For whom are virtues IDEALS?

Question

Blimey! The best are apparently refusing to answer this question, perhaps because they are (or are not) living out an attempt to establish a hierarchy of virtues.

Answer 1

This seems highly dependent on one's notion of what virtues and ideals are.

If we suppose that virtue is akin to the Greek αρετη (arete), then for us virtue means an adherence to the Platonic ideal of our particular function or place. A chair can be virtuous by being an excellent chair, a minimal deviation from the ideal or archetypal chair. We can be virtuous by being excellent at whatever it is that we do, which generally means that we must act honorably and in a manner befitting our station.

However, if we take "virtue" more in the Victorian sense, a different meaning emerges. Virtue comes to mean chastity, modesty, diligence, obedience, charity -- a more "Christian" sense of the word entirely. It's a word easiest to apply to women and children; it seems to exclude certain aspects of masculinity in a way that the Greek usage did not. The English wouldn't have called someone a "virtuous soldier" in the same way that the Greeks did.

In the Greek's sense of "virtue," virtue should be an ideal for every person or thing. If you're a Platonist (or some other type of perfectionist philosopher -- Kantian for example), then virtue is your ideal.

In the more recent English sense, virtue is an ideal for Chrisitans, but especially for women.

Answer 2

Values are things one attempts to gain or to keep: virtues are the method by which one gains or keeps them. (Rand)
Therefore, they ought to be ideals for everyone who desires anything which does no harm to others.

Answer 3

For those who won't live by them.

Answer 4

In my view, everyone.