Examples of Virtues

What are examples of virtues, values, and moral concepts? How do each of these relate to one another? In what ways are they separate and in what ways are they connected.

Virtues are traits or characteristics that typically lead to a positive behavior. Specific examples of virtues would include knowledge, humility, bravery, kindness, or even self-control. Every culture or nation has its own set of virtues like honor or justice. According to the New World Encyclopedia, Plato and Aristotle dealt with virtues in terms of character traits of the soul. They held that virtues are conducive to personal and social happiness, while lack of virtue leads to suffering and downfall.

Values are principles a person, a society, or an organization cares about. If you are a member of a scholarly family, your parents' values may include hard work, achievement, and learning. Someone else's parents may value adventure, travel, and physical fitness. Unless people talk about their values it's hard to know what they are -- and even then it may be just talk, or what they WISH their values were. People say they value physical fitness but sit on the sofa all evening. People say they value generosity and charity but ignore the hungry guy asking for money on the street corner.

Morals are rules that people choose to live by. Don't hurt others. Don't lie. Don't steal. Don't cheat people out of money. Don't cheat on your spouse. These are rules for sure, and some people would call them values. Some of them may also be laws of a society, but not all of them are. Different people, families, and societies have different morals.

Morals have the undertone of being dictated by a religion or other belief system. Ethics, on the other hand, are more commonsense. They are much the same thing. Lying to someone who trusts you is immoral and unethical. Morality has to do with our ideas regarding what is right and what is wrong and how right and wrong behavior should be punished and rewarded. The...