"Statue of Peace" (Statue of a Girl) in Southfield, Michigan, USA
The Statue of Peace titled “Sonyeosang” (소녀상) resides outside of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, South Korea. The statue has many purposes in its creation, primarily that of remembrance and contemplation of the many girls forced into sexual slavery as "comfort women" to Japanese soldiers during World War II. The statue depicts a young Korean girl dressed in hanbok (a traditional Korean dress) sitting in a chair, with an empty chair beside her. The original statue was placed in Seoul, South Korea in front of the Japanese embassy building, as there has yet to be a satisfactory resolution to the issues surrounding the "comfort system" of military sexual slavery that the Japanese government created during their occupation of Korea.
Above is a photo taken of a replica of the Statue of Peace located in Southfield, Michigan outside of the Korean American Cultural Center. This was the second ever replica (unveiled in 2014) to be raised outside of South Korea, the first being in Glendale, California (2013). There are currently more than 250 memorial statues around the world. Here is a link to a news report covering the statue's unveiling in Michigan.
In it's simplest form, metanoia is to change one's mind. As we talked about in class, there is also the translation from its Greek origins to mean to repent. As I was personally completely unfamiliar with the term prior to Monday, it spoke to me and I originally understood it as self-reflection and growth. This is somewhat conflicting with the translation as outlined on https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/bible-study/what-is-the-meaning-of-metanoia-and-its-biblical-significance.html . I argue that the virtue of metanoia is about more than simply critical self-reflection. It is one thing to acknowledge the bad one has done, or have a change of heart, but it is another and more important piece to make the necessary changes in one's life. Metanoia is self-reflection that directly leads to positive change. Metanoia exhumes growth and change in ways that positively impact the world it lives within.
Cultivating metanoia is about more than spending time reflecting on one's actions/inactions/thoughts/words. Cultivating metanoia is a commitment to learning from mistakes, building on positives, and making the most of opportunities to do good. Metanoia is a process, a result of consistency and discipline working towards careful self-awareness. It is a combination of willingness to change and disciplined time and focus spent on critical self-reflection.
Considering exemplars of metanoia in current events or in daily life, I would argue that it is quite seldom that one is remembered or praised for self-reflection or change. When looking historically, there are certainly great examples of metanoia including ancient philosophers and the concept of monks certainly embodies the virtue of metanoia. After all, reflection of oneself requires significant focus and in my experience comes from meditation. For this reason, I consider many of the greatest ancient philosophers and monks great exemplars of metanoia. I found these two videos while researching monks and their process of meditation to reach a form of personal metanoia. A Joy That Increases With the Years | Give Me Thy Heart: The Life of SRF Nuns in Yogananda’s Ashrams
How to meditate like a Buddhist monk
In considering Maslow's hierarchy of needs, metanoia remains high on the pyramid as it falls into self-actualization. For one to spend the considerable amount of time and focus on devoting oneself to learning from mistakes and growing in ways not related to physiological needs, it is necessary that these needs first be met. Reaching your highest potential, growing by way of self-reflection takes a high level of self awareness.
Entering the forest of metanoia and self-reflection is most effectively done through literature. Today's pop culture hardly recognizes let along celebrates an individuals attempts at change or personal awareness/self-reflection. However, it is in literature, particularly historical literature that there has been publications or accessible knowledge related to self-reflection and devotion to a higher power. In my opinion, metanoia as a virtue is a highly personalized adventure as it begins with self-awareness and results in positive change.
the pre-Socratic feeling about justice as comparable to the balance or harmony which kept things going is very remote to us" - Anscombe.
Justice is a virtue that is a part of the typical group of cardinal virtues. In modern day, justice is used quite often in describing how people advocate for others for equality, equity, and inclusion. Justice means to evaluate if an action is right or not through a lens of morality. It is commonly used synonymously with fairness; furthermore its about upholding human dignity in every sense. One can be just by deciding right actions or outwardly disagreeing with wrong actions.
Justice can be seen first defined very early on by Plato in the Republic. This is one of the earliest accounts of this virtue being described. The main definition is 'what the gods love' but has many more layers to that. Further, Socrates says that justice is what sustains and perfects the other virtues, which in this context was temperance, wisdom, and courage.
The Catholic Church defines justice as 'giving others their due'. This means that making sure that consequences are adequately given to actions. This also means giving respect and dignity to others. What others are owed aren't necessarily negative, but what they should have just for being an existing human being. Dignity plays a very large role into what justice can look like.
People can live out this virtue everyday. Someone who is an exemplar of justice is Sojourner Truth. I think that she lived out this virtue exceedingly well in her adult life. She fought for racial and gender equality in ways that stood out for her time. Her efforts for justice were even recognized by Abraham Lincoln.
A former slave, Sojourner Truth became an outspoken advocate for abolition, temperance, and civil and women’s rights in the nineteenth centu
Engaging in virtues allows our human development to continue into being good people. When we are good people we can satisfy our needs. Seligman talks about PERMA, which describes our needs to achieve flourishing. When we engage in justice we are about to give our lives positive emotions, as its a good feeling to advocate for righteous things. We also engage with others and build relationships with them, even if they are useful. Further, when enacting justice we give our lives meaning and accomplishment, especially if we cause the right action to happen. When living out this virtue we are able to achieve the flourishing that leads to happiness, which is ultimately the goal for the living world.
When applying the idea of Seligman's PERMA to the acting out of virtue, its very easy to see the connection of flourishing to virtue and that we have this need to act out the good. When acting upon virtues we just enrich our life so much more.
Socrates talks about living the examined life and looking within. When we are able to look within and work on ourselves and further grow into virtuous people, we are able to access that happiness that is described. The human good and morality (through practice of the virtue) ultimately leads to that peace of a good life, an examined life.
