Can vices be heroic? It's something I've been thinking about.
I don't want to denigrate idealism, youthful or otherwise. It has its place, certainly. But the things that make up your best self: altruism, integrity, honesty. It often seems like all these things can be bullied out of you under the right circumstances. Bullied out, or twisted so hard that you think your practicing them when really you're just filling out someone else's agenda.
The vices, things like cynicism, laziness, and gluttony, they're old reliables. And they can throw a monkey wrench into the plans of people who might be doing harm in the long run.
So I don't want to make rash decisions about which traits are heroic and which aren't. I can only say that it's a good thing they're all on the table.
I don't want to denigrate idealism, youthful or otherwise. It has its place, certainly. But the things that make up your best self: altruism, integrity, honesty. It often seems like all these things can be bullied out of you under the right circumstances. Bullied out, or twisted so hard that you think your practicing them when really you're just filling out someone else's agenda.
The vices, things like cynicism, laziness, and gluttony, they're old reliables. And they can throw a monkey wrench into the plans of people who might be doing harm in the long run.
So I don't want to make rash decisions about which traits are heroic and which aren't. I can only say that it's a good thing they're all on the table.
2 comments:
It's good to remember that when Christ was confronted by a mob who had taken a woman accused of adultery and was asked what should be done to her. His truly magical response was to say 'Let him of you who has never sinned be the first to throw a stone'.
Moral righteousness without the possibility of forgiveness or redemption is a terrifying and persecutory concept.
The Stoics had some worthwhile thoughts about vice and virtue.
The story of Jesus telling the crowd "whosoever is without sin" is such an elemental part of Christianity that almost everyone knows it. Well, almost everyone has heard of it. As it turns out those are two very different things.
And yes, to always be on the lookout for someone to punish and shun is to be possessed by a very false righteousness.
The philosophies of the Ancient Greeks hold surprises for us whenever we return to them.
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