Feeling Ambitious

We studied greatness as it concerns wealth and greatness as it concerns pride. The former has to do with spending money and the latter has to do with noble acts. There are extremes to both; deficiency and excess. And we explored the proper application of each as it is commonly understood by normal rational people. This proper application is called the mean, where virtue is found. With these there are also degrees. A person can have enough to just get by all the way up to being considered rich. One can be considered honorable by a few all the way to being considered a great person by the masses. The degree doesn't change the principles of recognizing deficiency, excess and the mean. We should be doing what we ought to regardless of where we are in life.

To conclude the study on pride, we will look at a common form of pride called ambition. This isn't greatness but leads to it. As in other virtues, this not only has a proper application called the mean but it is according to the right sources and done the right way. An overly ambitious person will go after the wrong things or go about it the wrong way to try to seek honor. A lazy person doesn't care about what is noble or honorable. Sometimes the lazy person is treated with more respect because he doesn't step on peoples toes. There is nothing wrong with seeking success, but we despise those who go about it in the wrong way or who want the wrong things. To have the right amount of ambition is admirable and sought after but we don’t really have a word that describes it. What is the right amount of honor a person should seek before he is being unrealistic? We do know that we shouldn't be lazy and we should seek worthy goals.  The right amount of ambition is found between the extremes of being over-zealous and indifferent.

Now on to anger….

A Grand Scale

A person who has healthy pride isn't out to prove himself so there are few things that he considers honorable enough to risk his life for. But he will sacrifice his life for a worthy cause since there are some situations that he would rather die than participate in. 

He also would rather be the giver than the receiver and others usually end up owing him. A giving person will be remembered more than a needy one. He is embarrassed to be considered a recipient to anyone. He will be dignified to those who are in high positions but don’t easily associate with middle class because they are intimidated by his manner. They usually consider those who succeed as automatically being stuck up. We aren't talking so much about confidence but what goes over and above; the things that are honorable on a grand scale. Today it might be a sports star or accomplished politician. I would think Mother Theresa or Martin Luther King Jr. or the founders of the United States. Everywhere we go there are those who do extraordinary things. This person excels in uncommon areas and may even risk his life for the cause. You won’t find this person being a dependent, so flatterers are despicable to him. He won’t talk about others either because his ego isn't fed at the expense of others. His memory of wrongs is short and he doesn't talk bad about his enemies. He isn't a whiner and acts respectfully to others. You will find that he also likes to own beautiful things only for the sake of beauty.

  A person with a strong healthy ego will have less anxiety and more peace since he doesn't take himself too seriously. He doesn't get in a hurry or get too excited about things. This follows the pattern of greatness where there is vanity for undeserved honor with the other extreme being those who have false humility. The problem with undue humility is that a person constantly robs himself of the good things he deserves. We don’t consider this person a fool as in wealth but just being hard on himself. They don’t take the initiative to reach their potential and it is sad. Vain people however will try hard to get people to honor them even if they have to make things up. They dress up and do things for appearance sake but there is little substance to them. This person might take a stroke of good luck and showcase it as though they did something great. There seems to be more insecure people as compared to vain ones however and insecurities cause more damage to a person’s life. Confidence, the most common ego type will be addressed next. 

Hand in Hand

We are studying pride. The modern terms we might use is ego, greatness, or self-esteem. Some consider all pride a sin and some say it is the original one. But we all recognize that everyone, in order to have a healthy mind, needs to have a certain amount of it. Too much and a person becomes vain and too little and a person has false-humility. There is another element that has to accompany accomplishment and stature in order to have greatness and that is virtue.

Every person desserves honor according to their merit. This varies according to each act. But if a person does a worthy deed yet is a despicable person, we don’t consider them great. A healthy ego doesn't go with cowardly acts or stealing. It is absurd to say so. Healthy pride must be the crown of all the virtues. Virtue goes hand in hand with great accomplishments to produce honor. A noble act done out of cheating is disqualified and impure. This makes it harder to find people of true greatness since some have good character and nobility without the means and others have the means without good character.  A great person will be more concerned about doing what is honorable. He will be pleased when good men honor him for the good things he does. He will hate getting honor from people who don’t know him or for trifling things. A great person has a strong sense of justice. The interesting thing about a great person is that he isn't anxious about seeking greatness. He holds things loosely while using moderation toward wealth and power. He isn't obsessed with retaining them nor does he gloat when he receives them. Positions to him are an honor and they require diligence. He expects the same out of those he works with. This can make him contemptible to coworkers at times.