To start finding out more about justice, there are many places to look. There are two places that could be the places to enter the forest. The first is the ending of slavery in the United States and who was imperative to that movement. That could lead to discovery of those who were key to the civil rights movement. There is lots of access to justice in this movement, with Frederick Douglas, Harriet Tubman, and William Lloyd Garrison. All of these people engaged in the virtue of justice to advocate for what was right and were exemplifying the virtue throughout the movement.
Many people
throughout history have fought for the eradication of slavery. We’ve heard of
and studied many of these brave men and women in o
Another place to look to enter the forest for justice would be the women's right to vote and beginnings for justice for women. There are many women who were crucial to that movement to start and so that event would be a great place to start. These stories tell the story of not just justice, but many of the other virtues as well. There can be a start with the focus on women like Susan B. Anthony and Alice Paul, but then that search will lead to other women's rights activists. Soon after one would develop their own thread of prominent women right's activists. These women also show the virtue of justice at its peaks and really live parts of the flourishing in regards to the virtue.
From Susan B. Anthony to Malala Yousafzai, here are 16 famous women throughout history who fought for women's rights and equality.
Pictured above: A painting of a woman that embodies the idea of virtue, with a snake in one hand representing wisdom, and a mirror in the other representing clarity.
Prudence is one of the four cardinal virtues that Aquinas wrote about and I believe it is an often overlooked virtue. Prudence, as I would define it, is using common sense and having the wisdom to make a decision that is good for you and others, not just what brings a good feeling or happiness at that moment. To quote Aristotle, prudence is recta ratio agibilium or"right reason applied to practice." Having prudence requires one to have the wisdom to look at their own experiences and the experiences of others in order to make a reasonable and informed decision. Cultivating prudence is difficult because it requires wisdom, which is something that comes with age and experience. In order to grow in your own prudence you must seek the counsel of those wiser than you and those who have more experience. One can also cultivate prudence in their life by getting to know themselves better and reflecting on what is good for themself and what is not. That way when the time comes for decisions, you will know yourself and will be able to make a more informed decision. Anscombe writes in her article modern moral philosophy that "in fact rather generally it must be good for anyone to think 'Perhaps in some way I can't see, I may be on a bad path, perhaps I am hopelessly wrong in some essential way'" and I think the idea of self-reflection and logic being applied to every thought and action is what prudence is.
It is difficult to pick a role model for prudence because everyone is very flawed and often times people's flaws stem from a lack of prudence and an inability to use practical wisdom. I have chosen to look into the fictional realm in search of a model of prudence and a character that came to mind was Samwise Gamgee, the companion of the Lord of the Rings protagonist Frodo Baggins. There are many fictional characters that exercise prudence but I believe Samwise is a particularly good example because J.R.R. Tolkien writes his character to be a voice of reason throughout the novel. He understands what is best for his life and the lives of those around him. Despite some insecurity and irrationality from his companions, he fulfills his purpose. This may be seen as fortitude to some, but I see it as prudence because while he is completing his goals despite adversity, it is because he is making wise choices and using reason that he is able to complete his journey. Throughout their journey, Samwise is concerned with not only the struggles at present but the struggles to come and makes a calculated decision based upon that. This is a perfect example of prudence in my mind because it is logical thought and self-governance in a time of difficulty, and one who continues to make wise choices while having every reason not to is an exemplar of prudence.
As far as models of human flourishing, I think the virtue of prudence best fulfills the independent esteem need on Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Prudence is the ability to make sound choices for yourself and this allows for one to achieve success and well-being without depending on someone or something else to motivate you to make those smart choices. It is hard to fit prudence into just one category of human flourishing on any of the three models (Maslow, Seligman, and Galtung) because some degree of prudence is needed in almost every category. For example, in Seligman's PERMA model, you need good judgment to form positive relationships and to be able to find meaning. In Galtung's core needs model, you need prudence to make decisions to better your well-being and take care of yourself. I do think that prudence extends beyond physiological needs and survival though, it is a virtue that cultivates a higher level of well-being. You don't necessarily need prudence to have your physical needs met, you need some decision-making skills maybe, but not as a virtue. If one has prudence it allows them to make the difficult choices that allow them to grow into a better person. It is a clarity of mind that is needed as you develop self-actualization, freedom, and identity.
Pictured above: My placement of prudence in Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Galtung's table of basic human needs.
"Entering the forest" in terms of prudence is another difficult task. I think when we look for prudence throughout history we should look for the mundane people who made a difference not by surmounting great obstacles but by continuing to live and do the right thing for themselves and others. I think "entering the forest" for prudence requires one to enter not a war or major world event but at a person who listened to reason and made logical choices when faced with troubles. Prudence is a virtue that is not as often displayed in modern media, but it can be found throughout history in everyday people who do great things just by having practical wisdom when others do not.
Note: Underlined phrases are hyperlinked to web pages with more about that topic.
"The world progresses, in the slow and halting manner in which it does progress, only in proportion to the moral energy exerted by the men and women living in it."
– Jane Addams (Nobel Peace Prize Winner, 1930)
I chose to dissect justice because I think it is arguably the most important virtue, as well as the most layered and complicated. Justice has grounds both in the individual and the larger community as a whole. Justice has often been set apart from the other virtues by famous philosophers and historians, who view it as the crowning glory of the virtues. Plato, as we can gather in the quote above, believed that justice functions in both individuals and society. Time to examine this thought further.
According to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Western philosophers generally regard justice as the most fundamental of all virtues for ordering interpersonal relations and establishing and maintaining a stable political society." At its core, justice is all about the quality of being just, and practicing a sense of righteous and moral equitableness in one's life. This virtue holds that people should strive to maintain equality, even when they have power over others. On the flip side, those in inferior positions must fight to establish justice over inequitable rulers. This brings us back around to Plato's view of justice. The virtue first begins "in the hearts and souls of the citizens", and only when it exists there can society benefit and grow as a whole. In simpler terms, the world needs justice fighters in order to progress and improve.
