought
3x as much land and became 10x richer
13

Virtues and Vices

How Much Land Does a Man Need?
Pahom didn’t like the fact that he had to
rent some of the land, so he saved up his
money and 1300 more acres of land
 A dealer then told Pahom of lands that
could be purchased for next to nothing
and Pahom reasoned, “Why should I pay
for this land when I can get even more?
 So again Pahom was on the road to
acquire more land

14
Virtues and Vices

How Much Land Does a Man Need?
When Pahom finally arrived at the
Bashkirs, he was told he could have as
much land as he wanted, “Just tell us what
you want”.
 Btu Pahom was a businessman and
wanted it in writing to which the Bashkirs
replied that they would sign a contract
 The price was to be 1,000 roubles a day,
as much as you can walk in one day
15

Virtues and Vices

How Much Land Does a Man Need?
So Pahom devised a plan that he would
take much more than he needed and sell
off what he didn’t need and get the land
for free
 Pahom started out on his journey and kept
taking more and more land until he had
more than enough
 In the end, he was so greedy, and took so
much land he lost all the land and his life 16

Virtues and Vices

Jealousy, Malice and Ingratitude

There are two methods by which men
arrive at an opinion of their worth
 By comparing themselves with others
 In this way I either increase by own
worth or
 Diminish his do that I can always
regard myself as superior
 This is the origins of jealousy
17
Virtues and Vices

Jealousy, Malice and Ingratitude

There are two methods by which men
arrive at an opinion of their worth
 By comparing themselves with the idea
of perfection
 This according to Kant is the
preferred method
 The idea of perfection is a proper
standard
18
Virtues and Vices

Jealousy, Malice and Ingratitude
An envious man is not happy unless all
around him are unhappy
 His aim is to stand alone in the enjoyment
of his happiness

19
Virtues and Vices

Jealousy, Malice and Ingratitude
We feel pleasure in gossiping about the
minor misadventures of other people
 This heightens our own felling of comfort
and happiness

20
Virtues and Vices

Jealousy, Malice and Ingratitude
If I receive a favor, I am placed under an
obligation to the giver, he has a call on me
because I am indebted to him
 The indebted person can’t accommodate
himself to the idea that he owes the
person anything
 His ingratitude might even conceivably
assume such dimensions that he can’t
bear his benefactor and becomes his
enemy

21
Virtues and Vices

Jealousy, Malice and Ingratitude

It is inhuman to hate and persecute one
from whom we have reaped a benefit
22
Virtues and Vices

Jealousy, Malice and Ingratitude
Envy is the highest degree detestable
 The envious man does not merely want to
be happy, he wants to be the only happy
person in the world
 He is really contented only when he sees
nothing but misery around him

23
Virtues and Vices

Jealousy, Malice and Ingratitude
Malice is taking direct pleasure in the
misfortunes of others
 People enjoy the misery they have
produced

24
Virtues and Vices

Jealousy, Malice and Ingratitude
All this said, we may ask whether there is
in the human mind an immediate
inclination to wickedness
 We have no direct inclination towards evil
as evil, but only an indirect one
 This can be seen in children who have a
spirit of mischief in them, but these
tendencies need to be nipped in the bud

25
Virtues and Vices

Jealousy, Malice and Ingratitude
To help a man in distress is charity
 To help him in less urgent needs is
benevolence
 To help him in the amenities of life is
courtesy
 We are grateful not only for what we have
received, but also for the good intention
which prompted it

26
Virtues and Vices

Jealousy, Malice and Ingratitude
To many races God appeared to be a
jealous God, seeing that it cost him
nothing to be more bountiful with his
goodness
 But God’s goodness must be of a high
order if he is to be good to a being so
unworthy of his goodness
 So, the gratitude we owe to God is not
gratitude from inclination, but duty

27
Virtues and Vices

Jealousy, Malice and Ingratitude
Kant also warns use about accepting
favors unless we are either forced to do so
by dire necessity or have implicit
confidence in out benefactor, otherwise we
are under an obligation
 Even if I repay the debt, I am still not
even, because he has done me a kindness
which he did not owe