Sometimes we confuse fortune with greatness. People who are born into it or have earned wealth are thought to automatically be superior to everyone else. These people tend to have more of a problem with pride since so many people equate greatness with wealth. The truth is that without goodness a person isn't worthy of honor. Those with great possessions that lack virtue have nothing to be proud of. A person can be insolent and disdainful even if they are rich. This kind of person has a hard time with riches and due to the feeling of superiority will treat others bad and have unreasonable demands. They imitate a great person whenever they can but their true colors show through by how they treat others. A great person will despise justly and hate things that are truly wrong because his head is on straight. But the insolent person despises randomly. You never know what is going to make him mad.

This has been good so far and we will continue examining having a healthy ego..

I Think I'm Grand

The word “pride” has numerous applications. We see confidence as a good and arrogance as bad. There is also the annoying trait of false-humility. Lets take a little time and examine this thing called “pride” to find where a person ought to be.

Pride gets its meaning from accomplishments that are universally recognized as being great. A person shouldn't mind being recognized for these and this is honorable; the proper use of pride. The man who wants recognition yet hasn't really done anything is a fool and a virtuous person is not a fool. There is also ordinary satisfaction for day to day things, but we are focusing on the extraordinary. There are those who stand out in their physical beauty and those who are normal. A person who thinks more of oneself than one ought to is vain. The opposite is false-humility. We see that there can be a distance between the honor one deserves and what one takes. This distance varies also with the greatness of the accomplishments. The proper amount of recognition is the target we are seeking.  A person who demands too much or asks too little is in an extreme and has missed the mark.

So what is the end-game of pride? What does one think he deserves? It would be something everyone recognizes universally and be something above external goods that even great people aim at. The prize for noble deeds is honor. Honor is what great people seek after.  We see wealthy people and celebrities that seek honor through charity work or awards. Their money and accomplishments are never enough. So honors and dishonors are what healthy pride looks at.  False-humility plays down what merits are due as compared to someone with healthy pride. Vanity will exaggerate merits as compared to a person with healthy pride. 

This is an important subject that is addressed in many ways by religions and philosophies. We will continue and look at insolence verses gracefulness… 

Great!

The translation from the Greek that I like the best is that of W.D. Ross. I try to modernize some of the terms to make it understandable. 

The next subject has to do with what he termed magnificence or what we might call the uber-rich or ultra-liberal. Our focus is on someone who exceeds in benevolence ;  a person we would call a philanthropist. This person may have received wealth in different ways such as inheritance, successful businesses or a combination of these. But we are looking at how riches are spent. Of course the scale is relative; a person who has a lot will be able to do more.  This doesn’t discount those who have less means but are just as giving. A low income person can be a giver but we don’t call them a philanthropist. The term has to do with doing great things. It doesn’t include vulgar and showy spending. There are those of great means that are stingy and those who are big spenders for show; these are vices that we will address later.

A philanthropist is like an artist who looks for good tasteful things to spend his wealth on. As with a liberal person, he will make sure what he invests in goes to good use. He looks at the results more than how it might make him appear. It is based in honor in the same way as is common to all virtues. He does it without grudging and close calculation. It is his pleasure. Beauty is more important than cost. He doesn’t possess art due to its value since gold has value and is easier to store. He owns it for the beauty and that it inspires admiration. This kind of excellence is in all he invests, buildings, churches and public services. Everything he does is in large scale, honorable and good. Even in private occasions such as weddings, he makes sure it is one of the best around and that everyone enjoys it. He wants whatever he does to be the best available and also of the highest quality.

The excess of this is the big spender who spends more than what is right. He will have a tasteless showiness in all that he does. His purpose isn’t excellence but to show off his wealth. The honorable things are neglected and for a show he will overspend on entertainment. The miser of course will fall short in spending on everything. He will buy great things and let them decay. Everything is examined on how it can be done cheaply and he complains about the size and cost of what he does do. But he does recognize that public relations is important so he spends only to benefit his holdings. These states of character are vices but not a disgrace since they don’t hurt anyone.

So much for explaining the extremes of benevolence and possessiveness; we have looked at how we ought to behave by being liberal and and a philanthropist. I hope these writing are staying engaging. The next subject continues on this line of thought, it is the subject of Pride.

Mine!

