Civic Virtue: Part Five of a Multipart Series on Virtue

Earlier in this series, we divided virtue into two broad classes, the slavish and the noble, and we further divided the noble virtues into the practical and the divine. We went on to outline the first two kinds of practical virtue, the natural and the ethical, and we now turn to civic virtue, which is the highest level of practical virtue.

The majority of people will not ascend beyond the civic; in fact, a great many will not ascend beyond the ethical. It is with civic virtue that we begin to enter the realm of the exceptional and philosophical. But what is it that makes civic virtue exceptional? It is that, here, the individual comes to understand himself as a kingly soul sovereign over his body.

Civic virtue – also called social or political virtue – is characterized by the obedience of the body and the irrational aspects of the soul to reason, and it hinges on a key insight: that the human being is essentially a soul, that the soul is the ruler of the body and uses the body as its instrument. It is the virtue of one who lives in accordance with rationality and does not consider the body to be a part of the soul, or the soul a part of the body, or that the two together form the person, but who knows himself in the tripartition of his soul. Through civic virtue, a person initiates a return to the divine nobility of his ancestry. We no longer rely exclusively on the natural virtues gifted to us at birth nor on the inculcated virtues we might have gained from our society or family, nor even those we might have learned on our own through life experience. Rather, we begin to know ourselves as we truly are: immortal souls.

The reason we call this grade of virtue “civic” or “social” is because it involves the proper ordering of the tripartite soul in just the same sort of way that governance of a state requires the proper ordering of the analogous three primary classes of society: the productive class, the warrior class, and the ruling class. As Plato says, “[F]rom having been many things he becomes entirely one, moderate and harmonious. Only then does he act.” Civic virtue operates within a sovereign mode. That is to say, its focus is downwards and outwards, providential and caring, noble and lordly; its basic orientation is hierarchical, and it seeks to put to order and to unify that which is out of order. The actions of the person with civic virtue flow out of the inward harmony he has realized.

Civic virtue thus enables us to devote ourselves to our communities, protect our cities and nations, revere our parents, love our children, and cherish our relatives. But as a consequence of its outward activity, though civic virtue is characteristically rational, it predominantly exercises its powers at the epistemic level of informed opinion rather than genuine, philosophical knowledge. It is for that reason that civic virtue lies lower on the scale of virtues and does not represent the highest possible ascension.

We can now consider what each of the four classical virtues look like at the civic level. One must direct all thoughts and actions by the standard of reason, and wish for or do nothing but what is right, and have regard for human affairs as one would for divine authority. This is civic wisdom. One must exalt his mind above all dread of danger, fear nothing except disgrace, and bear both adversity and prosperity. This is civic courage. One must strive after nothing that is base, in no instance overstepping the bounds of moderation but subduing all immodest desires beneath the yoke of reason. This is civic temperance. One must safeguard for each man that which belongs to him. This is civic justice.

In civic wisdom we find reason, understanding, prudence, foresight, willingness to learn, and caution. Courage endows us with magnanimity, confidence, composure, nobleness, constancy, endurance, and steadfastness. Temperance gives to us modesty, discipline, focus, dignity, and patience. From justice comes piety, uprightness, friendship, harmony, a sense of duty, love, and empathy.

Sovereign: Jupiter

Other divinities of particular relevance: Hercules, Apollo, Athena, the Horai.

Texts: Plato’s Republic (especially 427e-445b), Alcibiades I, and Gorgias. Much of Aristotle’s ethical writings. The first half of The Golden Verses of Pythagoras. The bulk of the Stoic writings.

How each man weaves
his web will bring him to glory or to grief.
King Jupiter is the king to all alike.
The Fates will find the way.

Virgil, The Aeneid, Book 10

"And what advantage does a wrestler gain from his training partner? The greatest. And that man, too, who insults me becomes my training partner; he trains me in patience, in abstaining from anger, in remaining gentle. ... And yet you say that if someone trains me in abstaining from anger, he brings me no benefit? It is simply that you don't know how to draw advantage from other people. My neighbor is a bad man? Bad to himself, but good to me. This is the magic wand of Hermes: 'Touch what you want,' so the saying goes, 'and it will turn to gold.' No, but bring me whatever you wish, and I'll turn it into something good. Bring illness, bring death, bring destitution, bring abuse or a trial for one's life, and under the touch of the magic wand of Hermes, all of that will become a source of benefit."

Epictetus, Discourses 3.20

"Lead me, Master of the soaring vault
Of Heaven, lead me, Father, where you will.
I stand here prompt and eager to obey.
And ev'n suppose I were unwilling, still
I should attend you and know suffering,
Dishonorably and grumbling, when I might
Have done so and been good as well. For Fate
The willing leads, the unwilling drags along."

Cleanthes, quoted by Seneca Letter 107

Or have you ever grasped [the Just itself, Beauty, or the Good] with any of your bodily senses? I am speaking of all things such as Bigness, Health, Strength and, in a word, the reality of all other things, that which each of them essentially is. Is what is most true in them contemplated through the body, or is this the position: whoever of us prepares himself best and most accurately to grasp that thing itself which he is investigating will come closest to the knowledge of it? Then he will do this most perfectly who approaches the object with thought alone, without associating any sight with his thought, or dragging in any sense perception with his reasoning, but who, using pure thought alone, tries to track down each reality pure and by itself, freeing himself as far as possible from eyes and ears and, in a word, from the whole body, because the body confuses the soul and does not allow it to acquire truth and wisdom whenever it is associated with it. Will not that man reach reality, Simmias, if anyone does?