28
Virtues and Vices

Jealousy, Malice and Ingratitude
Kant also warns use about accepting
favors unless we are either forced to do so
by dire necessity or have implicit
confidence in out benefactor, otherwise we
are under an obligation
 Even if I repay the debt, I am still not
even, because he has done me a kindness
which he did not owe

29
Virtues and Vices

Moral Cowardice

The Kitty Genovese Story
30
Virtues and Vices

Three Days to See (Gratitude)
Helen Keller says we should live each day
as if we should die tomorrow
 This attitude would emphasize the values
of life
 Most of us take life for granted
 We all know that we will eventually die,
but that day is far into the future

31
Virtues and Vices

Three Days to See (Gratitude)
Only the deaf appreciate hearing and the
blind realize the blessings of sight
 Those who have never suffered
impairment of sight or hearing seldom
make the fullest use of their faculties
 We aren’t grateful for what we have until
we lose it
 Keller recommends we lose sight or
hearing for a day so we will appreciate it
more when it returns

32
Virtues and Vices

Three Days to See (Gratitude)
Remember Keller could not see nor hear
and her only contact with the outside
world was through the sense of touch
 She longed to augment her sense of touch
with sight or sounds
 By having sight she would take in the
memory of as many as possible objects so
that when returned to darkness she could
remember all of them in her memory

33
Virtues and Vices

Three Days to See (Gratitude)
Do we take for granted the things we see
routinely?
 We have conditioned ourselves to see only
the startling or spectacular
 What is the color and pattern of the
wallpaper in your kitchen or bathroom?
 Keller could know the outside lines of an
object but not the color or design

34
Virtues and Vices

The Stoic Catechism

Epictetus
 Known as a kindly man, humble and
charitable especially to children
 He was crippled in slavery which may
have influenced him
 We should submit to our fate as God’s
sacred gift and design, to do our duty
faithfully and therefore acquire a
peaceful mind
35
Virtues and Vices

The Stoic Catechism

Epictetus
 If you don’t get what you desire, desire
what you get
 All human beings were brothers and
sisters under one father, God
36
Virtues and Vices

The Stoic Catechism

Marcus Aurelius
 Perform every act is done as though it
were the last act of your life
 Free yourself from random aims and
curb tendency to let the passions of
emotion, hypocrisy, self love and
dissatisfaction with your allotted share
cause you to ignore the commands of
reason
37
Virtues and Vices

The Stoic Catechism

Seneca, Death and Suicide
 You should always reflect eh quality of
your life and not he quantity of your life
 When there are too many events in
your life that give you trouble and
disturb your peace of mind, you should
set yourself free
 Dying is a means of escaping form the
danger of living ill
38
Virtues and Vices

The Stoic Catechism

Epictetus, Enchiridion
 Some things are up to us and some
things are not up to us
 If you think naturally slavish things are
free and that alien things are your own,
you will be impeded, grieved, troubled,
you will blame the gods and men
39
Virtues and Vices

The Stoic Catechism

Epictetus, Enchiridion
 If you think that what is yours is yours
and what is alien is alien as it really is,
you will not complain about anything
 You will have no enemy, no one will hurt
you, you will not suffer anything
harmful
 Epictetus goes on to say don’t expect
anything and you will never be
disappointed and know your limitations 40
Virtues and Vices

In Consolation to His Wife

Plutarch
 By reacting to our daughters death we
should remain in a stable state
 By acting any other way I will be
distressed
 Everything should be conducted with
discretion and in silence with only the
essential accoutrements
41
Virtues and Vices

In Consolation to His Wife

Plutarch
 Affection is what we gratify by missing,
valuing and remembering the dead, but
the insatiable desire for grief is just as
contemptible as hedonistic indulgence
 Only an individual lets grief enter
himself, but after a while it becomes a
habitual presence and then it doesn’t
leave however much we want it to
42
Virtues and Vices

