What are the VIRTUES of a PERSON?

With the term virtue is understood the disposition of mind oriented to the good. The ability of a man to excel at something, to perform a certain act optimally, to be virtuous. In its etymology, virtue derives from the Latin virtus, that is, virility, which in turn comes from vir (male), to better express those typically masculine characteristics of physical strength and courage.

In modern language, on the other hand, virtue is the quality of moral excellence, for both men and women. The term commonly refers to a characteristic trait considered positive. By virtues are understood positive endowments of moral excellence in opposition to the practice of vice, which constitute a perfect and exemplary way of being. In this Psychology-Online article, we will see what are the virtues of a person, what they are and some examples.

Index

1. What are the virtues?
2. Classification of virtues
3. The wisdom
4. Courage
5. The humanity
6. Justice
7. Temperance
8. The Transcendence

Since ancient times, people have already talked about the qualities and virtues of people. Next, we will see what the virtues are through different old models.

Platonic-Aristotelian Ethics

The Platonic-Aristotelian elaboration of the concept of virtue starts from the cultural premises of the archaic and classical Greek world, but goes beyond them and accentuates the importance of the intellectual gifts of man.

For Plato, virtue corresponds to the control of the rational part of the soul over the passions. Four main virtues are listed for the first time:

1. Temperance. Moderation of desires that, if excessive, lead to irregularity.
2. Courage or strength of mind. Necessary to carry out virtuous behaviors.
3. Wisdom. Understood as the control of passions and the basis of all other virtues.
4. Justice. The balance of all the other virtues present in the virtuous man and in the perfect state.

According to Aristotle, virtue is a condition of what arises between two extremes, which is why it defines two types of virtues:

1. Intellectuals: the exercise of reason presides knowledge: intellect, science, wisdom.
2. Morales: domain of reason over sensitive impulses. The ethical virtue consists in reducing the faculty of desire to the dictates of reason. This virtue is obtained through habit.

Christian thought

According to later Christian thought, virtue is a habitual and firm disposition to do good. It allows the person, not only to perform good acts, but to give the best of himself. The end of a virtuous life consists of become like God. Two types of virtues are distinguished.

• Human virtues: firm attitudes that regulate our actions, order the passions and guide our conduct according to reason and faith. There are four cardinal human virtues: prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance.
• Theological virtues: they refer directly to God. They dispose Christians to live in relationship with the Holy Trinity and they found, animate and characterize the moral action of the Christian. There are three theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity.

One of the main goals of positive psychology is to try to understand what makes life worth living. In this panorama the concept of "strengths"and of" potentialities ", as ways through which to get to acquire the virtues.

Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman (2004) identify six categories of virtues, taken from the classic models just presented, within which the positive resources of character are classified. The two authors took into consideration the cultures that most influenced the history of man, thus following in the west the great traditions of ancient Greece, Christendom and the Islam. They also substantiated their hypotheses by the concepts expressed by Confucianism and Taoism with respect to China and Buddhism and Hinduism for South Asia.

In this way, lists of similar virtues have been created grouped into six broader concepts called "nuclear virtues". These are the hierarchically superior categories are wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance and transcendence. In the following sections we will explain each of them in detail.

Wisdom is one of the best virtues of a person. This virtue can be defined as knowledge that has been fought hard for and then used for good. A form of noble intelligence in the presence of which no one feels resentment and everyone appreciates. The strengths contained in wisdom are those that involve the acquisition and use of knowledge in human affairs, such as the creativity, curiosity, judgment and perspective.

Courage is one of the good virtues of a person. Following the intuitions of Putnam (1997), it is possible to delineate three different categories of this virtue:

• Physical value: seeking physical well-being. They satisfy the need for security.
• Moral value: maintaining your authenticity and ethical integrity despite the risk of colliding and losing friendships or prestige; a kind of shout outside the chorus but in harmony with yes and doing the right thing.
• Psychological value: arises when facing debilitating diseases such as harmful situations and habits. Courage is outlined as well as the virtue that always supposes "to do the right thing, even when there is much to lose".

Among the list of virtues of a person, it is worth highlighting the importance of humanity. This virtue refers in a particular way to those obviously and sincerely altruistic behaviors, devoid of any expectation or benefit and totally unrelated to a cost-benefit analysis. It manifests itself through the exercise of reason and is studied through the observation of altruistic and prosocial behaviors.

Among the qualities and virtues of a person, the notion of justice undoubtedly stands out. A virtue that consists of implement certain decisions in order to protect something that is intuitively correct. The potentialities that are part of it are manifested mainly in civic actions. There are different modalities by which justice is imparted and related: the family, the community, the nation and the world.

Another of the strengths and virtues of a person is temperance. It is defined as the ability to control excesses driven by one's own impulses and emotions, thus showing the ability to self-regulate even in the absence of an external guide. The inhibition of one's own instincts and one's own more pleasant appetites. Temperance is essential to living in harmony with society.

To finish the list of virtues of a person we will talk about transcendence. Peterson and Seligman understand this virtue as the connection to something bigger than ourselves, the existence of a meaning in one's life contributed by something that does not need to be extraterrestrial or divine, but that inspires our path and makes us grateful and confident of what around us.

In this sense, it is emphasized that transcendence is distinguished from religiosity and spirituality. In general, these are potentialities that transcend us, connecting us to something larger and more permanent. For example, other people, the future, evolution, the divine, and the universe.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

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• Laudadio, A., Mancuso, S. (2015). Positive Psychology Manual. Milan: Franco Angeli.
• Peterson, C., Seligman, M. AND. P. (2004). Character Strengthsand Virtues: A Handbook and Classification. Oxford: Oxford University Press.