Plato, Phaedo 65d-66a

"This, in turn, is to be able to cut up each kind according to its species along its natural joints, and to try not to splinter any part, as a bad butcher might do. ... God knows whether this is the right name for those who can do this correctly or not, but so far I have always called them 'dialecticians.'"

Plato, Phaedrus 265e-266c

"That day I had a better opportunity to watch Socrates than I ever had at Potidaea, for, being on horseback, I wasn't in very great danger. Well, it was easy to see that he was remarkably more collected than Laches. But when I looked again I couldn't get your words, Aristophanes, out of my mind: in the midst of battle he was making his way exactly as he does around town,

...with swagg'ring gait and roving eye.

He was observing everything calmly, looking out for friendly troops and keeping an eye on the enemy. Even from a great distance it was obvious that this was a very brave man, who would put up a terrific fight if anyone approached him. This is what saved both of them. For, as a rule, you try to put as much distance as you can between yourself and such men in battle; you go after the others, those who run away helter-skelter."

Plato, Symposium 221b-c

"Since there must be continuous motion in the world of things, and this is a single motion, and a single motion must be a motion of magnitude (for that which is without magnitude cannot be in motion), and of a single magnitude moved by a single mover (for otherwise there will not be continuous motion but a consecutive series of separate motions) , then if the mover is a single thing, it is either in motion or unmoved: if, then it is motion, it will have to keep pace with that which it moves and itself be in process of change, and it will also have to be moved by something: so we have a series that must come to an end, and a point will be reached at which motion is imparted by something that is unmoved. ... Now that these points are settled, it is clear that the first unmoved mover cannot have any magnitude. For if it has magnitude, this must be either a finite or an infinite magnitude. Now we have already proved in our course on physics that there cannot be an infinite magnitude; and we have now proved that it is impossible for a finite magnitude to have an infinite force, and also that it is impossible for a thing to be moved by a finite magnitude during an infinite time. But the first mover causes a motion that is eternal and causes it during an infinite time. It is clear, therefore, that it is indivisible and is without parts and without magnitude."

Aristotle, Physics 267a21-b25

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, one of the greatest emperors of Rome, was born 1,903 years ago today. Hail!

"The man who lives with the Gods is the one whose soul is constantly on display to them as content with its lot and obedient to the will of the guardian spirit, the fragment of himself that Zeus has granted every person to act as his custodian and command center. And in each of us this is mind and reason." Meditations 5.27

An article worth reading by the Romanist Society:

https://nistsocietytheroma.substack.com/p/on-romanist-prayer

"God [is] that which is beyond all things and to which all things aspire ..."

Proclus, The Elements of Theology Proposition 113

"…The oracle [of Hecate] declared Christ to be a most pious man, and his soul, like the soul of other pious men after death, favored with immortality; and that the mistaken Christians worship him. ... But that soul [of Jesus] has fatally been the occasion to many other souls to be involved in error, to whom it has not been given to acknowledge the immortal Jove. But himself is pious, and gone to heaven as other pious men do. Him, therefore, thou shalt not blaspheme; but pity the folly of men, because of the danger they are in."

Porphyry, quoted by Augustine De Civitate Dei, l. xix. cap. 23

Flora is the Goddess of flowers and today is her day!

First worship the Immortal Gods, as they are established and ordained by the Law. Reverence the Oath, and next the Heroes, full of goodness and light. Honour likewise the Terrestrial Dæmons by rendering them the worship lawfully due to them. Honour likewise thy parents, and those most nearly related to thee.

— Golden Verses of Pythagoras 1-4

"Since errors come from false opinion while the passions arise by an irrational impulse, I thought the first step was for a man to free himself from his passions; for these passions are probably the reason why we fall into false opinions. And there are passions of the soul which everybody knows: anger, wrath, fear, grief, envy, and violent lust. ... How, then, could a man cut out these passions if he
did not first know that he had them? But as we said, it is impossible to know them, since we love ourselves to excess. ... If you
find such a [good and excellent] man, summon him and talk with him one day in private; ask him to reveal straightway whatever of the above-mentioned passions he may see in you. Tell him you will be most grateful for this service and that you will look on him as your deliverer more than if he had saved you from an illness of the body. Have him promise to reveal it whenever he sees you affected by any of the passions I mentioned."

Galen, On the Passions and Errors of the Soul 3

"[My father] went on to say that I must not be hasty in proclaiming myself a member of one sect [of philosophy], but that I must inquire, learn, and form my judgment about these sects over a considerable period of time. He also maintained that I must strive, now and throughout my life, to pursue those practices which all men praised and which the philosophers agreed must be emulated. He asked me to learn and wax strong while seeking after justice, temperance, fortitude, and prudence."

Galen, On the Passions and Errors of the Soul 8

"Vigor and strength of body are the nobility of cattle; but the rectitude of manners is the nobility of man."

The Golden Sentences of Democrates 24