Actually you can teach moral virtue all day and it will not make a hoot of difference. We learn intellectual virtues such as math by teachers but moral virtues are learned by exercising them, by forming habits in them. As I mentioned earlier, it is from playing the lyre that both good and bad lyre-players are produced. The same is true of appetites and emotions; some men become moderate in appetites and good-tempered, others self-indulgent and quick-tempered, by behaving in one way or the other in the appropriate circumstances. Thus, in one word, states of character arise out of like activities.

How can one practice moral virtue if it is not taught in the first place ?

I don't know about you but I certainly see the results of the different human behaviors, both good and bad; which in turn shows me what is right and what is wrong behavior in accordance with happiness.

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Originally Posted by Dark_crow

what is right and what is wrong behavior in accordance with happiness.

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And is happiness always a part of good behavior?

I don't believe happiness is ever a part of good behavior. Good behavior is an action and happiness a state of mind.

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Originally Posted by Dark_crow

shows me what is right and what is wrong behavior in accordance with happiness.

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So what did you mean by that?

If you were asked to describe a knife, what would you say about it? In the end you would probably also say that its purpose is to cut things. Humans generally create things for specific purposes. I used happiness in the same way, both good and bad; which in turn shows me what is right and what is wrong behavior in accordance with purpose.

So if you create a moral code and follow it so that you do good and have good morals, you will be happy?

You would be happier than you would if you didn't practice the moral code you believed to be correct. I believe happiness is the “thing in itself,” as Kant called it. That is it is the final goal of humanity as a whole.

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Originally Posted by Dark_crow

I don't believe happiness is ever a part of good behavior.

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Therefore, the above isn't correct. Happiness is the result of good behavior.

Thus --

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[Happiness] is the final goal of humanity as a whole.

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No happiness is the goal, not the means to the goal.

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Originally Posted by Wondergirl

Happiness is the end result of good behavior.

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I guess we agree.

No we don't, because good behavior does not necessitate happiness, it only makes it possible. I could save someone life and loose a foot in the process, that would not make me happy, and at the same time the person I saved may not be happy either.

I never said it was the means.

Goal = Result.

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Originally Posted by Dark_crow

[Happiness] only makes it possible.

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So give an example or two.

I can't have good morals if I am not happy?

Helloooooooo,

There is a *gigantic moral code* in place in America other than any religious code... they are the comprehensive system of LAWS concerning just about everything that causes damages to citizens. Damage other citizens... you go to jail!

Losing the morality of religion in public life *has already happened*, and long ago. Replaced by the JUSTICE system.

Today, people are very interested in *personal ethics*... this is what my previous answer concerned. Personal Ethics. The quality of being a large cut above the average person...

WG

I would agree with you had you said…Happiness is [sometimes or often] the result of good behavior.

I suppose the misunderstanding was that I interpreted what you said as “Always,” the case.:)

Forgot, *parents* are supposed to teach sexual morality and proper enjoyment of sex. They do a terrible job here in America because the citizens in our country have been made sexually repressed and weird about sex by RELIGION... 400 years of Christian sex education!

You don't have to believe in GOD to have morals.

Buddhism and taoism have similar teaching about morals without believing in GOD.

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Originally Posted by Choux

Helloooooooo,

There is a *gigantic moral code* in place in America other than any religious code.....they are the comprehensive system of LAWS concerning just about everything that causes damages to citizens. Damage other citizens...you go to jail!!

Losing the morality of religion in public life *has already happened*, and long ago. Replaced by the JUSTICE system.

Today, people are very interested in *personal ethics*...this is what my previous answer concerned. Personal Ethics. The quality of being a large cut above the average person....

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Choux, participation in Politics is a moral endeavor. Many would point to the Taliban in Afghanistan as an extreme example of this. And there have been some people who point out that the lack of virtue, due to the idea that there is no truth, no set virtues, has led to the lack of participation in America of almost half the population.