In_Praise_of_the_F_Word

Virtue is very similar to morality in it’s purest definition. Morality has no one true definition it is relative to the individual. Someone who is part of the same religion as another person may have an entirely different view of the Ten commandments for example. In contemplating why we believe what we believe, we must ask ourselves what is behind our virtues. Are we really doing something for the good of somebody or something else or do we have something to gain from helping others' People have been asking this question since the time of Plato and before. “ It appears that in fifth-century B.C.E. Athens, all moral discourse presupposed some form or other of egoism, the view that all acts are motivated by self-interest. So, among the Greeks, if morality ever required sacrifice of one’s own interest for the interest of others, then the question Why should I be moral' Was raised. Plato, in The Republic, has his spokesman, Socrates, argue that the virtues ultimately always benefit their professor. He does so by analyzing what he takes to be the three parts of the soul-the rational, the spirited, and the passionate.” (Why it’s hard to be good, p.314) There are many different beliefs in society. Some people are more traditional while other are progressives. Progressives are usually more liberal and believe in a more modern way of political thinking versus a traditionalist. In the article “ Business and Intellect” we can see that the intellects that the article is refering to are college professors and likeminded people. The businessmen are more traditional and feel that they carry the burden of society. Here we can see a conflict of morals and virtues. Both groups of people derive their beliefs from politics but they carry a different set of morals altogether. By morality I’m refering to the fact that we choose our political beliefs by our moral beliefs. “….The portrait of the businessman offered in the social novel in this country conveys the general attitude of the intellectual community, which has been populist, progressive, or Marxist, or often some compound of the three” (Business and Intellect, p.234). It’s hard to say whether or not what the mainstream of political thought is at any given point in time, but people also tend to follow trends in both popular culture and political thinking. “One reason for the success of the argument of American business against intellect is that it coincides at so many points with the conventional folk wisdom. For example, the feeling about intellect expressed in the businessman’s statements about higher education and vocationalism was also the popular feeling, as Edward Kirland had suggested. The people constantly voted on the educational system by taking their children out of school or by not sending them to college. We need not be surprised to find a radical labor reformer like Henry George advising his son that since college would fill his head with things which would have to be unlearned, he should go directly into newspaper work in order to put himself in touch with the practical world.” (Business and Intellect, p. 237). Businessmen felt that a large portion of the tax obligation fell into their lap as they are the ones that paid a majority of the taxes. Intellects felt that it was the businessman’s moral obligation to pay higher taxes as they typically made the most money. It doesn’t matter where our virtues or morals come from. What matters is that we learn how to differentiate between right and wrong so we can all cohabitate and live amongst one another. Where one persons morality stops another persons morality begins and some even overlap. However, I believe that we all have a sense of right and wrong that may vary by culture but most people that live in the same culture tend to accept these societal standards.