In order to cultivate justice, one must first find their inner peace and sense of right and wrong. As the video above explains, you can't take any outside action until you have found harmony within yourself to establish a strong foundation of justice and righteousness. Of course, this is easier said than done. Many people spend their entire lives fighting to find inner peace. Justice is set apart from the other virtues because of the special quality it takes within a person to cultivate inner justice; to find a true balance within your own mind and soul. I personally think that the key step to cultivating inner justice is truly getting to know yourself – and being comfortable with all of yourself, even the ugly parts. Only then can you view yourself as a flawed equal to all others – no one is above anyone, we are all simply human beings. From there, one can finally start to take outside action and fight to cultivate justice in the world surrounding them. In my mind, this is exemplified through the fight for social and political justice. This means standing up for society to create equal opportunity and equality for all; standing up for those who struggle to fight back against their oppressors.
I think an exemplar of the virtue of justice can be found in Wangari Maathai.
Maathai was a persistent Kenyan social, political, gender, and environmental activist. She was a true fighter for justice. Maathai was the first first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree. She used her education to help others, joining pro-democracy activist groups and serving on the National Council of Women of Kenya. She was arrested on several occasions for her work advocating for human rights, and shared that “You worry that you, your family, or your friends will be arrested and jailed without due process. The fear of political violence or death, whether through direct assassinations or targeted “accidents,” is constant. Such was the case in Kenya, especially during the 1990s."
Despite these threats, Maathai continued to fight for the people and the world's well-being, founding the Green Belt Movement. Through the Green Belt Movement she has assisted women in planting more than 20 million trees on their farms and on schools and church compounds. She is internationally recognized for her work in justice, earning her the title of the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Biography of Wangari Maathai:
The Nobel Peace Prize 2004 was awarded to Wangari Muta Maathai "for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace"
Relating the virtue of justice to the theories we've been discussing in class, I think it can be found that it's applicable to both the inner and outer needs we require. This is possible because of the duality of justice we discussed earlier, with grounds both in the individual and the society as a whole. One must always begin by finding their inner sense of justice and peace, and this is where the inner needs are fulfilled. From Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, esteem and self-actualization are fulfilled through the discovery of your inner justice. Likewise, freedom and identity are fulfilled in Galtung's model of well-being, and meaning is accomplished in Seligman's PERMA model. Once these inner needs are met, a person with a strong sense of inner justice can begin translating this to the outer world. Through this, a person can improve the outer needs of both themselves and the people that they are seeking justice for. This includes physiological needs and safety (Maslow), survival and well-being (Galtung), and positive relationships and accomplishment (Seligman).
In order to begin "entering the forest" and exploring the virtue of justice, I would suggest looking into famous activists throughout history, their personal philosophies, and the improvements they were fighting for. Names come to mind like Mohandas Ghandi, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Malala Yousafzai, and Martin Luther King Jr.
A resource to start your journey exploring justice:
Throughout history, people have paid the price of their personal freedom in the names of justice and equality.
Reconciliation: Building Community Through Accountability
A defining virtue of our modern world is reconciliation. According to the site Forward Into Memory, "Aristotle [defines] virtue [as] a character trait, established by repeated intentional practice that conduces to human flourishing or 'The Human Good.'" Reconciliation works toward the human good. How? Because it addresses past evils and works toward a peaceful future, a future that gives ground to human flourishing.
Stanford provides a comprehensive definition:
“While the outcome of reconciliation is oriented toward a future marked by peaceful and just relations, the processes of reconciliation are typically oriented towards the continuing bad feelings, suspicions, or harms that were created by the conflicts and injustices of the past."
Reconciliation asks us to examine where we went wrong, what hurt others, and what created feelings of doubt and mistrust. In other words, we must examine our negative pasts to craft a future that serves the better well-being of others as well as the relationships we have with others.
To cultivate reconciliation, we must be willing to take three important steps:
1. Take responsibility for our past.
2. Acknowledge the damage we’ve done to others (and oftentimes, ourselves).
3. Work together with those living for our past mistakes to rectify the past.
Rectification may look like this:
Making a plan to recognize when actions start heading down the same path so this can be discussed and circumvented.
Contributing to a project/work that is for the good of the people hurt as well as the larger group.
Make time to continuously keep in contact and to celebrate positive change.
Virtues are difficult to see without examples, especially for reconciliation. But, we may find an example in New Zeeland's effort at reconciliation with the Maori people, an indigenous people who, like indigenous cultures in the United States, faced brutality, destruction, and desecration at the hands of colonizers.
New Zealand, under Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, recently issued a formal apology to the Maori people. In this apology, Prime Minister Ardern acknowledges the wrong the government did to the Maori people, expresses her sorrow for the damage they caused, and restores important monuments as well as offers monetary support in rectification; however, the New Zeeland government did not do this without remaining in contact with the Maori people. They had been in these talks for 30 years.
After 30 years of negotiations with the Ngati Maniapoto tribe, the NZ government has also agreed to the return of 36 sites of cultural signi
New Zeeland exemplifies reconciliation because they are making a point to address their past wrongdoing and injustices against the Maori people. They've taken responsibility for these actions. They worked together with the Maori people to offer money and restoration of meaningful monuments to rectify the situation.
The actions of the New Zeeland government Maslow's category of love and belonging. According to Maslow’s pyramid, love and belonging brings us closer together, help us build community, and have people to be with. We need to feel secure in our community to feel a sense of connectedness to other people. When there is animosity between us, it harms our interconnectedness. By focusing on reconciliation, we can work to address animosities and misunderstandings to foster community and a sense of belonging.
