Virtue and Vice: Understanding Human Nature
The word virtue comes from the Latin vir, meaning strength. In Greek, it is arete, which also signifies excellence. Arete is related to the god Ares, who is the personification of force.
In contrast, the Greek word for vice is kaki, meaning bad or evil. Another Greek word used is lathes, which means disease or passion. These words indicate that the possessor of virtue is strong, while the one with vice is weak and sick. They also suggest that acquiring virtue requires effort, whereas vice is acquired
Read MoreMoral Philosophy and Ethics: A Historical Perspective on Human Dignity
Moral Philosophy, Ethics, and the Evolution of Human Dignity
Moral Philosophy and Ethics: Normative Systems
Anthropology and the history of culture have developed a moral code, which typically includes a model of the human condition and its vicissitudes, a role model, and a model of society. Currently, it is the legitimate reason. Morality serves two universal human needs. Moral standards are useful and advantageous for survival. Custom, morality, and law:
- Customary standards: Going naked or dressed
Justice and Law: From Ancient Greece to Modern Rights
Justice in Classical Greece
In Classical Greece, the concept of justice was heavily debated. The Sophists argued that justice was merely a convention, an agreement reached by the people of a particular state regarding attitudes to be considered just and unjust. They opposed Socrates, who believed in the existence of a natural law or moral justice. For Plato, justice was synonymous with social harmony. He envisioned a just society as one in which each class performs its proper function: the wisest
Read MoreUnderstanding Henotheism and the Nature of God in Hinduism
Henotheism in Hinduism
Hinduism refers to a large number of beliefs and practices, sometimes very different from each other. There are thousands of deities, which we often categorize as an example of polytheism. However, it would be more accurately described as an example of henotheism because although Hindus worship many gods individually, each is considered a window to the One or the Whole. The ultimate reality for Hindus is Brahman, the vital principle of the cosmos whose attributes are the infinity
Read MoreNihilism: Active vs. Passive and the Death of God
Nihilism: A Disease of Western Culture
In the Nietzschean conception, nihilism is not a theory but a way of life, a way of feeling and acting. More strictly, nihilism is a disease. It is the broken line of Western culture from Socrates until now. As Heidegger says in the Introduction to Metaphysics, nihilism is the destruction of the earth and of man’s gregarization. We call “nihilism” the unhappy consciousness and lack of ability to create that characterizes Western man. We are all immersed in the
Read MoreUnderstanding Reality: Metaphysics and Human Perception
The Theoretical Rationale
The human being has a unique ability that allows them to interpret and transform reality, which distinguishes them from other living beings. Reason has two functions:
- Theoretical capacity: Human faculty for specific skills, abstract, particular, and universal.
- Practical capacity: Capacity to learn by acting, directing our actions to establish our public and private behavior.
Starting Points
For the ancient Greek thinkers, the theoretical rationale was the ability to think in
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