Ethics is a study on how to understand ourselves and others so we can get along well. This isn’t a religious study. Civility is a universal principle and having the ability to negotiate and understand are valuable traits to have. Getting along with ourselves and others is necessary to get the most out of our talents, dreams and relationships. This is the essence of a happy life. Let’s continue looking at wealth and its effect on people.

We have looked at the traits of a truly liberal person and also prodigal behavior. Terms we put on human behavior always have variations because we are all diverse. The principles that maximize our particular personalities and talents have similarities and it is these similarities that we are studying. Next we will take a look at a possessive person and will finish up with the traits of a prosperous person. Aristotle calls a possessive person ‘mean’ and a prosperous person ‘magnificence’. 

There are many types of possessiveness. We use names like stingy or miserly and I am sure you can think of others. They fall short in two areas; they give too little and take too much. All types fall short in giving but they vary in how and where they fall short in taking. Some hoard money out of an honest fear of failure. They have a good motive for keeping what they have, yet fall short in giving to others. Another kind doesn’t like to pay out and assumes everyone else is that way. It causes them to be shy about receiving from others. This person thinks they are being honorable and ends up paralyzed in both giving and receiving.  

There is a type of possesiveness that is based in malice. This is the extortioner who will take money any way possible; pimps, mobsters and those who take advantage of others by charging high rates of interest. Those who do it small time, we might call a gangster or a burglar.  Those who are into it big time would be a despot or a politician who is prone to plunder. They all have the same thing in common and that is the sordid love of gain. They are willing to endure the disgrace of it and are willing to rip their friends off in the process. Getting ahead is all that matters to this person and honor is secondary. This form of taking from the wrong sources isn’t admirable; it is the worst kind of possessiveness.

Being possessive comes natural to humans and is what we consider the opposite of liberality. It is worse to most observers than being an over-spender. Next we will examine prosperity and the traits of a prosperous person.

Running Short

A truly liberal person will pay attention to whom and what he spends his money on. He values his wealth as a means to support his household and help those who really need it. A prodigal doesn’t care about who receives from him as long as he is liked. Being liked is more important to him than the fact that he is giving to crooks or enabling bad habits. Wealth becomes a liability when it is being used for appearances or some kind of superiority. This can be sought either by striving to have better things than others or by buying their favor. A liberal person doesn’t accumulate  wealth as a symbol but for security for his family and to benefit other people’s lives. That is why he is careful to give to the right person at the right time and for the right reasons. If his contribution is enabling bad behavior, it will be cut off since the waste pains him and there are others that can use the help.

So a prodigal errs in being pleased for the wrong reasons, especially in his spending. A miserly person falls short in giving yet he exceeds in taking. There are different motives in giving and taking that define particular habits of character in these areas. As we study them we will gain understanding on what to avoid ourselves since no one is exempt from dealing with them.

A prodigal doesn’t usually err in taking too much and so most of the time he ends up broke. A person who exhausts his substance with giving is the defining characteristic of a prodigal. He really has no better character than a miserly person and can be cured by either age or poverty. A prodigal already has the characteristic of giving similar to a liberal person. If he learns to earn properly, and to give to the right people, he will come out of it. That is why we don’t look down on this behavior as much. This person isn’t so much wicked as he is foolish. So he is looked at as someone better than a miser because at least his wasteful behavior benefits others. The miser can’t even benefit himself.

Most prodigal people receive recklessly from any source without honor. They do so to keep up their spending habits since their own means always runs short. This is not liberality because they could care less about doing what is right and noble. The people they make rich are those who should be poor and those who are respectable are despised. Flatterers especially benefit as do those who give them pleasure. They surround themselves with self-indulgent people since nobility means nothing and the focus is on pleasures.

As we said earlier ; a prodigal can be educated and come to his senses. But a miser is very difficult to change. Even with old age he may become worse. This seems to be a more common trait in people and it shows up in many ways. It is interesting that there are so many ways a person becomes possessive and so many motives behind it; Next time we will take a look.

Liberality

Liberality has become somewhat of a loose term. Political, religious and many other associations will describe it as it pertains to supporting their cause. Liberality has to do giving and receiving wealth. By wealth we mean things that have value that can be measured with money. The best things in life cannot be purchased with money but without it a person’s life is limited. This is especially true when all his effort must be expended toward survival.

