The Other Side of Virtue

An exploration of the origins of our virtues in European heroic and classical cultures that asks how these insights are relevant to the concerns of our time. The book begins with a prologue gathering the fragments in a series of aphorisms and proverbs, some striking in their own right: 'you are what you do. Therefore do that which will transform you into the person you wish to be.' And 'life responds to initiative; life responds to audacity - life has no patience for hesitant indecision.' These aphorisms reflect the overall tone of the book, which is about how we develop and express ourselves. The next 'movement' reviews the virtues of heroic societies with reference to its literature in the form of such works as Beowulf and the Iliad. The reader is reminded of the heroic virtues of honour, courage and trust along with the processes of atonement and even apotheosis.

We then move through classical society with its emphasis on reason, prudence, temperance and justice. Then immediately into Renaissance humanism, bypassing Christianity - a move which will astonish some readers. There are sections on Machiavelli, Shakespeare, Nietzsche and even heroic virtue at Hogwart's School. The last section or movement is entitled the calling of the Immensity, which begins from the premise that we desire to know who and what we are, to discover ourselves, our powers and limitations. This involves coming to terms with time, death and the mystery of existence. Life calls upon us to respond and in doing so we shape ourselves. Death is the final Immensity, the crossing of a critical threshold by means of which we discover who we really are and how we have developed a real integrity, defined by the author as the way in which other qualities hold together over time. The really worthwhile life in heroic and classical times was modelled on excellence and incorporated the spirit of wonder. In the final analysis, the author suggests that the worthwhile life is a gift that virtuous people give to themselves. The book itself is an odyssey of reflection and holds up a mirror to the self and to our age. It reminds us of the roots and value of many of our prized virtues, inviting us to reconnect with them.