the ' moral' heavies' squad..

hm. been reading cicero. almost exactly the same draggy emphasis on moral 'character'[ well all very uptight ppl have the same 'repressed fury' personality so they mean the accepted parameters of behaviour underlying that; so okay lets call it character. ] as all ancient/ medieval and religious authorities i have ever read or heard of. the only two who diverge are wittgenstein and nietzsche. now i must have read nearly all. couldn't plough thru some. namely aristotle and kant. basically i just skimmed thru outlines in those overview txts. i must be the only girl in creation who read aquinas and luther before i was 17! used to always go either to library or church when skipping school. wound up Gee-its-the whizz....but did i know ANY arithmetic? french? nope.
Anyhow Cicero strikes me as earnestly trying to work out what is a good life. then you got greeks various ditto. then you have an avalanche of medieval religious types carefully avoiding the flames; they not only recommend heroic virtues to housewives but you can have a lifeplan only differing from Perfection if you are so picky you got a micrscope!
It seems to me these men never asked well, what is A good life? Its a life with a reasonable amount of pleasure in it, no great trials or dangers requiring heroics, a life where ones decency is something both you, your neighbors and family can rely on in times of stress. Is it not also to be equipped with both the gentle virtues [patience, hunility, kindness] AND the hard virtues [courage, truthfulness, that thing where you bear the burden or penalty of another? wot it called? i forget, anyway thats another hard virtue.
Anyhow he rabbits on; and thats when i saw it. Their idea that if you are moraly perfect that equals wisdom which equals happiness EVEN UNDER ABSOLUTE LOSS AND TORTURE. They seem to think of moral character as being some siut of armour you put on and then its an invariate; whatever happens it is unassailable so it can't change, neither do you so you are therefore perfectly happy; which you will remember equals perfectly wise!

Now I think their ideas of what virtues ARE could bear some analysis. A man in such a state is not happy unless he also happens to be braindead. But i know the terrible finality of religious dogma. you are not allowed to question virtue itself!

Now look at it as descibed by nietzshe. you know he thought all the 'encouraged' virtues as per organised religion were for to keep the church/king in power? so the virtues wre 'slave' virtues; such as obedience to authority? i think he's right, but he was blind to the fact that ALL religious/ideological systems do the same. but its not a 'plot' by one group against another, its not directed by a machievalian secret order. Its just how one individual after another accepts a particular view of the universe and the weight of opinion simply drags all other concommitant concepts/individuals with it. Its because mankind just will not grow up! the rulers find it convenient the their inferiors believe firmly, for example that their justice or rewards will be settled in full after death. so they do not ask for a share NOW. They do not insist on a fair legal system, they will not drag their case before any judge NOW]; mainly because we all know all judges are thick as thieves with coruption and will always find in favour of the money pig of the week. As far as I can see we need to start over; knowing the real universe as it is, lets first find out what is virtue? does it by itself make you perfect, wise, happy, good, and useful to society and your loved ones in peace AND war?? AHA!! You never thought of it like that, did you? In fact take honesty and courage. we all agree these are the two base virtues? but are they inflexible? if my baby is in danger of molech then to save that child i will turn coward, weep, lie, run way from my duties, kill, betray my lover....and in each fr instance what i do is good; and virtue be blowed. And I can't understand why he repeatedly says virtue equals wisdom equals happy. Give these ppl a horse and they'd run up a nostril just to get to the other end and roar apothegms out its arse.

Look a virtue is a habit of self control which is sparked by the interpretation of the circumstances. If any habit becomes inflexible yes it will end in the flames. it is contrary to reality; which sets a certain demand on all alive? Adapt and survive?? yes that one. Another thing; a happy life and a good life are not identical. a perfectly good man was born into slavery. his woman scorned him. the flossies overcharged. his baby died in his arms of the measles. he starves because the pay is too low. he goes blind. he has nasty neighbors. the council tax rolls over year ater year; he MUST pay it, but he can't ever pay it off; so he continues to starve and yet is in continuous ever increasing debt....you get the idea? he is perfectly moral; got innumerable virtues. but he's not wise enough to turn rebel, admit the world/life he got stinks...do you see he's not happy or wise and DEFINITELY some god don't like him?

so the three states not equivalent. In fact I think Nietzshe is right; we need to stop building vast intricate hallowed systems of morals/ethic/virtues. I say start from examining what are virtues. are they flexible, who is the beneficiary? and then descibe what is a good life for each group. men, women, children, at work, in government, military, etc...we might be surprised. but don't forget the spiritlands..you equip yourself for that now. oh and from Socrates on they all say the best thing to do all your life is prepare for death!!
Sure if you know when and HOW you will die. In fact very few ppl can die in even peace unless they're uncs, never mind dignity. what a waste of your life/mind, trying to get ready for something you have no idea about!!


CICERO ET AL ARE BARMY....