Virtuous Living (2 of 13): Virtues vs. Duties
by Joseph Rowlands
We need to take a step back and look at how Objectivist ethics compares to other ethical systems. This will help provide a contrast between Objectivist virtues and other virtue systems. The intent here is to show how the whole idea of virtues got cast into a particular mold, which still haunts the Objectivist conception of virtues.
So first, what makes Objectivist ethics different from other ethical system? What's the essence of it? There are a lot of similarities and differences with other ethical systems, but let's examine the big one. Objectivist ethics is fundamentally different from other ethical systems because it is practical.
The major alternative to Objectivist ethics is altruistic ethics. Altruism holds the lives of others above your own life. Self-sacrifice is the ultimate measure of moral achievement. But because it holds a moral standard contrary to your life, it cannot be practiced consistently. Moral actions are opposed to your actual self-interest.
This is, of course, the cause of the moral/practical dichotomy. Under other ethical systems, there must always be a conflict with what's good for you, and what is moral to do. The moral is not the practical (although it can be occasionally). In order to live your life, you must set aside your ethical system.
One consequence of a morality not grounded in your self-interest is that virtues always end up as duties. Even if they can be shown to achieve some valuable ends, those ends must be justified by an ethical standard outside of your own life. The result is that the virtues necessarily come into conflict with your own life. This stems from the fact that the values being sought by the virtuous action necessarily come into conflict with your life. This isn't to say they always will conflict. It may be that they often don't conflict. But unless the virtue is grounded in your own self-interest, there will be some conflict.
So the virtues become duties. They become chores that you must obey, even though you'd like to short-cut them on occasion. They become an impediment to your life. They become seen as tasks that when you follow them, you lose. They become a burden on your life. Instead of seeing them as guides to living your life, they become limitations on your actions.
The natural consequence of upholding virtues as duties is that they will be interpreted as a minimum set of responsibilities that you need to perform. They become a part of your life that you try to minimize and isolate from the rest of your life. Like any burden, you seek to overcome them with as little wasted time and energy as you can.
Discuss this Article (19 messages)
|
