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Plato's Argument Essay: The Virtue Of Hope

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For centuries, philosophers have been debating on what the purpose of life is. Most of them came to conclusion that the main goal of life is to attain happiness, which can only be found by pursuing wisdom and the only way to wisdom is through virtues. Furthermore, virtues are divided in classical and theological, and can most simply be described as desirable moral qualities. While the virtues such as prudence, justice, or charity are glorified, the virtue of hope is often times neglected. However, hope is the only way to any other virtue. In other words, if a person does not hope that there is something besides the visible, material world, they will not engage in any virtuous activities or pursuit of wisdom in the first place. Therefore, since it precedes all other virtues, hope is to be considered the most important virtue. …show more content…

According to Plato, virtue is an innate ability of a man to go through intellectual suffering in order to think past the visible, material world, which is just “a shadowy imitation” of an ideal world of knowledge (Plato). Even though virtuous actions can be practiced, the original ability or quality is innate. Every single virtue fits into this Plato’s definition and contributes to a person’s knowledge of the intellectual world. For instance, classical virtue of fortitude enables a man to question even the most controversial topics. What is more, theological virtue of faith persuades a man that his suffering will eventually pay off. Once a person engages in virtuous activities, they attain wisdom, and wisdom, () finally leads to happiness. Considering all that, every virtue seems to be equally

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