moderation

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Allegory of moderation by Giotto in the Cappella degli Scrovegni of Padua
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The moderation or the measure or the measures , the moderation ( Greek  σωφροσύνη , Latin temperantia ) is one of the four Platonic cardinal virtues .

terminology

The Greek expression σωφροσύνη (sophrosyne), introduced by Plato into virtue ethics, was translated in Latin as temperantia (and also moderatio ).

In German there is no uniform translation of σωφροσύνη or temperantia, so that different names with different meanings and connotations can be found. The German language does not have a suitable word to “even to some extent reflect the core and scope of the term temperantia”.

σωφροσύνη is translated directly in German with, among other things, 'prudence', 'moderation' or 'domination'. temperantia as a translation of σωφροσύνη comes from temperare , the first meaning of which is supposed to be "to combine different parts into a single, ordered whole" (cf. also English "temperance").

Josef Pieper emphasizes this in order to emphasize the affirmative and holistic meaning of virtue.

In German, the expressions' prudence '( Olof Gigon ),' domination '( Nicolai Hartmann ),' self-control '(Hügli),' measure 'or' virtue of measure ',' measure attitude '( Arthur F. Utz ),' Moderation ', moderation ,' discipline and measure '(Josef Pieper) or' virtue of discipline and measure '. Nicolai Hartmann considers the virtue of σωφροσύνη “put in the wrong light” by translating it with prudence and prefers the expression “domination”. But this has not prevailed. Josef Pieper counters the translation with moderation that this expression is too close to anger ( moderation of anger ) as a mere partial aspect, a "fatal [...] neighborhood with the fear of any excess" and a "negative sound" and associations like "restriction, [...], back insulation, [...], restraint". Instead, Pieper suggests 'discipline and measure', but has hardly caught on.

Positions

Plato

Plato postulated three parts of the soul (reason, courage, desire) and assigned a certain virtue to each part of the soul (reason - wisdom ; courage - bravery; desire (desire) - σωφροσύνη (sophrosýne, prudence / moderation)). In Plato, justice was paramount to these three virtues. For Plato the σωφροσύνη was "the harmonious interplay between the different levels of the soul, more precisely between desire, courage and reason".

Aristotle

For Aristotle , σωφροσύνη (prudence / moderation) is the middle ( mesotes ) - an optimum - with regard to pleasure (hedoné): it stands between senselessness (dullness) and licentiousness (intemperance, indecency). The center-keeping here, just as it is with regard to courage in bravery , is the goal of ethical conduct.

importance

In ancient times, and in Christian virtue ethics, moderation was considered a fundamental human virtue. The exact meaning depends on the underlying image of man. On the one hand, it is regarded as a mere "minimum requirement" that gives the character a "moral [.] Basis". If it is missing, there is "a gap" in a person's ethos.

In the Middle Ages, Hildegard von Bingen saw the "mother of all virtues" in the right measure (Latin: discretio).

Elsewhere it is emphasized that “discipline” should not be equated with morality at all.

Quotes

  • Moderation is that moral virtue which curbs the inclination to various pleasures and allows the right measure to be observed in the use of created goods. ( Catechism of the Catholic Church , no.1809.)
  • Rather in everyday language wise: "Keep the measure", instead of talking to death etc.

See also

literature

  • Aristotle : The Nicomachean Ethics. III. Book, 13-15 - 117b - 119b (e.g. translated by Olog Gigon. Artemis & Winkler, Düsseldorf, Zürich 2001, pp. 131-139 ( translating σωφροσύνη as "prudence"))
  • Thomas Aquinas : Summa Theologica II-II q. 141-170. [1] (Latin, English) ("temperantia" and their opposites - based on Aristotle)
  • Nicolai Hartmann : Ethics. - 3. Edition. - Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1949, pp. 435–439, 443 (dealing with Aristotle)
  • Otto Friedrich Bollnow : Nature and Change of Virtues. Ullstein, Frankfurt, 1958, pp. 89-98 (preferring the term "prudence")
  • Josef Pieper : discipline and measure: about the fourth cardinal virtue. 9th edition. Kösel, Munich 1964 = also in: Josef Pieper: Werke. Vol. 4: Writings on Philosophical Anthropology and Ethics: The concept of man in the doctrine of virtue. Meiner, Hamburg 1996, ISBN 3-7873-1224-2 , pp. 137–197 (remarks based on Thomas von Aquin)
  • Josef Pieper: The team of four - cleverness, justice, bravery, moderation . Munich 1998, ISBN 3-466-40171-2 (abridged version of the virtues tetralogy, i.e. also abridged version of breeding and measure )
  • Thomas Vogel : Moderation. What we can learn from an ancient virtue. oekom, Munich 2018, ISBN 978-3-96238-065-6 .

Web links

Commons : moderation  - collection of images, videos, and audio files
Wikiquote: Moderation  - Quotes
Wiktionary: moderation  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Josef Pieper: Zucht und Maß. , in: Josef Pieper : Works. Vol. 4: Writings on Philosophical Anthropology and Ethics: The concept of man in the doctrine of virtue. Meiner, Hamburg 1996, ISBN 3-7873-1224-2 , p. 137 (138)
  2. ↑ For details, see Prudence
  3. ↑ Olog Gigon in his translation of Aristotle: The Nicomachean Ethics. III. Buch, 13, 117b, Artemis & Winkler, Düsseldorf, Zurich 2001, p. 131; ibid., p. 141 also translating with 'temperance'
  4. ↑ Alfred Dunshirn: Greek for Philosophy Studies . - Vienna: Facultas.wuv, 2008, p. 131
  5. ^ So Nicolai Hartmann: Ethics. - 3. Edition. - Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1949, p. 436
  6. ↑ Josef Pieper: Zucht und Maß. , in: Josef Pieper: Works. Vol. 4: Writings on Philosophical Anthropology and Ethics: The concept of man in the doctrine of virtue. Meiner, Hamburg 1996, ISBN 3-7873-1224-2 , p. 137 (138)
  7. ^ So Nicolai Hartmann: Ethics. - 3. Edition. - Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1949, p. 436
  8. ↑ Josef Pieper: Zucht und Maß. , in: Josef Pieper: Works. Vol. 4: Writings on Philosophical Anthropology and Ethics: The concept of man in the doctrine of virtue. Meiner, Hamburg 1996, ISBN 3-7873-1224-2 , p. 137 (139)
  9. ↑ See P. Kunzmann; F.-P. Burkard; F. Wiedemann: dtv Atlas Philosophy Munich, dtv, 13th edition 2007, p. 43
  10. ↑ Hügli, Anton; Poul Lübcke (Ed.): Philosophielexikon. - 5th edition. - Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg 2003: sophrosyne.
  11. ^ Nicolai Hartmann: Ethics. - 3. Edition. - Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1949, p. 436
  12. ↑ Cf. G. Gresser, Medical Ethics at Hildegard von Bingen (article by the Swiss Academy for Medicine and Ethics) ( Memento of the original from October 7, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.medizin-ethik.ch
  13. ^ Nicolai Hartmann: Ethics. - 3. Edition. - Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1949, p. 438