Clear, distinct, and succinct...

As modern philosophers we have demanded, along with Descartes, absolute mathematical clarity for our ideas.  They must be absolutely clear, with no room for interpretation.  Furthermore they must be distinct -- like the mathematical (conceptual) triangle -- they must exclude what their definitions do not include.  That is, they must be really distinct.  Then and only then are they positively true.

I was reflecting today on the Aristotelian ethical schema with its sophisticated philosophical language and its terse linguistic exactitude.  As a Thomist we might call the lingo "simple," (as no philosopher since Aquinas has matched his "simple" principled approach, the strict technical usage of words; no one can or could match his simplicity.)  Nonetheless, the question dawned on me, if we were to escape the stupidity of demanding mathematical certitude in the realm of sense knowledge, how could we spread the rebirth of virtue to the masses?  After all, not everyone is trained in philosophy; not everyone has the ability; not everyone has the time.  So how could we share the only real example of ethical philosophy -- Aristotle and Plato and Aquinas -- with people who have not the time nor the effort to learn it?

We could, of course, perform a coup of modern media and start producing works of art -- cultural works -- that put to route the Nietzchean existential world we live in.  That would certainly turn hearts back to virtue.  Nonetheless, that  would take a revolution.  The drones who rule us in the media, and the robots who follow their "wills" (in reality Americans do not deliberate, they simply follow concupiscence and irascibility to sense satisfaction), will never seek to conquer their own members.  That would take strength; that would take effort; that would take responsibility; that would take Christianity!

Which brings me to the way in which to simplify classical philosophy -- the Golden Rule.  One simple phrase, "Do unto others what you would have them do unto you."  In this phrase is summed up the Judaic law, the Christian ethos, and the classical tradition of philosophy!  How do you live justly?  Do unto others as you would have them to unto you.  Prudently? Courageously? Temperately? Need I repeat the phrase?

The amazing compatibility of the Christian ethos and the classical one has been noted by many scholars -- including the enemies of the Church.  But it is more than genius to sum up so many traditions in one phrase -- it is divine.  It is divine simplicity!  And yes, even the untrained can grasp it without a vast philosophical lingo.  How divine!

So the rebirth of virtue requires the seeking of grace.  Only grace is the vehicle of real strength; the efficient cause of the triumph of reason in the moral sphere.  Have you asked for your's lately?