In a 1943 paper titled "A Theory of Human Motivation," American psychologist Abraham Maslow theorized that human decision-making is undergir
The journey into researching reconciliation starts by finding smaller communities reconciling their differences after spots of turmoil. Oftentimes, this will happen after a period of animosity. We might be able to start sometimes 30-40 years after wrongdoing by generations living in the future, other times we might look to war or how people are outcasts.
We may find our easiest examples in countries brokering peace, but we also find it often in our daily lives. Having the courage, the drive, and the desire to fix our relationships is something we do all the time. This always starts with an apology, progress toward understanding, and a plan to do better.
What is Justice? A Short Discussion of a Complicated Question
"The world progresses, in the slow and halting manner in which it does progress, only in proportion to the moral energy exerted by the men and women living in it."
-Jane Addams (Nobel Peace Prize Winner, 1930)
According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “justice can take a number of different forms, depending on the practical context in which it is being applied." Anecdotally, one of the most common occurrences of world justice is in terms of laws and the judicial system, but it also arises throughout discussions of politics, theology, and ethics. In the context of law, this can be seen as establishing statutes that hold people accountable for actions that harm others. In the context of politics, this can be seen in terms like social justice which refer to creating a society of equal opportunity and availability of resources. In terms of philosophy and ethics, this idea of justice could be seen as the moral responsibility to treat people fairly and to not practice discrimination. Although the term justice can be referred to in a different manner throughout each of these contexts, the main ideas that seem to hold true through all of them is that justice means establishing a basis of equality, and impartiality, between people so they have a fair chance of flourishing without the restriction of someone or something else. While it may be difficult to pinpoint an exact definition of the term, it remains even harder to pinpoint a way in which someone can cultivate it. Though this is true, we have often pointed to Aristotle’s notion of the need of role models as the way, and possibly only way, to cultivate virtues like justice in the self. Historical figures of virtue allow for virtues like justice to change from an abstract term to one of tangible character traits and actions.
One of the historical figures that may be used to model the virtue of justice is Walter Reuther. Framing justice through the lens of social justice and creating a society of equality and fairness shows the need of a historical figure who fought for fairness and equality throughout even the most difficult of challenges. Walter Ruther was one of the leaders to organize the newly formed United Auto Workers Union in Detroit between 1936 and 1937. As he was elected in the UAW’s executive board, he represented around 30,000 auto workers and was a key leader in the 1937 sit-down strikes in Flint, Michigan to convince General Motors to raise wages to sustainable levels and to officially recognize the union. He then tried to unionize Ford’s River Rouge plant in Dearborn, Michigan, but when he, and other UAW organizers, were handing out pamphlets outside the building Ford sent a group of men to beat Reuther and the other organizers. Though he nearly died in the incident, Reuther did not stop fighting for workers' rights. By 1948, he bargained with GM to agree to bring wages up to the price of living, establish grievance procedures for workers, enforce safely standards, and even grant workers up to 95% of their salary in the case that they were laid off, pioneering the way for many modern worker’s rights. In 1963, Reuther stood by Martin Luther King Jr. throughout his speech during the March on Washington, marched with King and John Lewis from Selma to Montgomery, and even sat on the National Advisory Board for the NAACP. Later on, he also supported Cesar Chavez and the United Farmworkers Union. Reuther fought for social justice and reforms for countless types of people in order to establish the virtue of justice in society.
Both Galtung and Maslow depict the need for safety and physiological needs in order to promote wellbeing. Reuther’s example shows how the virtue of justice is important to making sure these needs are met. Reuther fought for justice in order for laborers to have safe working conditions and fair wages. Without these, there is no way for an individual to flourish let alone survive. Without the virtue of justice, people are left on both a literal and figurative starvation diet to satisfy their needs. They do not have access to fairness and equality that gives them Maslow’s foundation to start their journey towards flourishing. Justice provides an individual with the common ground to healthily satisfy their basic needs so they can work on establishing true well-being. Furthermore, practicing the virtue of justice in the self may be a way for people to develop Seligman’s ideas of positive emotions, engagement, and positive relationships as practicing justice means viewing others as equals. In turn, this gives people the humility to create relationships and foster engagement since they have this equal view.
The decision on where to “enter the forest” on the topic of justice is a very complicated one. As today’s modern definition of justice may fall into one dictated by the sense of law (whether divine or political) it may be helpful to enter the forest with Plato’s Republic where he defines a more intrinsic version of justice outside of external laws. If looking through the lens of social justice, as I chose to do with the Reuther example, it may be helpful to enter the forest in a time of great change to social justice and equality. Whether this be with labor reforms, the suffrage movements, the civil rights movement or another time of advancements towards equality, one could choose to enter the forest during a time of little justice and work their way through the efforts of people who embark on the slow but virtuous path towards achieving it.
On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the United Auto Workers (UAW), Martin Luther King wrote a letter to union president Walter Reuthe
To me, fortitude is best defined as the act of facing adversity with courage and ferocity despite the pain or terror which that adversity brings with it. It is what makes people brave - for one cannot be brave without first being afraid. Only though great fortitude can someone hope to surmount the obstacles life presents. It's the virtue of victory against the odds and the virtue embodying the very essence of the human struggle. One can only cultivate it by consistently staring into the face of adversity and not backing down - no matter the situation.
In the scope of history, many have embodied this virtue to its fullest extent and have been remembered because of it. Nearly every righteously fought battle has been a result of those willing to die for something greater then themselves, despite the inevitable horror and agony they would endure. Those who stormed the beaches of Normandy against the Nazis would be good exemplars of this. They waited in the sea as death loomed, watched their closest friends mowed down and obliterated, saw them cry for their mothers, and still they pressed forward. Despite completely unimaginable trauma and pain, they still pressed forward for the salvation of the world. They didn't want to fight but they chose to despite it all.
