I am currently taking some classes that will have me diving into some interesting reads.
I decided to brush up on some past literature I’ve studied to help me learn to think…it’s easy to forget to think and struggle with text. I find myself struggling more with what is going on in our world today. Sometimes one must go back to great truths on humanity to begin unpacking why our world system (and the people in the system) seem to make its choices.
As I read different types of literature, I always enjoy finding truth that reflects messages from scripture.
My first book to dust off was Nicomachean Ethics by Artistotle. I came across three observations from Book II section I:
- We attain virtue by putting it to practice…
- Law givers influence the good of its people by encouraging/cultivating good habits in its citizens…
- We can find to what degree we have virtue (if any) by simply first choosing to act. The habit of doing will eventually lead us to our responses to life’s circumstances….
I take my first observation from a section where Aristotle writes, “…men become builders by building houses, and harpists by playing the harp. Similarly, we become just by the practice of just actions, self controlled by exercising self control, and courageous by performing acts of courage.”
My second observation seems to be clearly inferred where Aristotle points to the idea that, “Lawmakers make the citizens good by inculcating (good) habits in them, and this is the aim of every lawgiver; if he does not succeed in doing that, his legislation is a failure.”
Lastly, my third observation is taken from a segment where Aristotle says that “…by reacting in one way or in another to given circumstances some people become self-controlled and gentle, and others self-indulgent and short-tempered. In a word characteristics develop from corresponding activities.”
My interpretation of these points concludes like this:
Making good choices stem from practicing virtuous behavioral patterns. If we desire to be a virtuous people we must create habits that cultivate its characteristics. One doesn’t simply become moral, just, or ethical just by being born. We are merely born with the tools needed for reasoning (conscience, knowledge- the ability to think). Aristotle seems to touch on this point as well in book II.
However, we, as people, need to first be willing to cultivate and train our ourselves though the means of practicing “doing”, repeating the kind of habits that harvests what is good, virtuous, and honorable; this kind of habit is needed to become a community of people that are good citizens- good citizens because of what is shaped into our environment. People can grow to be self controlled, well tempered, and advocates of brotherly love. Our environment helps develop who we are; culture shapes and creates a way of thinking. It all begins at the start of a man’s life. The habits we encourage in a culture are who we become. If the habits are virtuous, we set the framework for a virtuous people; if the habits are contrary to virtue we set the framework for potential savagery. We must realize habits matter.
James says this perfectly in scripture as he writes to Jewish Christians, ” Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, and slow to get angry….” In another section, he further writes, “but don’t just listen to God’s word, you must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.”
These are all acts of humanity that are formed by doing, not by merely existing. They are formed through habit. It isn’t enough just to know something- one must put it into action and practice.
What kind of culture are we creating in America?
As inventive people, are we creating habits of reinvention, free thinking- a kind of “Sky is the limit” culture with truly no limits? If so, what would become of its people?
What habits are we cultivating?
*Scriptural reference: James 1:19a, 22-24
Faith, Family, Dance, and Lemonade 