Vice and Unity of Virtues

Classically, some philosophers, most notably Plato and Aristotle, said that in order to pursue any of the virtues perfectly, one would have to master them all. For example, in order to be just, one must be wise. The thesis of the unity of the virtues is controversial - one might argue that humans can be courageous without being wise - but it is often defended, particularly in Plato's early dialogues, by the claim that all virtues are a single sort of knowledge, perhaps 'knowledge of good and evil'. Thus, to fail to possess one of the virtues shows that one lacks the knowledge required for the possession of any of the virtues.

Aristotle says the virtues are harmonized:


dianoethic (built by rationality; νοῦς τῶν ἀρχῶν (nous tōn archōn) - understanding of substance, ἐπιστήμη(epistēmē) - science, σοφία (sophia) - wisdom, τέχνη (technē) - practical craft, φρόνησις (phronēsis) - practical mind) and ethic (built by custom; main: ἀνδρεία (andreia) - courage, σωφρoσύνη (sōphrosynē) - temperance;property-based: ἐλευθεριότης (eleutheriotēs) - generosity, μεγαλoπρεπεία (megaloprepeia) - goodwilling;honor-based: μεγαλoψυχία (megalopsychia) - pride, φιλoτιμία (philotimia) - assertivity, πραότης (praotēs) -control of anger; social: εὐτραπελία (eutrapelia) - wittiness, ἀληθεία (alētheia) - truthfulness, φιλία (philia) -friendliness; political: δικαιoσύνη (dikaiosynē) - justice) virtues.

Nietzsche is one of the more notable philosophers who explicitly denies the unity of the virtues, claiming that they are mutually incompatible.

The opposite of a virtue is a vice. One way of organizing the vices is as the corruption of the virtues. Thus thecardinal vices would be folly, venality, cowardice and lust. Christian theological vices would be blasphemy, despair and hatred.

However, as Aristotle noted, the virtues can have several opposites. Virtues can be considered the mean between two extremes. For instance, both cowardice and rashness are opposites of courage; contrary to prudence are both over-caution and insufficient caution. A more "modern" virtue, tolerance, can be considered the mean between the two extremes of narrow-mindedness on the one hand and soft-headedness on the other.Vices can therefore be identified as the opposites of virtues, but with the caveat that each virtue could have many different opposites, all distinct from each other.