In Laws, Plato warned, “From an insatiable love of gold and silver, every man will stoop to any art or contrivance, seemly or unseemly, in the hope of becoming rich; and will make no objection to performing any action, holy, or unholy and utterly base, if only like a beast he have the power of eating and drinking all kinds of things, and procuring for himself in every sort of way the gratification of his lust.”
For this reason, Plato’s Athenian says that cities should have regular athletic games and competitions to promote physical health and the ability to defend oneself. In the same way, if we wish to rise above our beast-like baseness, it’s important to exercise our ethics on a regular basis and apply consciousness to our quotidian decision-making. How many of our comforts and habits are in alignment with virtue? How much of what we do in our work (which makes up the bulk of our day) sinks to mere servitude (or lust) for more money & power – at the expense of the greater good? How many of our actions fall into the category of the 7 Deadly Sins, depleting our health and corrupting our spiritual goals and the peace and prosperity we desire?
The 7 Deadly Sins, The 7 Virtues and Plato/Aristotle Philosophy
How do the 7 Virtues and Plato/Aristotle philosophy relate to climate change? How can we ensure that our actions are in conscious alignment with the mysterious, divine creation that we were born into?
If we allow ourselves to be governed by a moral code and the wisdom of the spiritual leaders and sages, then we can come up with the right answers, personally, that we believe will hold up to history, to posterity and before our God. Doing this requires careful reflection, wisdom, guidance and courageous actions to do what is right and best for our planet and the common good.
Even though some leaders, including government and corporate, have not made preserving our planet – which gives us life, sustenance, breath, beauty and so much more – a priority, we, as individuals can. As we become the light, the light is lifted in every room that we enter.