Platos four cardinal virtues 1 prudence wisdom

Plato’s Four Cardinal Virtues:
1. Prudence (Wisdom) – Faculty of Reason
2. Fortitude (Courage) – Faculty of Spirit
3. Temperance (Moderation) – Faculty of Appetite
4. Justice – Umbrella virtue that encompasses and ties together all the other
three
* They are cardinal virtues meaning that all other virtues hinge on these primary
four.
DAVID HUME (1711-1776)
Hume believed that virtues flow from a natural human tendency to be
sympathetic or benevolent toward other people. Virtues are human character
traits that are admired by most people and are judged to be generally pleasing as
well as being useful to other people, useful to oneself, or useful to both other
people and to oneself. Because of Hume’s focus on the usefulness of virtues, his
approach to ethics also is associated with utilitarianism. Hume’s philosophy of
ethics is based on emotion as the primary human motivator for admirable
behavior rather than motivation by reason.
However, Hume did not propose that ethics is based merely on personal
opinion. Virtuous behavior is validated by the consensus of members of
communities according to what is useful for a whole community’s well-being.
FREDERICK NIETZCHE (1844-1900)
Rather than viewing people as caring, sympathetic being, Nietzche
proposed that the best character for people to cultivate is based on a “will to
power”. He believed that the “will to power” rightly should motivate people to
achieve dominance in the world. Strength was praised as virtuous whereas
“feminine” virtues, such as caring and kindness were considered by Nietzche to
be signs of weakness. This means that virtue is consistent with hierarchical
power or power over people, which makes the Christian virtue of humility a vice.
F. CHRISTIAN ETHICS
Christian ethics is a branch of Christian theology that defines virtuous
behavior and wrong behavior from a Christian perspective. Systematic
theological study of Christian ethics is called moral theology.
Christian ethics includes questions regarding how the rich should act
toward the poor, how women are to be treated, and the morality of war. Christian
ethicists, like other ethicists, approach ethics from different frameworks and
perspectives.
10 Things You Should Know about Christian Ethics: (Wayne Grudem, 2018)
1. Christian ethics teaches us how to live.
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GEC 7 | ETHICS
Christian ethics asks what the whole Bible teaches us about which acts,
attitudes, and personal character traits receive God’s approval and which ones
do not. This means that Christian ethics teaches us how to live. It is important to
study Christian ethics so that we can better known God’s will, and so that each
day we can “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him” (Col.
1:10).
2. The ultimate basis for Christian ethics is the moral character of God.