Two years ago, this blog began like this:
I'd go so far to say that if strength isn't a virtue then nothing is. Physical strength is the paradigm virtue. It isn't impossible to be virtuous if you are physically weak but it is much, much harder.
I've been especially aware of this this last two weeks as I have a lingering virus that has physically weakened me and made me less of a man in the process. To be a man we have to be physically strong. It's that simple.
I was rereading Alasdair MacIntyre the other day and something that had never seemed terribly significant or controversial jumped out at me. This:And that still seems right to me.
At least some of the items in a homeric list of the aretai would clearly not be counted by most of us as virtues at all, physical strength being the most obvious example. (After Virtue p181)I should preface this by saying that MacIntyre is surpassed by only Jane Austen in my personal pantheon of moral thinkers.
That said, I still think he is wrong. Physical strength isn't the most significant virtue but I think it is a virtue and I think we all know it is.
I'd go so far to say that if strength isn't a virtue then nothing is. Physical strength is the paradigm virtue. It isn't impossible to be virtuous if you are physically weak but it is much, much harder.
I've been especially aware of this this last two weeks as I have a lingering virus that has physically weakened me and made me less of a man in the process. To be a man we have to be physically strong. It's that simple.
Have you thought anymore about this subject over the last few years since you originally posted it? I'd be curious to know if you have found any this more on the subject. I'm just getting into figuring out if strength is a virtue or not. I would say yes but I am bias due to my profession.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment. The short answer is, "Yes". The longer answer will appear in a new post this morning.
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