Virtue
Virtue is "a habitual and firm disposition to do good" (CCC #1833).
Buddha (~500 BC in India), Confucius (~500 BC in China), Aristotle (~350 BC in Greece), and the classic Christian tradition all hold that "Virtue is the mean between extremes."
"But not every action...admits of a mean; for some have names that already imply badness...adultery, theft, murder; for all of these are themselves bad, and not the excess or deficiencies of them. It is not possible then ever to be right with regard to them; one must always be wrong. ... However they are done they are wrong" (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics). Catholic philosophy calls such actions "intrinsically evil." The evil of the action cannot be remedied by good intentions nor justified by circumstances. The prohibition of such evildoing is absolute: Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not lie, do not steal.
| Flip Side | Positive Value | Seven Deadly Sins |
|---|---|---|
| Depression, Despair, Suicide | Self-esteem | Pride |
| Dissolution | Productivity | Greed |
| Apathy, Frigidity, Impotence | Intimacy | Lust |
| Victim Mentality, Passive Aggression | Self-defense, Assertiveness | Anger (i.e., rage) |
| Anorexia | Survival, Pleasure | Gluttony |
| Antipathy, Isolation | Admiration | Envy |
| Obsessive-compulsion | Rest | Sloth |
| Too Little | Four Cardinal Virtues | Too Much |
|---|---|---|
| Imprudence | Prudence (practical wisdom) | Over-caution |
| Immorality | Justice (equal rights, due process) | Scrupulosity |
| Self-indulgence | Temperance (moderation) | Puritanism/Jansenism |
| Cowardice | Fortitude (courage) | Presumption, arrogance, rage |