THE RETURN OF “VIRTUE”

Few believe that psychotherapy has become the vehicle to the well-lived life. Therefore, in the West there has been a return to the ancient universal principles including the belief that the good life is the virtuous life. Virtue includes the practices of love, kindness, forgiveness, showing appreciation, and patience.

However, virtue is being practiced apart from a faith in a virtuous God. Stoics in NYC do not want to hear about God. Nor do “Objectivists” and adherents to “Positive Psychology.” Even many AA meetings discourage any mention of God. However, the mention of my own higher power is tolerated.

How then do they justify the practice of virtue? Pragmatically! It’s a matter of what confers benefits in terms of improved relationships and feelings about oneself as a good person.

While there is nothing wrong with these benefits, and I appreciate many of the insights of Stoicism and other groups that promote virtue, they are destined to once again slide into oblivion. Without God, the practice of “virtue” can only be sustained pragmatically, in terms of the benefits. However, once the stoic realizes that this practice is not really about virtue but self-interest – the personal benefits – he will eventually conclude that his immediate interests are better served elsewhere.

Pragmatism has defined the history of humanity. Our lives are based upon a cost/benefit analysis of what we do – how to maximize our returns. Often, pragmatism has produced good results. However, pursuing self-interest often has not. Every war and revolution has involved a pragmatic assessment. Perhaps every rape has also entailed an evaluation, however crude, of what the rapist will derive.

Besides, if we are practicing virtue for strictly self-enhancement, it is no longer virtue. Virtue is other-centered, not self-centered. It should not depend upon what we get out of it but what is objectively right and unchanging. However, only a good, all-wise, and loving God can provide the necessary foundation for the objectively virtuous and unchanging. Without God, we are merely chasing after the latest fads, good feelings, and a heightened self-esteem. When the fads change, and they do, so too will our concept of “virtue.” Following the fashions can only breed cynicism.

Jonathon Van Maren has written about the philosophical transformation of a number of militant atheists, including Richard Dawkins, who now recognize that a Christ-less world is a dangerous world:

·       Dawkins discusses these ideas further in his latest book, Outgrowing God. “Whether irrational or not, it does, unfortunately, seem plausible that, if somebody sincerely believes God is watching his every move, he might be more likely to be good,” he confessed begrudgingly. “I must say that I hate that idea. I want to believe that humans are better than that. I’d like to believe I’m honest whether anyone is watching or not.” While this realization is not a good enough reason for him to believe in God, Dawkins says, he now realizes that the affirmation of God’s existence does benefit society. For example, Dawkins admitted, “It might bring the crime right down.” https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/atheists-sound-the-alarm-decline-of-christianity-is-seriously-hurting-society?fbclid=IwAR0gyqb-88buiXX4p4XD2GRV3dyp_Ql8x8892PGW2w9zYZgAyDASml4oiFM

As many studies have demonstrated, Dawkins is correct about people who “sincerely believe…God is watching.” I think that he recognizes that we cannot merely play “God” for the benefits it will bestow upon society. Nor can we play “virtue.” Instead, we have to embrace virtue as a reality to which we must conform, rather than as a tool for self-improvement.