This virtue also has deep implications in the essential needs of human beings. In particular, fortitude is the very thing which has kept human beings "free" and not "oppressed" as exemplified in Galtung's core human needs. Without those willing to face insurmountable odds against tyranny and oppression, there would be no freedom. The world would be engulfed by evil if it weren't for those brave enough to stand up to that evil.
In order to "enter the forest" of fortitude, one can looks many places. From the allied soldiers previously stated to everyday people struggling to provide a better a life for their children, fortitude is everywhere. Martin Luther King Jr. was fortuitous for fighting for what he believed in despite racism and hate. Galileo was fortuitous for staying true to his scientific findings despite threats from the church. Lee Seung Hoon was fortuitous for being "imprisoned many times for laboring to free the spirits of the people of Korea" which only "strengthened his determination and resolve to work for the Korean people". Fortitude can be exemplified by simply refusing to give up and to press on during life's greatest challenges. In the end, all it takes is a decision to do so.
IWM curator John Delaney explores how the Allies prepared for D-Day - and the significance of the events of the 6 June 1944.
Prudence is difficult to pin down to a single definition due to its translations shifting over time. Generally, prudence is the wisdom to make decisions that are practical and will lead to the best outcome. It is the use of reason to weigh the consequences of actions based on prior knowledge. Education and experiences are important in cultivating prudence, as more intelligence allows for deeper thought about decisions and smarter choices.
Exemplars of this virtue are cautious and realistic. They weigh choices and use practical sense and knowledge. Ham Sok Hon is an example of prudence. As explained on the ForwardIntoMemory webpage, "Ham’s education at Osan, and particularly the lessons provided by mentor Yu Young Mo (유영모), provided Ham with important ideas which were foundational to his distinct pacifist, cosmopolitan and egalitarian perspective." Ham combined his passions and philosophy with a strong education in order to make decisions regarding his Korean activism.
Prudence helps people satisfy most of their core needs. Intention, thought, and knowledge are important ingredients in achieving most goals. If we look, for example, at Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, every need is achieved through a series of decisions. Safety and basic needs require an understanding of what will fulfill the needs and how to achieve them. Each further level requires more knowledge and experiences to be carried out.
In the modern day, prudence exists mostly in two spheres. Financial prudence is considered important in running a business and staying afloat under capitalism. Also, prudence is a strong principle in Catholicism. Catholic people consider prudence as "practical wisdom that empowers one to be good and to act well in daily affairs, both ordinary and extraordinary." I would "enter the forest" of prudence with its inclusion in religion, as many people were extremely devoted to their faith and took on the virtue in every aspect of their lives. Many following accounts of prudence can be traced back to religion.
Emma Restuccia Why we need to make it desirable again
In today’s imagination prudence is mainly associated with careful, considered behavior (for example, driving a car slowly) or with a tendenc
“The prudent man looks where he is going.” – Proverbs 14:15 As we continue with the examination of virtues, our goal is to understand that
Reconciliation is one of the virtue ethics we are learning about in class - but what exactly does it mean to reconcile? If we look at the dictionary definition, reconciliation is the act of restoring friendship or harmony (Merriam-Webster). However, I think the word means much more than this. I think the act of reconciling one's differences is often one of the hardest virtues for someone to live up to and learn. It is difficult for one to overcome their own stubbornness to forgive someone for their wrongdoings and misdeeds. Especially when the wrongful acts inflicted pain and suffering onto an individual or group one cares deeply about. Nevertheless, this virtue is necessary to live a fulfilling life in order to move past the wrongs of the past and continue to push forward into a better future. In order to cultivate this virtue, one must truly learn to forgive and recognize the imperfections in human actions.
An example of an individual who expresses this virtue is Daryl Davis. I first heard about this man in my YouTube feed a few years back and have come across him a few other times on my podcasts and news. He is a black musician-activist who befriended members of the Ku Klux Klan and broke down stereotypes of black people. Through Davis's friendship and heart-to-heart conversations, many of these individuals left the KKK and their longheld ideals of white supremacy.
Entertainer Musician / Actor Daryl is an international recording artist, actor and leader of The Daryl Davis Band. He is considered to be on
I think Davis is a great example of someone who has been able to forgive others for their hatred toward people who look like him. I cannot imagine that it would be easy to talk with, more or less befriend these individuals who historically have caused much terror and hatred towards his community. This is why he is a great example of someone who is able to reconcile and change people for the better.
Reconciliation relates to Maslow and Seligman's model of well-being, specifically through the need for positive relationships and love and belonging. In order to build positive relationships, it is necessary to love those around you and forgive them for any errors they caused in the past. This is one of the ways in which we bring about change in our society - by not giving up on relationships with individuals or groups with whom we do not see eye to eye to start.
Where does one begin to look when learning about this virtue? Looking to history for answers is always a great stepping stone and through our class, studying the individuals who impacted Korea's democratic movement is a start. One of these figures we can look to is Namgang, who faced many hardships but never gave up on the Korean people.
"Namgang was imprisoned many times for laboring to free the spirits of the people of Korea, but these hardships only strengthened his determination and resolve to work for the Korean people. By the time of the March 1st Movement in 1919, he was well prepared to lead the people through Strength of Love" (Forward Into Memory).
Learning these stories of the Korean democratic movement gives us exemplars of reconciliation which may help us implement these ideals into our own lives.
