Virtues and Vices
The Sermon on the Mount—Jesus of
Nazareth
•
•
•
Jesus rejects “an eye for an eye” morality and urges
people to turn the other cheek.
The Sermon on the Mount departed dramatically from
classic Greek virtues.
The parable of the Good Samaritan conflicted with the
values of Jesus’ culture, which forbade helping one’s
enemies.
Virtues and Vices
Jealousy, Malice, and Ingratitude—
Immanuel Kant




Men should not compare themselves with others but
with the idea of perfection.
To desire the failure and unhappiness of another is
to be envious.
A favor is a debt that can never be extinguished.
Ingratitude, envy, and malice are devilish because
they imply a direct inclination to evil.
Virtues and Vices
Jealousy, Malice, and Ingratitude—
Immanuel Kant
The proper way to be grateful to God
is out of duty, not inclination or
spontaneous feeling.
Virtues and Vices
Moral Cowardice—Martin Gansberg
A Powerful Comparison:
The case of Kitty Genovese
vs.
The parable of the Good Samaritan
Virtues and Vices
The Stoic Catechism—Epictetus and Others
• The Stoics assert that it is not things that
upset us—but ideas about things.
• Epictetus declares that some things are
up to us, and some are not up to us.
• Epictetus insists that nothing in the world
is intrinsically evil.
Virtues and Vices
The Stoic Catechism—Epictetus and Others
Stoic Words:
• “If you don’t get what you desire, desire
what you get.”
• “Don’t seek for things to happen as you
wish, but wish for things to happen as
they do.”
• “Mere living is not a good, but living well.”
Virtues and Vices
The World of Epictetus—James Stockdale
•
Stockdale discovered that Epictetus was highly
relevant to his experience as a POW.
•
Stockdale found inspiration in the Stoic
principle “Lameness is an impediment to the
body but not to the will.”