Minor virtues

April 2010, 800 words

There are a number of minor virtues and, as corollary, vices, for some of which we do not have a traditional name because they pertain to the conditions of modern life.

One is that of time-keeping, by which I mean keeping a record of how much time one has spent on such & such a task, and how much on some other task. It is clearly important in a business context for purposes of invoicing or, at least, costing the various tasks. Likely not many people are good at it, and those that claim to be good at it are probably less good at getting the various tasks done well.

There are a number of other virtues and vices connected in different ways with time. One is punctuality, i.e. actually being at the appointed place at the agreed time. Obviously this far-from-universal virtue will be essential for some vocations, and less so for others.

Another is time-keeping in the other, distinct sense of allotting a predetermined amount of time to specific tasks and then keeping to that schedule.

Other virtues are more traditional, namely perseverance and patience. Here a great deal of judgement is required, too, for one may persevere too long, when all reasonable hope is gone, or be overly patient.

Connected with these are the vice of procrastination and its virtuous corollary, decisiveness. Here it is a matter of judgement whether justified hesitancy or unhurriedness amounts to procrastination, and subsequent events may turn any judgement on its head. Decisiveness degenerates into impulsiveness, and the lack of proper and extended reflection may be paid dearly.

A more minor virtue yet is remembering dates, birthdays and the like. Some do, some don't, and most do some of the time.

Apart from those connected with time there are virtues associated with appearance, though these may be counted aesthetic rather than moral virtues. Self-respect is often associated with a person's care of their personal appearance, regular grooming being supposed a sign that someone leads a well-ordered life. Yet excessive concern with one's looks may be frowned upon as much as scruffiness. In certain occupations, certainly, attention to one's appearance is essential, and in others it is nearly so. These are largely occupations connected with modernity and indeed with the media, or at least the effect of the mass media.

Another set of minor virtues are those connected with the ability to put people at ease or, indeed, in some functions with the ability to put people ill at ease or putting them off-guard. Think of interviewing for a variety of purposes, from a friendly media event to interrogating a suspect.

Discretion, i.e., the simple skill of not blurting out the wrong things to people they are best kept from, is a traditional virtue which is at odds with other virtues, namely those allied to openness, frankness, and sincerity. Secretiveness is mostly a vice, but occasionally a virtue.

Generosity in business life may be regarded as a vice or at least not much of a virtue. Generosity in business is justified if it is a devious means of acquiring more for less. The classic example is Henry Ford upping his workers' wages although under no pressure to do so, and doing so not from philanthropic motives but as a ploy to hire and retain the best-motivated workers. Otherwise generosity probably counts as an archetypal vice in business, though not, of course, outside of it. In order to be generous, or even spendthrift, in one domain, one must be parsimonious or indeed miserly in another.

Loyalty has the ring of being a virtue, but meantime we have noted the damage and harm done all-round by misplaced loyalties. It may or may not be associated with the passage of time, and with time loyalties must be renewed or replaced. Fidelity, in the author's view, is a degenerate form of loyalty, sustained by exclusion rather than by inclusiveness.

Patriotism is a virtue, and nationalism a vice, or so the liberal consensus would have it. Is this a virtue to be cultivated, if it does not grow of itself, or is the other a vice to be combatted?

Curiosity, when it is not prying, is mainly a virtue.

Attending to correspondence (replying to correspondence from acquaintances and friends), returning phone calls, visits indeed, seeking to keep in touch even in the face of unresponsiveness or inertia: such behaviour is surely virtuousness in search of a name.

Forgetfulness of wrongs suffered or imparted, a failure to keep up friendships – these too are qualities in search of a name, and good or unfortunate depending perhaps.