In Consolation to His Wife

Plutarch
 When people see a friend’s house on
fire, then everyone contributes what he
can to put it out as quickly as possible
 When that same friend’s mind is on fire,
they bring fuel
43
Virtues and Vices

In Consolation to His Wife

Plutarch
 We must not erase the intervening two
years form out memories, but since
they brought happiness and joy, we
must count them as pleasant
 We should not be ungrateful for what
we received just because our further
hopes were dashed by fortune
44
Virtues and Vices

The World of Epictetus

Vice Admiral Stockdale
 Stockdale was on top and had found the
keys to success
 He believed he had everything in life,
but was naïve about the resources he
would need in order to survive a lengthy
period of captivity
 He realized without personal integrity
intellectual skills are worthless
45
Virtues and Vices

The World of Epictetus

Vice Admiral Stockdale
 When supported with education a
person’s integrity can give him
something to rely on when his
perspective seems to blur, when rule
and principles seem to waver and when
he’s faced with hard choices of right or
wrong
46
Virtues and Vices

The World of Epictetus

Vice Admiral Stockdale
 The man was handsome, smart,
articulate and smooth, but obsessed
with success
 When the going got tough, he decided
expediency was preferable to principle
 He was a classical opportunist, he
befriended and worked for the enemy to
the detriment of his fellow Americans
47
Virtues and Vices

The World of Epictetus

Vice Admiral Stockdale
 He was willing to sell his soul just to
satisfy his needs
 The only way he could get the attention
that he demanded from authority was
to grovel and ingratiate himself before
the enemy
48
Virtues and Vices

The World of Epictetus

Vice Admiral Stockdale
 Some people are at home in extortion
environments
 They are tough people who instinctively
avoid getting sucked into the undertows
 They never kid themselves, if they miss
the mark they admit it
49
Virtues and Vices

The World of Epictetus

Vice Admiral Stockdale
 Other people make small compromises,
they rationalize it, then they make
another and get depressed
 They become lonely, are full of shame,
lose their willpower, self respect which
results in a tragic end
50
Virtues and Vices

The World of Epictetus

Vice Admiral Stockdale
 Stockdale realized that hatred was an
indulgence, a very inefficient emotion
 If you were committed to beating the
dealer in a casino would hating him help
your game?
 Old communists became tough by their
prison experiences
51
Virtues and Vices

The World of Epictetus

Vice Admiral Stockdale
 Life isn’t fair
 The story of Job
 Here was a good man who came into
unexplained grief
 The Lord told him “That’s the way it
is, don’t challenge me. This is my
world and you live in it as I designed
52
Virtues and Vices

The World of Epictetus

Vice Admiral Stockdale
 Men are not disturbed by things, but by
the view that they take of them
 Demand not that events should happen
as you wish, but wish them to happen
as they do happen and you will go on
well
 Lameness is an impediment to the body,
but not to the will
53
Virtues and Vices

The World of Epictetus

Vice Admiral Stockdale
 If I can get the things I need with the
preservation of my honor and fidelity
and self respect, show me the way and
I will get them
 But, if you require men to lose my own
proper good, that you may gain what is
not good, consider how unreasonable
and foolish you are
54
Virtues and Vices

The World of Epictetus

Vice Admiral Stockdale
 If you don’t lose integrity, you can’t be
had and you can’t be hurt
 You can’t be had if you don’t take that
first shortcut, meet them halfway, make
a deal or make the first compromise
 The Slippery Slope
55
Virtues and Vices

The World of Epictetus

Vice Admiral Stockdale
 Three Types of Korean Prisoners
 The redneck Marine sergeant from
Tennessee who had an eight grade
education
 There was no way they could get to
him, his mind was made up
 Everything was red, white and blue,
nothing else mattered
56
Virtues and Vices

The World of Epictetus

Vice Admiral Stockdale
 Three Types of Korean Prisoners
 The Sophisticates
 They had heard it all before, knew
both sides of every story and thought
we were on the right tract
 They were aware that every
civilization has skeletons in their
closet
57
Virtues and Vices