Fortitude - Continuing to Move Forward in The Face of Adversity
Fortitude can be defined as having strength in the face of adversity. This strength doesn’t just refer to physical strength, but mental strength as well. Fortitude can come in all shapes and sizes. We have all faced a time where we had to push through an injury or finish a paper despite being exhausted or beat a deadline despite the stress and anxiety or any of the like. Of the seven virtues, I believe fortitude to be the toughest to cultivate because it involves having to keep pushing despite the pain, whatever it may be. In order to truly obtain fortitude, you must know what your goals and aspirations are and truly be bought in. Anyone can think that they want something, but when push comes to shove and you’re faced with real adversity, only those who really want it are willing to keep fighting. The TED Talk in the following link does a great job of explaining fortitude and putting it into perspective (https://www.ted.com/talks/colleen_horne_fortitude_the_only_way_out_is_through).
An exemplar of fortitude is David Goggins. A retired Navy SEAL, David Goggins is the definition of toughness and grit. Some examples where he displayed tremendous fortitude are completing a continuous 100 mile run on four days' notice so that he could help raise money and awareness for fallen Navy SEALS, having to go through three Hell Weeks in the span of a year (which is considered to be the world's toughest training and is almost impossible to do three times in that small of a time frame), and becoming successful despite his setbacks in life. Goggins has continuously put himself mentally and physically through the toughest adversity possible and has succeeded in just about everything because he is bought in to his goals, whatever they may be at the time. I won’t go too in depth because that is a whole can of worms, but I highly recommend reading up on him (https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a20798013/rw-hero-of-running-david-goggins/).
While David Goggins may be an extreme example, fortitude is required to be able to grow. For this very reason, I believe that it fits into Maslow’s final piece in the Hierarchy of Needs, Self-actualization (to learn more about this, click this link https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html). Self-actualization can be defined as the desire to become the most that one can be and in order to do so, you must step out of your comfort zone. Stepping out of your comfort zone means that you’re going to be faced with adversity, which is where fortitude comes in to play. Let’s look at an example. Let’s say you’re terrified of public speaking, but you want to get better. How do you go about this? You public speak. Granted, you won’t be speaking to a whole auditorium and be flawless right away, but you have to start somewhere, and that’s where fortitude does wonders. Fortitude is getting up on the stage and speaking despite the fear, stress, and anxiety. This can be applied to all aspects of life, no matter how big or small. In a sense, fortitude kind of requires you to go back to the four lower needs (physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem) and go without them temporarily in order to master the whole pyramid.
As prevalent as fortitude is all throughout history, there isn’t necessarily one way that you would “enter the forest” on this virtue. There are plenty of examples that you can point to, but they all display fortitude in their own unique way. You can look at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., you showed fortitude by continuing to stand up for what he believed in despite the abuse and persecution, or you can look at the founding fathers who fought back against the British for their independence. Both examples display the virtue of fortitude, but in a different light. To put it the context of Korean History, Philip Jaisohn displayed fortitude when he taught himself English and found a job delivering furniture ad leaflets to homes in San Francisco. Essentially, you can dive into any point in history and fortitude.
Before being able to learn about cultivating fortitude as a virtue in our "moral compass," we must first have an understanding of what fortitude even means. Fortitude--which sometimes is referred to as courage--is "a firmness of spirit, [and] steadiness of will in doing good despite obstacles in the performance of our daily duty." In other words, fortitude would seem to include a sort of virtuous stubbornness and a strong will to always do the right thing regardless of the circumstances. To have the courage to stand up and do what is right, even in the face of adversity. Fortitude is also described as both suppressing fear and limiting recklessness. It rests in between the two extremes and allows the individual to act with a virtuous medium we know to be courage. So based on this definition, these would be the traits that constitute the virtue itself. As for cultivating it, the individual must display these manners. As Aristotle points out within aretaic virtue theory, though, the individual must be displaying it for the right reasons and do so on a regularly occurring basis. These requirements mark that the actions of the person are truly virtuous--and when being applied to a cardinal virtue such as fortitude, the cultivation of it.
As we discussed in class, there is great importance of having moral exemplars in which to look to.
"The sight of a highly virtuous person living a life dedicated to moral causes can have a powerfully influential effect on other people’s moral behavior. As a rule, people are far more captivated by the example of a human life than by an ideational treatise. The extraordinary influence of moral exemplars is due in large part to this natural human preference for personal embodiments over abstract notions" (Anne Colby & William Damon, Some Do Care (1992)).
This quote from the Forward Into Memory webpage further emphasizes the importance of exemplars. With something like virtues being such a complex and somewhat abstract idea, it's hard to put meaning to it. It's one thing to explain what fortitude means, but do we actually knows what it MEANS until we have seen it lived out in a way that we can follow? And how are we supposed to know how to live virtuous lives if there are no relevant examples to reference and pattern our lives after?
When it comes to fortitude, I think that history gives us a few examples of people who have cultivated this virtue within their lives. Obviously humanity isn't perfect and therefore nobody can always perfectly embody every virtue, but there are distinct points in these individuals' lives that mark them as being reasonable exemplars for us to look at and follow. I know that while using religious examples might not sit well with everyone, they mean a lot to me and serve as great points of reference in my own life. People like Moses, Joshua, Job, David, Paul, and so forth are people that come to mind. Then of course is the greatest example through Jesus Christ. His sacrifice on the cross for the sins of the world took immense fortitude as he had the courage to withstand a death so excruciating and painful for the greater good. Through His death God's people could be reconciled and given eternal life. That and Jesus never lost sight of His mission and for doing good by others, even when He was facing adversity. I would argue He is the only perfect example of fortitude--along with other virtues--since Jesus was entirely sinless. As for the others, they displayed great courage time and time again despite the odds. Moses against Pharaoh as he led the Israelites out of slavery; David when he took down Goliath and had to flee enemies in the future--including King Saul; Paul continuing to proclaim the gospel and help people despite persecution; Job continuing to follow God in the midst of losing literally everything; and Joshua being courageous in battle against Canaan and leading the Israelites to victory even though they seemingly didn't stand a chance without God on their side. Their fortitude may have come easier knowing God was with them, but they are still admirable examples nonetheless. They still acted on the pursuit of good regardless of the circumstances they faced.
