During Monday’s class, Dr. Layne covered both Plato’s and Socrates’ views on virtue. Our discussions led to several interesting questions that I believe shed light on the potential subjectivity of the topic. So what exactly is virtue? Can there be contrasting opinions as to what one considers to be virtuous? Is virtue an innate knowledge within every man? Or is virtue just a habit of right conduct? If it is, then I believe it’s certainly teachable; parents do it to every day as they raise their children. Parent’s constantly reinforce good behavior and punish bad behavior. The act of teaching moral conduct encourages some behaviors and inhibits others, which exemplifies that virtue has been taught and ultimately learned. Just coming to think of it, I also believe religion plays a significant role in “labeling” virtue. Those who believe in God can simply label any quality that their belief system lists as a virtuous quality as, well, virtuous. However, those who don't have a belief system may have their own criteria for deciding this or perhaps the term may even be meaningless to some. How do you define virtue?
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