Cloudy?

Some say that everyone goes after what looks good to them. Whatever feels good, we do. This implies a certain helplessness. The claim is that a person has to gratify what his character demands.  The problem with this is that a person is responsible for his state and has formed his character over time. If he hasn’t power over it then no one is responsible for his own actions and is just tossed about by every wind that comes. We would have to just accept that people are born a certain way and that goodness is an endowment from birth. There would be no reason to learn anything and everyone should just give in to every whim. There could also be no virtue, nobility or anything admirable. A son of a drunkard will be a drunkard and nothing can be done to change it.

We know that even if someone has clouded judgment, there is always hope. Everyone has the ability to pull themselves out of a rut. That is why goodness is desired and admired. The virtues are voluntary although is easier for some than it is for others. Those who have formed good habits of thought through various means will see good ways to accomplish his goals. This is like an athlete who has an easier time at the sport through practice. It is much harder however, for those who are given to vice, but they do have the ability to help themselves even if it is incremental and through various means.

Virtues are the means we chose to achieve our goals combined with the state of character we form by good habits. They are according to the right rules that work for everyone such as kindness and generosity. These are referred to as natural laws. Our actions and states of character don’t come naturally. We are masters of our actions from the beginning to the end if we know the particular facts about what we are doing. The beginning of our character is under our control but through a gradual process of making bad decisions, our judgment becomes clouded. It isn’t always an immediate thing in the same way we see with physical illnesses. But since the acts are under our control all along the way, we have to consider character a voluntary thing. Next time we will look at different virtues and their details. Instead of a general term we will study specific things. First is courage.