Other people in history have also displayed examples of cultivating fortitude in their own lives. Philip Jaisohn--whom we are reading about in class--is someone who pursues fortitude in different areas of his life. Despite being in the minority and being on the outs, he still courageously returns to Korea to enact democratic reform by launching a newspaper in hopes of enlightening his people. No matter the situation around him, he continues to pursue what is good for his people and their rights, and this is an example of how he displays fortitude. He doesn't give up.
Now, this is all well and good, but if fortitude is a cardinal virtue, then it must contribute somehow to human flourishing. How does fortitude relate to the satisfaction of a core human need? I think this can be a tricky aspect, but I do think it's applicable. Relating it to Galtung's core needs, I believe that fortitude plays a crucial role in helping an individual not only reach well-being, but also provides freedom and meaning. By striving to do the right thing and having a strong will in the midst of whatever circumstances are faced, the individual can have a sense of satisfaction within these needs. Fortitude allows us the capabilities to reach our full potential and to also help others do the same.
Finally, if we were to take the virtue of fortitude and try to find it in history, literature, or pop culture, where would we start? Where should we choose to enter the forest? I think this is an exceptionally difficult question and the best points of entry would highly depend on the context of what you hope to find and/or accomplish through your entering. If looking at fortitude as a virtue amongst the human race, I might say starting with the Bible and other earliest historical documents would be a starting point for assessing the species as a whole throughout time. If looking at fortitude in relation to the class topic of Korean peace history, starting with someone like Philip Jaisohn might be a good entry point. However, I think that to pick only one point of entry for all things related to the virtue of fortitude is a difficult task. But, if you can narrow down what it is you're looking at it for, then figuring out how to use history and other means to "enter" is going to be the most beneficial, I'd imagine. It also might help to enter the topic by doing some further preliminary research by reading Aristotle, philosophical websites, and so forth. These are just some ways that we can begin to assess fortitude throughout history, literature, and pop culture and "enter" into seeing its relationship on the world.
Fortitude is mental or emotional strength that enables courage in the face of adversity, hardship, or difficult situations. Fortitude enables an individual to have mental strength and courage during a bad time, and individuals use fortitude to act in these bad times. Fortitude is what allows a person to go from realizing that something is unjust or corrupt, to courageously acting against that thing. Because “One does not become virtuous by accident,” but through “intentional, conscious, deliberate and repeated effort,” a person cultivates fortitude by consciously and repeatedly having courage to act against injustice or corruption. You can find a general definition of fortitude here : Fortitude Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster. You can find a religious definition of fortitude here: 06 – Fortitude | Diocese of La Crosse (diolc.org).
Some examples of individuals who have shown fortitude by acting against injustice are Rosa Parks and Malala Yousufzai. Rosa Parks demonstrated fortitude by refusing to give up her seat on the bus and fighting against segregation in the United States, even when she was arrested. Malala Yousufzai showed fortitude by advocating for girl’s education, even after she was shot by the Taliban. Learn more about Malala Yousufzai here : Malala Yousafzai | Biography, Nobel Prize, & Facts | Britannica.
The virtue fortitude builds esteem, a human need according to Maslow. Esteem is having respect, admiration, personal worth, and accomplishing things. Having fortitude and being courageous can build your esteem because you find worth in your abilities, actions, and decisions. Additionally, in terms of overall human flourishing and well-being, having fortitude and taking action can give survival and freedom to other individuals, two of the basic human needs according to Galtung. If an individual is acting against injustice, they can help others with their human needs and achieve esteem for themselves. Learn more about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (verywellmind.com).
I think the best way to find an example of fortitude is to look for an exemplar of it. Find an individual who stood up against something that was unjust or corrupt. Look at the adversity they were facing, and how they had strength and courage to act against it. From there, you can see who the “red thread of inspiration” for them was. Who or what inspired them and showed them how to have fortitude. You can also see who they were the “red thread of inspiration” for. Who or what was inspired by their own fortitude.
"The cardinal virtue of Fortitude represented by a seated woman, her right hand on a column (possibly a modern impression)" ca. 1480–1520
The cardinal virtue of fortitude is often depicted as a woman carrying in her arms a large column, from this imagery we can interpret the meaning of the virtue to be akin to something like "strength", or perhaps "perseverance". Indeed, with the latin root fortis meaning "strong", the woman carrying the column is demonstrating her physical strength. As a virtue however, fortitude requires another sort of inner strength, a solidity of will, or resilience in the face of challenge. Fortitude is not only a virtue in the sense that it allows us to be steadfast in cultivating our sense of morality, but in the vaster sense that it is a skill to be used in many instances which require it. Cultivating this virtue can be done simple with self practice, perhaps by setting personal goals like reading a book for a certain amount of time without getting distracted. This virtue could be demonstrated and practiced by standing up for oneself in our relationships, holding steadfastly to a belief, or even pushing for a bit more distance during a run when it feels like you want to give up.
The cultivation of a virtue like this is not only done by oneself, as with any virtue we need exemplars and role models on which to base our understanding of the virtues and our goals. When considering people that have the trait of fortitude, my mind first goes to suffragist Alice Paul. Among her accomplishments as a leader of the women's suffrage movement in the United States, she had endured great hardships to ensure that she remained strict in her conviction. She (along with other suffragist women) was sentenced to seven months in prison for "obstructing traffic" during a picketing protest. While she was in prison, she organized a hunger strike in which she was force fed through her nose after refusing to eat. I cannot imagine the intense strength of will which would be required to endure... A moral exemplar in more ways than one, Alice Paul embodies the virtue of fortitude for her strength of mind and solidity of her beliefs. Below is a photo of Alice Paul, as well as a link to a trailer for the movie "Iron Jawed Angels" which tells parts of Alice Paul's and the Suffragists' story.
