Socrates taught the Four Cardinal Virtues: Wisdom, Fortitude, Temperance, and Justice. They are called “cardinal” because all other attributes hinge upon and from them. The later Christians supplemented these Cardinal Virtues with the additional Three Christian Virtues: Charity (Love), Faith and Hope.
Therefore, much of the Western cultural indoctrination of “virtue,” being grounded in Western Philosophy and Western Christian Theology, is thereby grounded by these seven virtues. For philosophers and theologians, a deepened study of each virtue is appropriate. However, I will suggest that there are only essentially two Master Virtues “to rule them all,” as Tolkien might say.
At the onset, we need to understand something critically important: Socrates did not “miss” the “Christian Virtues” later nominated by Christian dogma. This fact is exposed in the Socratic teachings.
Indeed, Love, Faith and Hope have been around sort-of forever, since the first day the sun arose for a human being to see, and a hunter hunted in desperation, and a farmer planted waiting for rain, and a mother nursed her sick child. Therefore, although many Christians will dispute it by a form of bias, self-interest, or pride, I will suggest that Socrates refused to admit the “Christian Virtues” as Cardinal Virtues on purpose.
For this reason, the “Christian Virtues” are merely “Noble Emotions” or “Noble Attributes.” [1] The “Christian Virtues” are lesser, and not equal. Critically thinking, the “Christian Virtues” are not masters, as such, but slaves. [2]
Indeed, when critically assessed, we can astutely perceive that the “Christian Virtues” have one thing in common:
The “Christian Virtues” are all emotions or correlated to emotion, and emotion is, of course, correlated to feelings.
For reasons otherwise explained [*1, *2], what is “good” and what is “wise” are not the same thing. All the history of the World, and all the history of humanity, and all the history of human nature prove that love, faith and hope are foolish, perhaps not all the time, but certainly often enough.
It is the Socratic Cardinal Virtues that keep the “Christian Virtues” in line. If the Noble Emotions are “good” by purpose, the Cardinal Virtues make them so.
[*2] That is, the Socratic Cardinal Virtues stop stupid love, and stop foolish hope, and stop beguiled trust. The Cardinal Virtues “keep our wits about us.” Yes, Lady Bird trusted the compliments of the Beguiling Clever Fox, who convinced her to sing herself out of her dinner. [3] She trusted, and hoped, and loved. And perhaps she was a “good” bird, but she was nevertheless a silly foolish bird. [4]
Therefore, we know that the “Christian Virtues” (Noble Emotions) are second-tier attributes that need to be controlled in order to be or to become “good” by application of purpose. [*4]
We adduce goodness from wisdom, we do not adduce wisdom from goodness. Goodness is not a cause, goodness is an effect. Alas, Hitler loved Germany, and the Klu Klux Klan loves America. Chamberlain had faith (and faith’s corollary, hope) that Hitler would keep a bargain. Chamberlain, perhaps a good man, but silly foolish Chamberlain. Faith, Hope, and Love adduce perhaps as much good as bad, and perhaps more bad than good… But none of that for Master Churchill at Mers-el-Kebir. [5, 6, *1, 7, 8]
Emotions are the necessary wind in the ship’s sails, but not the ship’s rudder. Wind is the servant of the rudder, not its master. Strong winds require a strong rudder. Without that rudder, the ship is out of control. A battleship that is pushed around, unstable, or out of control, is not a “good” thing.
So, let us now address the top-tier Socratic Cardinal Virtues.
Wisdom, also called “Prudence,” is the ability to discern a path to an objective that Wisdom has adjudicated to be “good.” This attribute of the human being is necessary, as it is the rudder of the human vessel.
The two Cardinal Virtues of Fortitude (Courage) and Temperance (Restraint) are really of a respective inverse counter-balanced nature. Fortitude is to go when the inclination is to stop, and Temperance is to stop when the inclination is to go. Therefore, we might say that these two virtues are really corollaries of each other, working together. Thusly, they might be aggregated at a higher level as “Discipline.” Discipline holds us to adjudicated task, either way, controlling the vessel by using the wind or the performing the row, either way.