The World of Epictetus

Vice Admiral Stockdale
 Three Types of Korean Prisoners
 The High School Graduate
 Had enough common sense to pick
up on the innuendo, but not enough
education to accommodate it
properly
 A little knowledge is a dangerous
thing
58
Virtues and Vices

The World of Epictetus

Vice Admiral Stockdale
 Education is a tremendous defense, the
broader the better
 In stressful situations, the
fundamentals, the hardcore classical
subjects are what serve us the best
 You also learn leadership traits,
compassion, spontaneity, bravery, self
discipline, honesty and integrity
59
Virtues and Vices

The Story of David and Bathsheba
King David sees Bathsheba, the wife of
Uriah, and wants her for his own
 David summons her to the palace and they
engage in sexual intercourse
 Later Bathsheba tells David she is
pregnant
 David tells Joab to put Uriah in the front of
the fighting line so that he will be killed

60
Virtues and Vices

The Story of David and Bathsheba
After Bathsheba grieves the loss of her
husband Uriah, David has her come to live
with him
 The Lord sends Nathan to tell David of his
wrongdoing and punishes David by the
death of the child that Bathsheba has born

61
Virtues and Vices

Where Love Is, There is God

The Cobbler named Martin
 Martin reads the story of the Pharisee
and the handmaiden “He gave no water
for his feet, gave no kiss, no anointing
of his head with oil…
 Martin has a “dream” that tells him if he
looks into the street tomorrow he will
see God
62
Virtues and Vices

Where Love Is, There is God

The Cobbler named Martin
 The next day Martin see an “Old
Soldier”, Stepanitch and gives him…
 A poorly dressed woman with a baby in
her arms and Martin gives her…
 An old woman who is carrying a heavy
burden and Martin gives her…
63
Virtues and Vices

Where Love Is, There is God

The Cobbler named Martin
 Later that day when Martin returned to
his bible he read
 “I was hunger and ye gave me meat,
I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink, I
was a stranger and ye took me in”
 “In as much as ye did it unto one of
these my brethren, even these least,
ye did it unto men
64
Virtues and Vices

The Volunteer at Auschwitz
Hitler believed the Poles are especially
born for low labor…
 The Polish gentry must cease to exist…
 All representatives of the Polish
intelligentsia are to be exterminated…
 There should be one master for the Poles,
the Germans

65
Virtues and Vices

The Volunteer at Auschwitz

What about the Priests?
 The Priests will preach what we want
them to preach
 If any priest acts differently, we will
make short work of him
 The task of the Priest is to keep the
Poles quiet, stupid and dull witted
66
Virtues and Vices

The Volunteer at Auschwitz
Father Kolbe was found guilty of the crime
of publishing unapproved materials and
sentenced to Auschwitz
 The life expectancy of a Priest at
Auschwitz was about one month
 During his time at Auschwitz, Kolbe still
continued to minister to his fellow
prisoners

67
Virtues and Vices

The Volunteer at Auschwitz
If someone escaped from the camp all the
prisoners were punished as a deterrent
 But the punishment was the “Starvation
Bunker” which was inhumane
 The Nazis pick out ten prisoners to die for
the punishment of an escapee and Father
Kolbe volunteered to take one of the
condemned prisoners place
 Kolbe wasn’t looking for gratitude

68
Virtues and Vices

The Volunteer at Auschwitz
Kolbe reasoned to the Nazis he was old
and good for nothing
 Kolbe reasoned to himself Christ die on the
cross, so I should die as Christ died
 Kolbe continued to minister to the
prisoners and had them singing songs in
the “Starvation Bunker”
 The prisoner had a shepherd leading them
through the valley of death

69
Virtues and Vices

The Volunteer at Auschwitz

After the ten days had passed and the
Nazis need the space in the “Starvation
Bunker” they had to lethally inject Kolbe
and three others to kill them
70