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The Cardinal Virtues of Stoicism
Four Pillars of Stoic Practice
Well-being is attained by little and little, and nevertheless is no little thing itself. — Zeno of Citium
The term Cardinal Virtues pops up quite frequently when you begin to read about Stoic Philosophy and whilst you may or may not already be familiar with the Cardinal Virtues of Stoicism, we wanted to highlight the importance of Virtue in the Stoic sense and how you could potentially put it into practice under the guise of the ancients who’ve already done so many moons ago.
The Stoics believe that virtue is the only key to true happiness…
To begin with, the virtues are one of the key pillars of Stoic practice, you will need to familiarise yourself with them if you wish to follow loosely in the footsteps of the ancients. Whilst we aren’t certain of the origin of the Virtues, it’s likely they date back to the time of Plato or even Socrates. Also, the Stoics regard virtue in general terms as living in harmony with Nature. Virtue or excellence (aretê) in the Stoic way, could be defined as a set of values or qualities that are integral to leading a good, and fulfilling life. The Stoics believe that virtue is the only key to true happiness, and they truly aspired to live a life free of passions, because they are ultimately a disturbance and detrimental to the soul. Their belief in rational emotional responses to situations, is bolstered by the constant accumulation of wisdom through experience and practice.
The Greek and Roman era Stoics in particular wrote at length about “appropriate acts” and “perfect acts” in relation to virtues. A person must have the correct understanding of the actions they have performed — more specifically, the person must construct a response with all the virtues in mind simultaneously. By using this definition of being virtuous, it could be argued that most people are not considered to be virtuous, as most people fail to constantly bear in mind ‘the laws of life as a whole’ in order to solve a specific problem.
I really like Prof. Chris Gill’s description concerning the topic of virtue:
…a form of expertise or skill, knowledge how to live well in every way, a form of knowledge that shapes the whole…