Alice Paul raises glass in front of the ratification banner, August 26, 1920. National Women's Party Collection.
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There is something to be said about the moral energy surrounding the virtue of fortitude, is is an idea which we can cultivate within ourselves by taking note of the ways in which virtuous people (like Alice Paul) have demonstrated it. We know that fortitude is not a virtue only expressed in dire situations (though it can be), it can be practiced and cultivated within our daily routines and interactions with others. And while fortitude can serve a larger purpose as a great, heroic example of strength, it also serves as a way to enrich our lives personally by serving a human "need". So what is this "need" that fortitude fills? I believe that it can differ between people based on the ways in which it is cultivated and utilized. The cultivation of fortitude can fulfill the need to belong and have meaning; as we fortify our beliefs and character, we become more sure of ourselves and our place in the world. Cultivating fortitude can promote the feeling of accomplishment in instances of it's utilization, in those moments where we did succeed in reading for an hour straight without checking our phone, or where we navigated a negative experience calmly and with resilience. We see the personification of fortitude with her heavy stone column, we see that she is enduring, and that brings about inspiration that we too can persevere under the weight of our own hardships.
To find examples of fortitude in history, one must look to those figures that believed steadfastly in a cause, a movement, a message. This may seem a loose guideline for a search, but those that create change are often people that had to show great fortitude whilst working towards it. In seeing "Fortitude" on the list of virtues on the Forward into Memory website, my first thought was of a woman named Yu Gwan-soon (유관순). She was a student at Ehwa Women's University who participated in protests for Korean independence in 1919. Yu Gwan-soon was jailed at the age of 17 for her role in the protests where she was subsequently tortured and killed. While in prison, she advocated for her own release, and the release of the other prisoners, and even organized a protest within the prison. A profound example of one exemplifying the virtue of fortitude, while in prison she writes "...this physical pain does not compare to the pain of losing my nation". I first learned about Yu Gwan-soon this year during my visit to the Seodaemun Prison Museum in Seoul, South Korea where I was able to stand in the cell in which she was imprisoned, and learn of her story. Here is a link to an article about Yu Gwan-soon and her life). The photos below are photos that I took from the outside of her cell, and of a piece of art in the museum memorializing her.
Continuing on my "entrance of the forest" of persons of fortitudinous virtue, I clicked on the page of a woman named Kim Nansa (김란사). She was a Korean woman who desired enlightenment and knowledge, she applied to Ehwa University, and was denied as married women were not allowed to enroll. Upon this denial, she showed great fortitude in pursuing enlightenment, she is quoted as replying to the school's rejection with the words: “My life is pitch-black like in the middle of the night. Would you give me a chance to find light?”, a compelling statement that moved the school to accept her as a student. After further reading and watching a speech by Professor Hope May (which can be found here) I discovered that Kim Nansa was the professor and mentor of Yu Gwan-soon, as well as the leader of a student club discussing national liberation. Perhaps this is not a solid set of directions that will lead one to the entrance of the forest, but rather an example that these connections, the red thread of memory, between virtuous people and events can be found in many places along the way.
Eat Your Moral Spinach: Justice Helps Us Improve Our Communities and Our Selves
I am interested in the virtue of justice because I think that it is the hardest to define. More than any of the other virtues, I think that the definition is subjective, since the virtue sits at such a complicated intersection between the individual and their environment. In his writings, Plato sets justice apart from other virtues and claims that it functions in both individuals and societies. Modern-day social movements are making strides towards justice. However, these ideas of justice are not the same. I would define justice as the desire to improve oneself so that the larger society might improve. Since justice exists in the space between individual and society, I think that one of the best ways to cultivate it is by seeking education. By understanding others’ points of view and learning more about the way our society is organized, it is easier to grow in the direction of cooperation and coexistence.
In my opinion, Dorothea Dix is an exemplar of justice. She conducted investigations of many state institutions—jails, almshouses, etc.—and documented the mistreatment of the mentally ill. She repeatedly petitioned state and federal legislators for better facilities and standards of care. While she was often denied and ridiculed, she continued to work in healthcare as a nurse and reformist until just a few years before her death. She was responsible for the founding of nearly thirty-five hospitals.
Biography of Dorothea Dix: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1470530/
Galtung divided his table of basic needs into “outer needs” and “inner needs.” Based on those names, I would have guessed that justice would align more with the outer needs, but in actuality, I think justice reaffirms an individual’s inner needs: freedom and identity. Living in a just society, or with a just mindset, encourages one to live in full connection with themselves and others. I also think that justice is related to Seligman’s concept of positive relationships. Our relationships include more than our connections to family and friends—they are connections to everyone around us. Working to strengthen a sense of justice makes those connections deeper and more authentic.
If I were looking for justice, I would look for someone setting goals or making suggestions for the improvement of society. G.E.M. Anscombe offers a convincing argument for using language like “just or injust” instead of “right or wrong.” She explains how right/wrong language comes from the divine law conception—a framework that is no longer in play, but which continues(d) to govern moral language. In her essay Modern Moral Philosophy, she says, “if the divine law obliges not to commit injustice by forbidding injustice, it really does add something to the description ‘unjust’ to say there is an obligation not to do it” (p 18). She provides much more detailed analysis of the language of justice, but I think this quote is an interesting place to “enter the forest of justice,” since it bridges two different ideas of morality.
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