Virtuous Living (4 of 13): Life as a Process
by Joseph Rowlands
One's view of life can alter the way you conceive of virtues. The static view of life, which focuses on the state of your life, is very value oriented. It looks at achieving values, and not with the means by which you achieved them. In many ways, it is a tunnel-vision view of life, only looking at particular aspects of the life.
The static view of life can lead you to think about virtues in a limited sense. The focus will be on individual values, and the best means of accomplishing those values. The virtues, since they are a based on moral principles, will be useful in selecting which actions are the best to achieve that particular goal.
Contrast this to the dynamic view of life. The dynamic view of life sees life as a process, not a state. It views life as a continuum of purposeful action, not just as the results of the action. Life is an ongoing process, and getting caught up with the details of any particular moment will mean a sacrifice of your ability to live for a short-term gain in value.
The dynamic view of life doesn't aim at a point, it aims through a point. The focus is on the process of living, and the general improvement of that process, instead of focusing on any particular state. This means that virtues don't aim merely at a particular value or end, but at the process of acquiring those ends. They work to improve the entire process of living. They don't seek merely to gain a particular value, but to improve your ability to achieve values. Values are the rewards for successful living.
The Static/Dynamic difference in viewing life adds further detail and contrast between the Active and Passive forms of the virtues. The Passive form, with its focus on restricting your actions, aligns well with the Static view of life. In both, the scope of action is limiting. The virtues act as means of weeding out bad methods of achieving values. In both cases, they are used as filters on your actions. In the Passive form of virtues, honesty will tell you not to lie. In the Static view of life, honesty will tell you to achieve a particular value, you can't lie. So when you fill out your job application, you won't lie about what you can do because you know that your new company would be upset when they find out, and that you wouldn't have the skills necessary to do your job well.
The Active virtues and the Dynamic view of life also go well together. An Active virtue is a policy of action that improves your ability to gain certain kinds of values. The Dynamic view of life holds the process of living as the standard of morality. In each case, the virtues act to improve the actual process of living, in order to increase one's ability to live and achieve values. With the example of honesty, you wouldn't just tell the truth when filling out your job application. You'd also work to acquire the skills you want to display to your new employer, in order to not be in a situation where you'd want to avoid the truth. In this sense, you are enhancing your ability to act, and making it easier to practice the virtue of honesty.
So there are two natural alignments of these views on life and virtues. The Passive virtues and the Static view of life go hand in hand, emphasizing particular values and filtering actions. The Active virtues and the Dynamic view of life both focus on an improvement in the method of living.
For the rest of this discussion, I will speak of the Active and Passive virtues each in the context of the view of life they support and fit with. So the Active form of the virtues should be seen as an aim to improve the process of living, and the Passive form should be seen as a selector for particular actions aimed at a specific value.
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