Pagan Virtue: An Essay in EthicsClarendon Press, 1990 - 242 pages The study of the virtues has largely dropped out of modern philosophy, yet it was the predominant tradition in ethics fom the ancient Greeks until Kant. Traditionally the study of the virtues was also the study of what constituted a successful and happy life. Drawing on such diverse sources as Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Shakespeare, Hume, Jane Austen, Hegel, Nietzsche, and Sartre, Casey here argues that the classical virtues of courage, temperance, practical wisdom, and justice centrally define the good for humans, and that they are insufficiently acknowledged in modern moral philosophy. He suggests that values of success, worldliness, and pride are active parts of our moral thinking, and that the conflict between these and our equally important Christian inheritance leads to tensions and contradictions in our understanding of the moral life. |
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Page 51
... never lacked an appreciative audience . Again , many people would say that courage is essentially a matter of someone's intentions and efforts . People living quiet , private lives , who have never had the opportunity of showing ...
... never lacked an appreciative audience . Again , many people would say that courage is essentially a matter of someone's intentions and efforts . People living quiet , private lives , who have never had the opportunity of showing ...
Page 85
... never been , And are become as though they had never been born . ' These words convey not only the idea of a human evil , but also something like a rebuke . For being remembered after one's death is taken to be a reward for ...
... never been , And are become as though they had never been born . ' These words convey not only the idea of a human evil , but also something like a rebuke . For being remembered after one's death is taken to be a reward for ...
Page 101
... never set himself to do anything bold . He might be like Aristotle's old men who are cowardly , and are always anticipating danger . . . old age has paved the way for cowardice.'120 It is not only the coward who lacks this grave sense ...
... never set himself to do anything bold . He might be like Aristotle's old men who are cowardly , and are always anticipating danger . . . old age has paved the way for cowardice.'120 It is not only the coward who lacks this grave sense ...
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Common terms and phrases
action active admire amour propre anger angry Aquinas Aristotle Aristotle says Aristotle's attitudes behaviour believe body brave character child Christian claim consciousness Cordelia Coriolanus courage describe desire disposition egoism emotion envy essentially Ethics evil expression F. R. Leavis fear feel friendship grace gratitude hate hatred Hegel hence honour human Hume Ibid idea imagine includes instance intentions Jane Austen justice Kant King Lear lack Lear Lear's look loyalty magnanimous man's Mansfield Park Martha Nussbaum means Michael Oakeshott mind moral Moral Luck nature Nietzsche noble object one's oneself ourselves pain particular passion perhaps person Phenomenology philosopher phronesis physical picture pietas play pleasure Plutarch political possible practical wisdom Priam pride qualities rational relation respect role Sartre sect seems self-conscious sense sexual shame simply skills sloth someone sort spirit suffering suggest Summa T. S. Eliot temperance things thought tradition trans understand values vanity virtue wish