Wise JudgmentGOOD-CONSCIENCE-IN-ACTION

CHAPTER 5

“Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools speak because they have to say something.”

-Plato

The Moral Virtues:HABITS OF LOVE

The Cardinal Virtues•Of the moral virtues, four stand out as foundation to all the rest

•These four virtues are called the Cardinal Virtues (from cardo the latin word for “hinge”) in Christian tradition

•These four virtues are the hinges upon which all other moral virtues swing:

wise judgement

justice

courage

wholeness

A House Built on Rock•If we have wise judgment, we can’t easily be diverted from the good by a closed mind, or deception

•Wise judgment is good-conscience-in-action

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!”

Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astounded at his teaching”. (Matthew 7:24-28)• Like the house built on rock, this virtue provides the secure, lifelong foundation upon which

all the other virtues can flourish.

The Character Cycle

HABITACTIONS & CHOICES

GOOD

BAD

VIRTUES

VICES

CHARACTER

DESTIN

Y

Plant an act; reap a habit.Plant a habit; reap a virtue or a vice.Plant a virtue or a vice; reap a character.Plant a character; reap a destiny.

The Character Cycle•As teenagers, you are still in the early stages of building your character

•Your daily actions and choices are foundational

•The character you have already developed influences the choices you make everyday, even though your character is not complete or solid.

•The character cycle is open to change and growth, it is not a closed circle that locks you into certain actions and choices.

•Someone may act out of character because they have experienced a change of heart, or a new situation has entered their life

For example: When a young man who has behaved irresponsibly becomes a father, he wakes up to a different, more responsible way of life.

The Character Cycle: Destiny•What is destiny and how is it related to character?

Destiny is what becomes of us and what we ultimately make of ourselves.

•In the Christian view, what is our proper destiny?

Union with God

•How can we achieve our destiny?

By recognizing it is a cooperative endeavour between us and God

Learning Habits for a Lifetime•I am going to read you a story, then you will need to complete the following journal question

•Journal Question: Identify a good habit you possess. Who modeled the habit for you? Tell me about a time when then modeled the habit for you. When did you first try to acquire the habit? What happened in the beginning? What happens when you practice this habit?

Summary Love is expressed through the moral virtues, which are acquired through practice and with God’s help. The cardinal virtues of wise judgment, justice, courage, and wholeness are foundational to all the other moral virtues.

Good-Conscience-in-Action

Good-Conscience-in-Action•Wise judgment was traditionally called prudence

•It comes first in the cardinal virtues because it includes both:

the ability to make decisions according to a well-formed conscience

willingness to carry out these decisions

The Woman Caught in Adultery•Recall the story from your previous assignment about the woman caught in adultery.

•In this story Jesus shows three distinct characteristics of wise judgment:

1. Seeing reality clearly. He knows that a woman who committed adultery would be stoned to death in their culture, but a man would go unpunished (if the woman was not married). Jesus understands that the punishment is too severe, that she is being treated unfairly because she is a woman, and that the Pharisees and Scribes are trying to catch him speaking out against the Law.

2. Figuring out the good—what is most needed in the situation—and the best way to achieve it. Jesus knew the punishment was too harsh, and needed to stop them from stoning her. When he said “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7) he has made the men think about what they were going to do. It was the best answer to achieve the good.

3. Knowing his own feelings and motives. Jesus knew what the right thing to do was, even if he was unsure how the Scribes and Pharisees would react to his response. They were already hostile towards him, but he put aside any possible doubts or fears.

The Woman Caught in Adultery Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.” (John 8: 2-11)

A Different Kind of Wisdom•Taking the Necessary Risks:

making wise judgment and acting upon them is not about avoiding all risks

being wise means sorting out the difference between risks that are needed to accomplish a good end and those that are not needed

once the risks are figured out, the wise person is willing to take the risks required to accomplish good

in the story of the woman who had committed adultery, Jesus didn’t have a safe way to answer the Pharisee’s challenge. He figured out what needed to be done, and took the necessary risk.

A Different Kind of Wisdom•Unconventional Wisdom:

For centuries people were confounded by Jesus’ wise judgment. He often did things that conventional wisdom would consider unwise.Cardinal John Henry Newman said “Wisdom is the clear, calm, accurate vision and comprehension of the whole course, the whole work of God” (p. 97 of text)The challenge of being a follower of Jesus is to do what is good and loving—what is

in line with the work of God—even though it may seem foolish.

Summary Wise judgment is the ability to make decisions according to a well-formed conscience and the will to carry them out. Three characteristics of this virtue are seeing reality clearly, determining what is good and how best to accomplish it, and knowing one’s own feelings and motives. Wise judgment is not simply limited to being practical and safe, it involves taking appropriate risks for the sake of the good.

Seeing Reality Clearly

Seeing Reality Clearly•When making good decisions it is important to consider all the important information in a situation.

