Personally, I view virtues as part of a formula
towards living morally. LaFollette
(2007) supports my view because he suggests virtue theorists think morality is
not an imposition on life, rather a prescription in achieving living the best
life possible. He also states
Aristotle’s stance on virtues is that a “virtuous person must: (1) do the appropriate action; (2) do so habitually; (3) enjoy
acting virtuously; (4) know that it is virtuous; and (5) know why it is
virtuous” (LaFollette, 2007, p. 213).
Ben Franklin developed a program towards self-improvement which included
13 virtues which defined a person of good character. The virtue quiz in relation to Ben
Franklin’s 13 virtues revealed I could improve on temperance, resolution, and
cleanliness. I will discuss these
virtues and how I can incorporate them into my daily life.
Ben Franklin’s thought towards the virtue of
temperance is to “Eat not to dullness.
Drink not to elevation” (Ben’s 13 Virtues, n.d.). My interpretation of his thought is that we
should not eat to the point we feel we are in a food coma or drink alcohol to
the level our judgment is impaired.
Basically, eat and drink in moderation.
This of course sounds like good, sound, and simple advice at first
glance. However, many people including
myself, merely enjoy eating and drinking.
I love cooking and trying different foods I have never eaten. I love craft beers and the varieties
available. I do not think there is
anything wrong with trying new things, but I do see where constant excess can
degrade temperance and lead to problems.
I think there are some ways I can incorporate increasing restraint to
excess. I do not see my eating habits as
a problem because I am very good about portion control and stopping when I
begin to feel full. Am I perfect? Of course not, I am human. But I do know there are times I need to scale
back on how many beers I consume in a sitting.
I can combat this problem with either putting a time limit on how long I
will be when out with friends or establishing a limit prior to having a
drink. Also, I have never been a designated
driver in my life, so I will try that.
Another aspect is how I need to be more aware of how my children
perceive the act of drinking alcohol, especially in relation to me, their
father. Warren (2009) states “The virtue
of temperance is mainly cultivated in children in the context of family, the
example of parents and relatives on the growing child, and the place of alcohol
in their lives” (p. 106). I have to
agree with that statement and need to be more cognizant of the
impression I leave on my children. I
typically approach drinking beers with friends as something fun, but I have to
consider that I will pass on that connection to my children if I am not careful
or do not teach them otherwise.
Franklin’s anecdote on resolution is to “Resolve to
perform what you ought. Perform without
fail what you resolve” (Ben’s 13 Virtues, n.d.). I interpret this as fix or improve on what we
feel we need to and stick to the plan to accomplish the improvement. The best example is the New Year’s resolution
millions of us make each year. These
resolutions are supposed to be oriented towards making some part of our life
better. This explains why there is such
an influx of people in January who join a gym in hopes of improving their
physical fitness. They typically start
out strong in the beginning of the year and then their attendance steadily
fades out as the year progresses. I used
to be somewhat religious about working out and now find myself struggling to
wake up in the early hours to go work out.
Going to bed late, the weather, kids, job, and other things find their
way into explaining why I fail to go. I
realize these are ultimately just excuses and there really is no other explanation. I need to live more closely to a “be stronger
than my excuses” frame of mind.
Ben Franklin’s stance on cleanliness is one in which
we “tolerate no uncleanness in body, clothes, or habitation” (Ben’s 13 Virtues,
n.d.). When this virtue populated in the
quiz as an area I may want to think about approaching differently, I was quite
irked. Even a little offended. Just because I would only clean up spilled
spaghetti sauce on my stove and ignore my dirty dishes until the next day does
not mean I am not a clean person. It means I am an exhausted person who does
not want to wake up his kids for the sake of trying to reach an OCD level of
cleanliness. Yes, I may be
overreacting. I know the intention of
the quiz was not to question my cleanliness or personal hygiene; however, maybe
it was to bring to light better ways of approaching certain habits. I believe the point in this virtue in
particular was to reveal how I should handle things in the moment and not
procrastinate. There is no better time
than the present (in most circumstances) to accomplish anything whether we are
referring to cleanliness or any other virtue.
I also believe Franklin is saying that if we tolerate uncleanness, then
our toleration will progressively worsen and spill over into other aspects of
our lives. Referring back to making the
connection between uncleanness and procrastination, I believe I can incorporate
the technique of mental rehearsal. According
to Peper, Harvey, Lin, and Duvvuri (2014) “mental rehearsal is role-playing in
your imagination. The more you imagine yourself performing the desired (or
undesired!) behavior, the more likely it is that you will actually perform that
behavior. Mental imagery is a process in
which a behavior or a performance is rehearsed mentally, as if the person is
actually performing it” (p. 83). This
method can be especially helpful in my self-improvement through mentally
rehearsing what I learned from past behavior and accomplishments I wish to
achieve in the future.
References:
LaFollette, H.
(2007). The practice of ethics.
Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
PBS. (n.d.). Ben’s 13 virtues. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/pop_virtues_list.html
Peper, Erik, PhD., B.C.B., Harvey, R., PhD., Lin,
I., & Duvvuri, P. (2014). Increase productivity, decrease procrastination,
and increase energy. Biofeedback (Online), 42(2), 82-87.
Warren, R. C. (2009). Temperance and alcohol.
Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, 1(2), 97-109.
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