Tag: Virtues

• August 20, 2012

  The Art of Inquiry: Patience, courage, and openness

  Excerpt from The Art of Inquiry. In this section of the book, I consider the importance of the virtues for living through a time of unclarity. * Patience Let’s recall that we are confused not about something insignificant but rather about what matters most to us. We were once hubristic, believing that we knew what…
• July 20, 2012

  The transformation of the beautiful soul: A revised account

  I think I want to modify my account somewhat of the transformation of an individual into a beautiful soul. A beautiful soul, we said, manifests beauty in his appreciation of beauty. How is it possible for one to become a beautiful soul? To begin with, I want to say that the preparation for becoming a…
• July 19, 2012

  The transformation of the beautiful soul

  The beautiful soul is a person who exhibits beauty in his general appreciation of beauty. I asked my friend, the philosopher David E. Cooper, the following question: Is there an ‘education’ of the beautiful soul, a path one might follow in hopes of becoming one and, if so, what might this involve? In our conversation,…
• July 16, 2012

  What makes it impossible to become a beautiful soul

  Let’s suppose we spend our days exercising many of the virtues. They may include  fidelity, courage, patience, and so on. I am curious how it is that the prominence of one salient vice such as arrogance can throw a person’s demeanor into disharmony and thereby make it impossible for him to become a beautiful soul.…
• June 30, 2012

  On contempt and compassion

  When contempt is no more, then compassion is all there is. When compassion is all there is, then contempt can have no room.