Now, the Fourth Cardinal Virtue is Justice. It might be said that Justice is of a different nature than the other three Cardinal Virtues. Socrates used Justice as a sort of regulator, if not a form of abstract causation of the other virtues, as such; that is, to regulate is to cause or to allow a condition to exist. For example, we might say that Justice keeps confidence (a type of courage or fortitude) from becoming stubbornness (a type of pride or vanity). Such as truth is truth, the Western concept of Justice might be characterized as the Eastern concept of harmony or balance. But, in application, it might also be said that harmony is really an applied corollary, or an effect, of Wisdom and Discipline doing their jobs; to wit: It is a judgment for Wisdom as to whether balance has been achieved as intended, and Discipline’s role to accomplish it and to keep it.
Therefore, it might be reduced to say that there are two “Master Virtues”: Wisdom and Discipline.
Determination and Discipline. Wisdom determines what is a “good” objective and how to achieve it, and Discipline is directed to make it happen. Wisdom thinks, and Discipline acts. Wisdom brings the horse to the water, and discipline makes the horse to drink it.
Therefore, the two Master Virtues are, in essence, a more efficient executive summary of the Socratic Cardinal Virtues, as they must need be, since truth is truth. There is no change to what is, but only a different way to express what is, since truth is truth.
In these Master Virtues—such as truth is truth—we also find the Two Essential Framework Attributes of the Human Being: Character and Integrity. [9] Wisdom determines the character set, and discipline effects the integrity to match it with action or restraint, as the case may be. Wisdom chooses the tack and the sails by judging the wind, and Discipline carries out the command. [*9] Such as it is for the vessel, and no less the for human being.
Thus, the adage,“Sapientia Pater Morum, Disciplina est Pater Integritatis.” (“Wisdom is the Father of Character, Discipline is the Father of Integrity.”)
All philosophy of human virtue is therefore reduced to the Wisdom and Discipline that effects a human being of Character and Integrity. The former determines, and the latter implements.
This “Decide and Do” result should properly satisfy the most theoretical academic as much as the most practical business leader. It makes philosophical sense as much as practical sense.
Behold the journey of man throughout time: Too little the rudder, too little the row, too much the wind.
[6] The Truth. Hard to Handle, Even Harder to Swallow. [#GRZ_178]
[7] TikTok v. QuickBooks? Preparing for Data War. “Good? Bad? I’m the guy with the gun.” [#GRZ_133]
[8] On Leadership and Trust. [And, Should We Trust the U.S. Government?] [#GRZ_160]
[9] Critical Thinking and the Conflation of Character, Integrity, Goodness and Virtue [#GRZ_148]
“Sapientia Pater Morum, Disciplina est Pater Integritatis.” (“Wisdom is the Father of Character, Discipline is the Father of Integrity.”); “Sapientia et Disciplina sunt Pater et Mater Morum et Integritatis.” (“Wisdom and Discipline are the Father and Mother of Morality and Integrity.”); “Gubernaculum et vela refrenant ventum, ut sapientiam et disciplinam adfectus moderantur.” (“The rudder and sails control the wind, as wisdom and discipline control the emotions.”); “Iter hominis per totum tempus: Parum gubernaculum, nimium ventum.” (“The journey of man throughout time: Too little rudder, too much wind.”) ~ grz
[10] ONE®: The LinkedIn Reference Set [#GRZ_183] ONE: 988 [L12:54] (“Reading Signs“) (He also said to the crowds, “When you see clouds rising in the West you say then that it is going to rain—and it does. And, when you notice that the wind is blowing from the South you say that it is going to be hot—and it is. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the signs of the earth and the sky but you not know how to interpret the present crisis of things.”). Not everyone can do it. It’s too hard.
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© 2024 Gregg Zegarelli, Esq. Gregg can be contacted through LinkedIn.
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