True liberality is the target that lies between being a prodigal and a stingy person. We shouldn’t define prodigality as self-indulgence or a lack of self-discipline. These are separate vices. A prodigal is simply a person who wastes his substance. This person ruins his chance at a pleasant and happy life by losing his substance in various ways.

In a strict sense, virtue is using our abilities and resources in the best way possible. Riches will be used best by a man who has the character trait of liberality. Spending and giving is how we use wealth while taking and keeping is how we acquire it. Liberality is mostly recognized as giving. A truly liberal person not only gives rightly but he also takes rightly. His sources of income are noble and he doesn’t want anything that is unearned. Exchanges should be just between parties. Getting a good deal might seem similar to liberality but really belongs to justice since one person feels he is getting a break. A liberal person is universally liked and is chosen by most as the best virtue to have. This is because unlike other virtues, there is tangible material involved that can be used by the recipient.

The purpose of virtues is to do what is noble. A liberal person will give to the right person, the right amount and at the right time. He will be careful to make sure the recipient is qualified and his giving is effective. It will bring him pleasure to see an improvement in someone’s life. But it causes him pain to see his giving squandered. The person who doesn’t care about these things isn’t liberal but something else. Neither is a person who gives under compulsion. A liberal man refuses to take money from the wrong sources and doesn’t ask for handouts himself. His criteria demand that he will use his own possessions. At the same time he won’t sacrifice to a point where he is neglecting his own since his wealth must be sustained so he can continue to help others. He is also picky about who he helps because he doesn’t want to enable wrong living. A liberal person tends to look out for others more than himself.

The amount is relative to what a person has so a person with little means can be more liberal than someone who has great means. Even a person who has earned his wealth and gives less is more liberal than someone who has inherited wealth since what is earned is dearer to him. It is hard for a liberal person to become rich since his motive for earning is oriented toward helping others and he tends less toward taking and keeping. Having wealth for its own sake isn’t a consideration. That is why it seems that many people who are rich don’t seem to deserve it and those who deserve it don’t seem to have it. But it is possible for a liberal person to become rich if he works hard and makes sure he spends his wealth on the right things and the right people. If he gave to every need, he would be broke and lose his ability to help those who need help. This is what a prodigal does.

A liberal person will participate in proper giving and will do what he ought. Great and small, he will do what is right and do it with pleasure. His sources will be right and he will use his own resources. His pleasure will be limited to things that help and it is proper to be disappointed when things don’t work out well. A liberal person is easy to deal with and is apt to let others have the upper hand. Money doesn’t mean a lot to him and it makes him glad when others are happy.    

 

Spoiled Brat

   Courage has to do with noble acts while temperance has to do with noble avoidance. Both have the goal of something better in the future.  Courage concerns present pains that are endured for a future pleasure. Temperance concerns present pleasures that are avoided for a more noble pleasure in the future. Self indulgence is when a person only has present pleasure as his goal and he is pained if he doesn't get it immediately. Self indulgence and cowardice lean toward instant gratification and relief by sacrificing the future. Self indulgence is considered worse because it goes after pleasure while cowardice is after self preservation. No one faults a person for that. But it seems that the root of these virtues is some form of patience.
Now the amount of temperance needed varies by personality, experience and conditions. A compulsive person is being far more temperate than a passive person for the most part. A passive person is mistaken as being somewhat temperate but a compulsive person, although seeming to be indulgent, may actually be using far more temperance. It is the same when we talk about courage. A reckless person may seem courageous but an anxious person doing the same thing will be using a lot more courage than the average guy.  Someone who is under a great amount of stress might have trouble with temperance as compared to a person who has it easy. Others have experience and they shouldn't criticize a beginner since they were slow in the beginning themselves.  These principles are important to remember so we can be objective toward ourselves and others. Not forming futile conclusions out of guilt or condemnation, but seeing our objectives clearly and using patience to get there.
We could call temperance maturity. When raising children, we want them to obey certain principles and not to be driven by appetites. We know that no appetite a person has can be completely satisfied. If allowed to rule a person, they will expel all reason and make them into what we would call a "spoiled brat". So we expect a child to listen to mom, dad, and mentors to live according to good principles. In the same way a temperate man will try to have his appetites in harmony with the rational principle. To aim at the noble mark; doing what he ought, as he ought, when he ought. Rational principles become the director when a person is on his own. The ought's of course depending on the personality, conditions and experiences of that particular person. Rational principles are known by every sane person and every individual has the ability to apply them to his own life in the right way. Studying Ethics is a good way to hone in the skills...