I get a weekly email from the Rhodes Scholarship people, and last week’s bulletin mentioned an offering from Wake Forest University called “Program for Leadership and Character.” I looked it up and according to their information, this program promotes “seven empirically tested strategies for developing character.” That’s interesting to me because Mussar is also very focused on character development.
I came to Mussar partly through Aristotle, and one of the things that resonated with me was how much the two traditions share — including, I'd argue, on this very point. Aristotelian ethics isn't built on a "virtues good/vices bad" binary. It's built on the mean. Aristotle doesn't condemn envy outright; what matters is whether it's proportionate. Pride (megalopsychia, great-souledness) is a virtue for Aristotle, and its deficiency — false humility, undervaluing oneself — is the vice. Excessive generosity (asōtia, prodigality) is identified as a vice in the Nicomachean Ethics, Book IV, Chapter 1. Aristotle has a name for every excess and every deficiency. In that sense, the calibration insight you place in Mussar is also present in Aristotle — which may be part of why the two traditions feel so agreeable to me.
Where I think you're on genuinely strong ground is the question of telos. Flourishing is as far as a university program can reach, because holiness isn't a measurable outcome.
I so enjoy your posts and the questions you pose. I also enjoy reading the other posts. If it is appropriate I would like to ask if holiness can be measured…Certainly in Mussar we want to keep a tally so to speak about our path… Does this extend to holiness.
Alan of course you only see life through a Mussar lens. It is who you are!
Regarding the two approaches to character development, I wonder if despite differing goals can the WFU “program” (as opposed to a way of life) be a precursor to going deeper on the journey of the soul. I believe when we act virtuous it feels good and perhaps the students at WFU are recognizing that virtuous character development leave them to want more.
This caught my attention because I've been working on a Mussar assessment to help people better understand and work on their middot.
After nearly 40 years in psychology and organizational consulting, I've seen a lot of ideas come and go, only to reappear later with new labels and fresh research behind them.
What struck me is how closely these evidence-based practices line up with Mussar. The methods are remarkably similar. The question is whether the goal is flourishing, holiness, or perhaps both.
Obviously we Jews proved to be ahead of our time, and to do it better besides. Not only that, but we don’t have to pay some university to teach us the lesson.
I came to Mussar partly through Aristotle, and one of the things that resonated with me was how much the two traditions share — including, I'd argue, on this very point. Aristotelian ethics isn't built on a "virtues good/vices bad" binary. It's built on the mean. Aristotle doesn't condemn envy outright; what matters is whether it's proportionate. Pride (megalopsychia, great-souledness) is a virtue for Aristotle, and its deficiency — false humility, undervaluing oneself — is the vice. Excessive generosity (asōtia, prodigality) is identified as a vice in the Nicomachean Ethics, Book IV, Chapter 1. Aristotle has a name for every excess and every deficiency. In that sense, the calibration insight you place in Mussar is also present in Aristotle — which may be part of why the two traditions feel so agreeable to me.
Where I think you're on genuinely strong ground is the question of telos. Flourishing is as far as a university program can reach, because holiness isn't a measurable outcome.
I so enjoy your posts and the questions you pose. I also enjoy reading the other posts. If it is appropriate I would like to ask if holiness can be measured…Certainly in Mussar we want to keep a tally so to speak about our path… Does this extend to holiness.
Alan of course you only see life through a Mussar lens. It is who you are!
Regarding the two approaches to character development, I wonder if despite differing goals can the WFU “program” (as opposed to a way of life) be a precursor to going deeper on the journey of the soul. I believe when we act virtuous it feels good and perhaps the students at WFU are recognizing that virtuous character development leave them to want more.
This caught my attention because I've been working on a Mussar assessment to help people better understand and work on their middot.
After nearly 40 years in psychology and organizational consulting, I've seen a lot of ideas come and go, only to reappear later with new labels and fresh research behind them.
What struck me is how closely these evidence-based practices line up with Mussar. The methods are remarkably similar. The question is whether the goal is flourishing, holiness, or perhaps both.
Compare the behaviors of being judgmental or being discerning.
Obviously we Jews proved to be ahead of our time, and to do it better besides. Not only that, but we don’t have to pay some university to teach us the lesson.