“Moral philosophy is the science of virtue and vice and therefore the true doctrine of the Laws of Nature is the true moral philosophy.” ~Thomas Hobbes

After sharing a difficult situation we are facing with a friend, and coming to the conclusion that there's nothing more we can do but wait, one of us will often finish the conversation with, "Well...patience is a virtue!" But what does it mean to say that patience is A virtue? Isn't virtue just "virtue"?

Over the last few weeks, as Audrey was studying patience, she was intrigued by this idea that it is "a virtue." So, she did what she always does - she studied virtue in more depth. Guess what she uncovered? A wealth of knowledge about how human beings have been talking about good and bad and right and wrong since the beginning of written history, and what they have been saying about them. 

It turns out that the greatest leaders and thinkers from all cultures, races and civilizations have universally agreed that not only are virtue and vice an integral part of the human experience, but we should all choose to be virtuous. In fact, Audrey learned that although being "virtuous" is a desired state of being, she also discovered that there are actually several different types of virtues that have been taught for centuries. 

Join her this week as she introduces you to "The Virtues", helping you understand what the virtues are and how they are connected to finding happiness here on earth and in the life to come!

Listener's Guide:

Use the time stamps below to skip to any part of the podcast. 

3:47      Introduction to the Series

7:41      Why We Think The Way We Do

20:23    The Natural Virtues or Cardinal Virtues

22:47     Intellectual Virtues

25:42     The Theological Virtues or Supernatural Virtues

31:30     How Do We Become Virtuous

33:37     What is the Good of Virtue

45:13     The Culminating Point

Quotes from this episode:

“ The implication is simply that man may be good as a scientist or good as an artist by the acquisition of these virtues. But he is not made good as a man by these virtues, nor do they enable him to lead a good life and achieve happiness, as do the moral virtues accompanied by prudence.” ~Mortimer Adler

“The truth is that right actions done for the wrong reason do not help to build the internal quality or character called a virtue.” ~CS Lewis

“Morality is not properly the doctrine of how we should make ourselves happy, but how we should become worthy of happiness.” ~Immanuel Kant

“We do not acquire or preserve virtue by the help of external goods but external goods by the help of virtue. ” ~Aristotle

“Moral philosophy is the science of virtue and vice and therefore the true doctrine of the Laws of Nature is the true moral philosophy.” ~Thomas Hobbes

“Virtue is its own reward.” ~Marcus Aurelius

“That virtue is good and vice evil seems to go undisputed in the tradition of the great books, even by Machiavelli.” ~Mortimer Adler

“Virtue itself is a reference to a more ultimate good, happiness, for them the virtues are ordered to happiness as means to an end.” ~Mortimer Adler

“People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed. The golden rule is older than the Bible. The golden rule is as old as we are, that you should do as you would be done by.” ~C.S. Lewis

“Faith, hope, and charity - They are indispensable to lift man's life to a plane and direct it to a goal which exceeds his nature. ” ~C.S. Lewis

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