“We present and the world
perceives”
Two…you would grow up to cheat, lie, steal, and do everything for personal gains, yet everyone around you would believe that you were the greatest person who acts only in the interest of others…you would be perceived to be virtuous.
Which
outcome would you prefer?
This is a
true dilemma that comes up in Plato’s “Republic”. There was discourse between Socrates and Gluacon
(Plato’s son) regarding living the virtuous life verses the perception of a
virtuous life.
Socrates
stated, “It’s better to be virtuous
rather than seem virtuous.”
Gluacon
disagreed. He proposes a hypothetical of a person finding a ring that would
make him invisible. This ring would allow
him to cheat, lie, and steal without anyone seeing him. Due to his outward display of virtue, the
masses loved him.
Glaucon’s
hypothetical implies that people are only virtuous because they fear the
consequences of getting caught…especially the damage of their reputations. (Think of politicians)
These people are more
concerned with their reputation than their character.
Socrates
argued that a just, reasonable person is what we should strive for… “If reason rules, then it cares about what
is truly good, not just about the appearance of virtue.”
These people are more
concerned with their character than their reputation.Socrates went on to say… “Reason is our original nature, he thought; Passions often corrupt reason, but if we can learn to control those passions, our God given rationality will shine forth and guide us to do the right thing, not the popular thing.”
We do what we value?
Is Socrates’
proposition flawed by thinking reason
is our “original nature”?
I would
propose our original nature is passions,
or drives, that are manifestations
from our anxious ancestral past. These early passions (needs) came in the form
of safety, food, shelter, and sex.
In
modernity, these passions are somewhat satiated; we now project these drives in
the form of glutinous wealth and fame. All
of this is done in the guise of virtue.
These “perceived
values” are easy to see in today’s society and are widely broadcasted on TV, in
magazines, and on the internet.
The social
network has provided the average Joe a great platform for self-promotion. In an instant, we can create the illusion of
fame and perceived value, which in reality, doesn’t exist.
What we value is what we create; what
we create is what we idolize.
According to
researcher Heinz Kohut… "Idolization
is a developmentally appropriate response to being a “child"… and… "Adolescents
engage in idolization in order to compensate for the narcissistic injury of the
inevitable failure of one's parents to live up to their child's lofty needs and
desires."
Unfortunately,
this adolescent failure of “needs and
desires” carries over into adult hood, creating the illusionary need of
perceived value and virtue.
Let’s admit
it, in an age of images and entertainment, in an age of instant emotional
gratification, in an age of self-indulgent narcissism, most (not all) will
neither seek nor desire honesty or true virtue.
Virtue is
doing the right thing because it is virtuous to do so.
Virtue is
quiet and often goes unnoticed. Virtue is complicated.
Virtue takes
work.
If the
“perception of virtue” is what we admire, then the admiration of others is what
we desire.
If “true
virtue” is what we admire, then the admiration and respect for one’s self is
what’s desired.
"I prefer to be true to myself,
even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be
false, and to incur my own abhorrence... "
Frederick
Douglass