Practical Virtues
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Identify the Patterns of Power to Unravel Now, let us step back and examine the pattern we’ve uncovered. There is a reason why these two elements of discourse (speaking truth to power and punching up rather than down) are so vital. The first principle, speaking truth to power, ensures that those in authority are held…
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The Honourable Competition Within Civilisation Let us consider the face as both a symbol and a weapon: a vessel for identity, yet a battleground for power. To strike another’s face is to violate not only their body but also their dignity, for the face is where we encounter the world, where we are judged by…
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Mere Innocence No More Than Starting Point for Virtue In conclusion, let us return to our original question: is innocence foundational to goodness? The answer, I believe, lies not in the absence of evil but in the presence of virtue. Innocence may be a starting point, a state of potential, but it is only through…
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Leveraging Truthful Criticism of Immoral and Illegitimate Power Here we arrive as a most profound truth: the powerful are often immoral. This is a mere observation. Power corrupts, as the adage goes. Yet, there remains more to this than a simple warning. The powerful are not merely flawed, anymore than others; they are often systematically…
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Slapped Face of Honour or Reflections on Dignity, Insult, and Justice What is honour? It is individual justice, within and in honesty, it is your wisening conscience. True honour is moral force in moderation by honesty, that first aspect of reason necessary for the expansion of virtues, a flame that burns within the soul, unextinguished…
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There is a dangerous illusion that one can live a good life without ever facing struggle, and that this is somehow preferable to make it to the end of life with least amount of pain, rather than most amount of triumph. This belief suggests that if we simply avoid wrongdoing, we will automatically become virtuous.…
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How Punching Down Hurts All Now, let us cast our gaze upon a darker shadow in the realm of discourse: punching down. To punch down is to target the powerless, the vulnerable, or the nearly voiceless; those who have no say in the systems that govern their lives and who have most often been used…
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Divining the Stealing of Man Let us now turn our gaze to the virtues themselves, for they are the very lifeblood of this Structural Virtues Theory. Let us consider Magnanimity, the first virtue, which requires us to remember who we are through Awareness and Honesty. If we are immutable, then why bother with memory? Why…
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Innocence in Misunderstanding Temptation’s Paradoxes Paradoxically, coming to understand temptation is one element in the humbling yet empowering recognition process of self through virtues earned in discourse. Without the discourse, this value is lost, however, because all must be funnelled through it for growth of emboldened progressive virtues. This process is lost for the majority…
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Human Experience Value Lost with Sacred Selfhood / Selfness Sanctified To understand how this myth of immutable selfness wreaks havoc on the human soul, we must turn our attention to the Resurrexit theory phenomenology. This theory divides the human experience into four structured domains, each with its own role in the journey of becoming. Let…