On being virtuous
By FARHA GUERRERO
Last night, I spent some time thinking about a beautiful word I spoke about at length with my husband in our small orange kitchen in Aosta last summer: the word virtuous.
It’s not a word we might use to describe another person. It’s too grand a title to say one is virtuous. Rather, it seems to name something that lies within. To be virtuous is an inner goal. It is, at heart, the desire to want to be good and, in many ways, to defy even one’s own human nature.
To be virtuous is not a condition one is born into or forced into or ordained. What I like about virtue is that one chooses it. It is not about the idea that there is some reward waiting. Virtuous doesn’t contain light and dark, or good and evil. It feels singular.
Virtuous is a word that exemplifies the character of a person. And in this way, it aligns more with essence. If a human being creates their essence, well, they can also create a virtue in that essence, but it is something they choose. It is the type of human being who exhibits honesty and kindness and generosity.
Virtue is rooted in ancient Greek philosophy, from Socrates to Aristotle, but I don’t think it can be confined to any one philosophy. It’s even hard to place with existentialism because Sartre doesn’t ground any of his theories in a fixed way of living. He places responsibility in the fact that such calculation has consequences. He is more critical of people not exercising their choice than of someone’s particular choices.
I think, in this instance, to be virtuous is more about something internal. It’s the dialogue of the inner philosopher—constant questioning, asking, and reflecting on life and oneself.