The Philosophy of the Practical: Economic and EthicCroce, Benedetto
Philosophy
The Philosophy of the Practical: Economic and Ethic
Croce, Benedetto
Economics; Ethics; Will
There is no less opportunity and interest in making clear that
relation, from the point of view of the negative term, or of evil.
A series of descriptive concepts then appears, which present the
consciousness of evil, now as obstinate _blindness (cor induratum),_
now as _disquiet_ and _scruple,_ which induce vigilance and
circumspection, now as _humility,_ which does not permit forgetting
how easy it is to slip into evil. But it is worthy of note that the
series of words and empirical concepts that serve to illuminate
the _satisfaction_ of the good, the _victory_ won over oneself,
_tranquillity_ of conscience, is far less rich. Perhaps this arises
precisely because there is less practical interest in celebrating
the pleasure of victory than in the inculcation of the necessity for
strife and the abhorrence of evil. Why draw attention to joy and to
repose when man is already too much inclined to allow himself joy and
repose; does not Life allow them to itself and cause other problems
to follow on each solution, new perils to follow perils overpast, and
the necessity for new struggles? It is therefore of importance to
direct the greater sum of attention to those aspects from which the eye
is most frequently turned aside. Finally, these various aspects can
be placed in relation with the greater or less frequency with which
each appears in individuals, thus arriving at the construction of the
concepts of _virtue and vice,_ and of the models of _the virtuous
man, the honest man, the deliberate man, the clever man,_ and their
opposites, _the vicious, the dishonest, the unreflective, the incapable
man,_ and so on.
[Sidenote: _Their incapacity for setting as practical principles._]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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