To finish this review of a google search on “six virtues,” I describe other six-virtue schemes. The criteria are always the same. Are any of them as conceptually consistent, fundamental, comprehensive, and useful as the six virtues of the educated person? There is a reason why they are not.

Whereas the Buddhist transcendent virtues claim to be a universal guide to leading a good life, and Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman (2004) claim the six broad virtue categories are universal descriptions of what makes us good, the following lists do not make such lofty claims. Instead, each describes six virtues that are a guide to goodness in a particular area of life. The following lists illustrate these more modest claims. They are also examples of virtue lists that do not meet the four criteria.

A google search immediately brings up Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman’s Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification (2004). This book establishes six categories of virtues: (1) Wisdom and Knowledge, (2) Courage, (3) Humanity, (4) Justice, (5) Temperance, (6) and Transcendence. Within each category the authors list character strengths. Their approach embraces what they call “positive psychology.”

I did not read beyond the preface and the “Background” section because my head was spinning with “psychologese.” The authors are writing for “psychological researchers and practitioners” (p. 7).

Still, these first two parts of the book are valuable for their discussion of the differences between philosophical and psychological approaches to the study of virtue. The authors recognize the benefits of the philosophical approach, but they place their work within the psychological tradition as they define “virtue” and “character strength:”

You may have found this website by googling “six virtues.” If you did, your search uncovered many six-virtue lists.

The most prevalent is the Buddhist six means of perfection, or the six transcendent virtues. These are translated into English as (1) the patience, (2) the charity, (3) the energy, (4) the wisdom or the science, (5) the contemplation or the charity, (6) the virtue or the purity. Translators have slightly different variations of this list. For example, the same idea of perfecting one’s self is described by Rev. Alfred Bloom in the Honolulu Advertiser as the six virtues of selfless giving, discipline, patient endurance, effort-energy, meditation, and wisdom.

This set of four posts describes and analyzes variations on the belief that being educated and leading a good life depends on six specific virtues. When I recently discussed The Six Virtues of the Educated Person with members of the North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement, one of them said she was drawn to my book because she heard about the six-virtue philosophy from people who had attended the workshops.

I was shocked and surprised because (silly me) I thought my six-virtue philosophy about life and education was a new idea. I thought I was the originator of the 6-virtue philosophy, and I had not presented any workshops.

Googling “six virtues” shows how wrong I was. There are many six-virtue lists, so the question is, “How do the six virtues of the educated person compare with other six-virtue schemes?” Similar to how I compared virtues in Chapter 4 of TSVOTEP, this blog series compares my six virtues with other six-virtue lists. Which schemes are the most conceptually consistent, fundamental, comprehensive, and useful?

I believe the six virtues of the educated person meet these criteria better than others, but I invite readers to disagree. Click on “Comment” at the end of this blog to share your ideas.

Click on “Leave a Comment” to reply.