Not to mention the injustice of
the thing, there must be sheer wantonness in anyone yielding to the temptation
of shameful pleasure and, like swine, rejoicing in his own vileness.
In this category belongs the man
who has relations with his own slave-maid, a thing which some people consider
quite without blame, since every master is held to have it in his power to use
his slave as he wishes.
In our current climate, which is just one of the
many fashions that will come and go, we like to speak of justice, and we like
to speak of courage. I’m always glad to see someone look out for another, and I’m
always glad to see someone stick his neck out.
The problem, however, is that the virtues only work
properly when that are a part of the whole package, as instances of the whole
person, not just as a certain part of a person.
Where is the love of wisdom? When was the last time
you heard the trendy activist speak about seeking a deeper understanding, to do
some thinking before waving your fists?
Where is the practice of temperance? When was the
last time you heard the rabble-rouser tell you to control your rage, to refuse giving
in to hatred after you have received hatred?
“He hurt me, so I must hurt him.” As my younger
students might say, “epic fail”.
Justice never follows from ignorance. Courage never
flows from resentment. The four classical virtues are not arbitrarily chosen,
but rather express a sense of all that we are.
The strict Stoic may take offense, but I always
remember what Thomas Aquinas taught me:
Wisdom is the perfection of the intellect, the
fulfillment of awareness, of knowing true from false and right from wrong.
Justice is the perfection of the will, of knowing how
to treat another as an equal and as a second self.
Courage is the perfection of the irascible
appetite, of our drive to fight, based upon knowing what is worth fighting for.
Temperance is the perfection of the concupiscible
appetite, of our desire to possess, grown from knowing what is worth desiring.
Notice how that annoying old virtue, prudence, is
required for all the rest. Notice how you can’t be just or brave or temperate if
you can’t first be wise.
Notice also how temperance is almost completely lacking
in almost all of our discussions, since it might remind us that passion should be
ruled, and not be the ruler.
Wait, wasn’t this passage from Musonius about sex?
Where’s all the sex? I was waiting for more talk about the sex!
The passage is indeed about the sex, and yet it has
the nerve to suggest that sex can only be understood within the context of
character. Treat another like an animal, and you then become the animal.
Pardon my French, but say that you want to fuck,
and then you will only be fucked.
“Oh, she doesn’t matter, I just had my way with her!”
“Hey, I just had some fun with him, and it’s not
like I’ll marry him!”
We say we abolished slavery, and yet we treat
others as our disposable property, as things to be used, like fast food, like
plastic bags, like pumping up at the gas station.
You won’t get your precious social justice until
you have the courage to respect any man or woman as a person, not denigrate
them as things for your pleasure.
Written in 12/1999
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