•This can be on a personal level (making our own decisions) For example, making the decision to put used motor fuel in a storm drain meant to carry clean rain water to a lake

OR

•A community, or public level

For example, our reliance on fossil fuels even though they have been connected to global warming.

•Unwise decisions, like lies, often multiply, making a bad situation even worse.

Summary To see reality clearly is to seek out and consider the information needed to make a good decision an to weigh the consequences of each option. Wise judgement is needed for decisions at both the public and personal levels.

Sizing Up the Good and the Best Way to It

Sizing up the Good and the Best Way to It•“The end does not justify the means” is a basic moral principle that is central to practicing wise judgement

•Circumstances often influence what we should or should not do in a moral situation

•The virtue of wise judgment often involves the ability to evaluate the means we are using to accomplish a good end.

•Figuring out what is most needed in a situation and the best way to it is often the toughest task of moral decision making.

•Sometimes we are caught between two “goods” and both seem equally important.

•In some cases teenagers find themselves in tough, possibly life-and-death circumstances.

•Sometimes, we can see the “good” path we need to take, but it is blocked by enormous obstacles. For example, being afraid speaking up about unsafe work conditions may cause you to lose your job.

•Obstacles and pressures are tough, but they don’t get us off the hook in moral situations. We need to call on another virtue, courage to overcome those obstacles.

Story on page 103 of textbook.

•What are the two goods of the situation

they need an education, and they need to stay alive

•What are respective risks

•What are the underlying problems that are leading to the Tony and Zeke’s problems?

•What are some possible solutions to the problem?

Summary Determining what is good means seeking out that which is most beneficial for all concerned. A person with wise judgment is able to evaluate the possible means to that good and determine the best way to achieve it. Sometimes people must choose among mutually exclusive goods of equal value. Wise judgment helps people make the best choices in these difficult situations.

Spotting Inner Blocks

Spotting Inner Blocks•Motives behind an action or decisions are a huge factor in determining the decision’s moral goodness.

•Wise judgment helps us to sort through possible motives and see which ones are really at work. It helps us to decide if our motives are positive or negative.

•We often have multiple motives for what we want to do

Some of these are legitimate reasons

When our motives aren’t admirable we come up with rationalizations, or false motives. This is how we trick ourselves into thinking we are doing something for good reasons when we really aren’t.

•As we take on the habit of wise judgment, we move from rationalization to beginning to acknowledge was really motivates us.

Examples of Rationalizations•“Our company can hire only part-time employees so that we can be flexible with our scheduling. Besides, these people don’t really want full time work.”

•“I’m too tense to study for the big Ethics test I have tomorrow. I need to relax first, so I will go over to my girlfriend’s to watch a movie.”

•“My husbands under a lot of pressure these days. When things are going better, he hardly ever hits me. Besides, what would he do if I left him? I know he’d fall apart.”

What are the true motives behind these rationalizations? What are the consequences?

A Matter of Life and Death: It’s Your Decision

Page 106-107 of textbook.

Summary Wise judgment involves identifying our true motives and exposing our false motives such as rationalizations.

King Solomon’s Wise Judgment•Read the story of King Solomon (1 Kings 3: 16-28) and how he used wise judgment to come up with a solution to a very complicated problem.

•What was the issue brought before King Solomon?

•How did King Solomon use wise judgment to bring an end to the dispute? Think of the three characteristics Jesus used to solve the problem with the Woman Caught in Adultery (seeing reality clearly, Figuring out the good—what is most needed in the situation—and the best way to achieve it, knowing his own feelings and motives). How did King Solomon use these characteristics?

•Do you agree with King Solomon’s decision?

King Solomon’s Wise Judgment1 Kings 3:16-28

“Later, two women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. The one woman said, “Please, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house; and I gave birth while she was in the house. Then on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. We were together; there was no one else with us in the house, only the two of us were in the house. Then this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him. She got up in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me while your servant slept. She laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast. When I rose in the morning to nurse my son, I saw that he was dead; but when I looked at him closely in the morning, clearly it was not the son I had borne.” But the other woman said, “No, the living son is mine, and the dead son is yours.” The first said, “No, the dead son is yours, and the living son is mine.” So they argued before the king.

Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead’; while the other says, ‘Not so! Your son is dead, and my son is the living one.’” So the king said, “Bring me a sword,” and they brought a sword before the king. The king said, “Divide the living boy in two; then give half to the one, and half to the other.” But the woman whose son was alive said to the king—because compassion for her son burned within her—“Please, my lord, give her the living boy; certainly do not kill him!” The other said, “It shall be neither mine nor yours; divide it.” Then the king responded: “Give the first woman the living boy; do not kill him. She is his mother.” All Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered; and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him, to execute justice.”

Review Questions1. Why are the cardinal virtues so important?

2. What is wise judgement?

3. Name the three characteristics of wise judgment.

4. How does wise judgement differ from simply being practical and choosing the safest route?

5. Why is it important to evaluate the means available to achieve a good end?

6. What is a rationalization? How do rationalizations get in the way of good moral decision making?