What is in a Name?

 

For as long as I can recall, I have been correcting people in their pronunciation of my first name (and somewhat often, my last name as well.) So it came to no suprise that my team’s name, arete, is difficult to proununce, as well.

 

But there is a deep-rooted significance in our name. It links the 6 of us together as not just individuals, but as a micro-community seeking God’s will for us in the first 11 months of 2010.

 

So so so…arete (according to the ever-trust worthy wikipedia.org):

Virtue (Latin virtus; Greek ἀñåôÞ) is moral excellence. A virtue is a character trait or quality valued as being good.

Personal virtues are characteristics valued as promoting individual and collective well-being, and thus good by definition. The opposite of virtue is vice.

In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle defined a virtue as a balance point between a deficiency and an excess of a trait. The point of greatest virtue lies not in the exact middle, but at a golden mean sometimes closer to one extreme than the other. For example, courage is the mean between cowardice and foolhardiness, confidence the mean between self-deprecation and vanity, and generosity the mean between miserliness and extravagance.

22 Ὁ äὲ êáñðὸò ôïῦ ðíåýìáôüò ἐóôéí ἀãÜðç ÷áñὰ åἰñÞíç, ìáêñïèõìßá ÷ñçóôüôçò ἀãáèùóýíç, ðßóôéò 23 ðñáàôçò ἐãêñÜôåéá· êáôὰ ôῶí ôïéïýôùí ïὐê ἔóôéí íüìïò. Barbara Aland, Kurt Aland, Matthew Black, Carlo M. Martini, Bruce M. Metzger and Allen Wikgren, The Greek New Testament, 4th ed. (Federal Republic of Germany: United Bible Societies, 1993, c1979).

These are the virtues^[10] that Benjamin Franklin used to develop what he called ‘moral perfection’. He had a checklist in a notebook to measure each day how he lived up to his virtues.

They became known through Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography and inspired many people all around the world. Authors and speakers in the self-help movement report being influenced by him, for example Anthony Robbins who based a part of his ‘Date with Destiny’ seminar on Franklin’s concept.

1. Temperance: Eat not to Dullness. Drink not to Elevation.
2. Silence: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself. Avoid trifling Conversation.
3. Order: Let all your Things have their Places. Let each Part of your Business have its Time.
4. Resolution: Resolve to perform what you ought. Perform without fail what you resolve.
5. Frugality: Make no Expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e. Waste nothing.
6. Industry: Lose no Time. Be always employ’d in something useful. Cut off all unnecessary Actions.
7. Sincerity: Use no hurtful Deceit. Think innocently and justly; and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
8. Justice: Wrong none, by doing Injuries or omitting the Benefits that are your Duty.
9. Moderation: Avoid Extremes. Forbear resenting Injuries so much as you think they deserve.
10. Cleanliness: Tolerate no Uncleanness in Body, Clothes or Habitation.
11. Tranquility: Be not disturbed at Trifles, or at Accidents common or unavoidable.
12. Chastity: Rarely use Venery but for Health or Offspring; Never to Dullness, Weakness, or the Injury of your own or another’s Peace or Reputation.
13. Humility: Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

Virtues can be placed into a broader context of values. Each individual has a core of underlying values that contribute to our system of beliefs, ideas and/or opinions (see value in semiotics). Integrity in the application of a value ensures its continuity and this continuity separates a value from beliefs, opinion and ideas. In this context a value (e.g., Truth or Equality or Creed) is the core from which we operate or react. Societies have values that are shared among many of the participants in that culture. An individual’s values typically are largely, but not entirely, in agreement with their culture’s values.

Individual virtues can be grouped into one of four categories of values:

• Ethics (virtue – vice, good – bad, moral – immoral – amoral, right – wrong, permissible – impermissible)
• Aesthetics (beautiful, ugly, unbalanced, pleasing)
• Doctrinal (political, ideological, religious or social beliefs and values)
• Innate/Inborn (inborn values such as reproduction and survival)

Examples of virtues include:

ability acceptance altruism, appreciation assertiveness attention, focus autonomy awareness balance beauty benevolence candor caring caution charity chastity cleanliness commitment compassion confidence consciousness consideration contentment cooperativeness courage

courteousness creativity curiosity dependability detachment determination diligence discernment empathy encouragement endurance enthusiasm equanimity equity excellence fairness faithfulness, fidelity flexibility foresight forgiveness fortitude friendliness generosity

gentleness goodness happiness health helpfulness honesty honor hopefulness hospitality humility humor idealism imagination impartiality independence industriousness innocence integrity intuition inventiveness justice kindness knowledge lovingness loyalty meekness mercy moderation

modesty morality nonviolence nurturing obedience openness optimism order patience peacefulness perseverance philanthropy philomathy piety potential prudence purity purposefulness resilience remembrance respectfulness reverence responsibility (moral & social) restraint self-awareness

self-confidence self-discipline self-reliance self-respect sensitivity service sharing sincerity skill spirituality strength sympathy tactfulness temperance tenacity thankfulness thoughtfulness trustworthiness truthfulness understanding unity unselfishness wisdom work