6 Mar 2006

"Virtue"

We're discussing Plato in class tomorrow. I'm working on the lesson plan right now. We'll start by talking about Plato's early dialogues, which were a defiant defense of his mentor, the convicted and executed Socrates. Socrates argued that virture was linked to knowledge. He believed that "virtue" had an essense or existence of its own and that men with enough "knowledge" would act vituously. We're going to discuss virtue in tomorrow's class. In preparation I looked up a Webster's definition. Here's what I found:

virtue

Main Entry: vir·tue Pronunciation: 'v&r-(")chü Function: noun Etymology: Middle English virtu, from Old French, from Latin virtut-, virtus strength, manliness, virtue, from vir man -- more at VIRILE 1 a : conformity to a standard of right : MORALITY b : a particular moral excellence 2 plural : an order of angels -- see CELESTIAL HIERARCHY 3 : a beneficial quality or power of a thing 4 : manly strength or courage : VALOR 5 : a commendable quality or trait : MERIT 6 : a capacity to act : POTENCY 7 : chastity especially in a woman

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