Plato said that to ask “why be healthy?” would be to pose a foolish question.  Being  healthy allows us to reach our full potential and flourish.  And yet, people ask “why be moral?” without understanding that it is an equally foolish query.  To be moral, Plato would argue, is to reach the full potential of our soul, and who but a fool wouldn’t want that?

Aristotle was Plato’s most famous student.  He had his own notion of what it meant to live a virtuous life, a good life.  Aristotle thought that in order to be virtuous, one should be deliberate in their actions.  He believed that one should avoid the excess and deficiency of any quality, and should seek instead, by way of reason, the mean between the two extremes.  Students of Buddha will recognize this as similar to the “middle path” that they practice. Buddhism recognizes “non-virtues” as well, what Aristotle would have called the excess or deficiency.  There are ten of them.

·        Physical:  killing, stealing, sexual misconduct.

·        Verbal:  lying, divisive talk, harsh speech, senseless chatter.

·        Mental:  covetousness, harmful intent, wrong views.

In our culture, we spend so much energy to get ahead that many of our actions and pursuits have lost their ethical centers, so much of what we practice, in the Buddhist sense, would be considered “non-virtue.”  This is not the good life and cannot bring us true happiness or satisfaction.