The Necessity of Virtue

cowboat
June 3, 2026

Almost a year ago, I wrote about taste and the responsibility incumbent upon those who possess it. Toward the end of that piece, though, I teased that taste wasn’t quite what I meant at all, and that there was more to discuss. I have put off that topic to this point, but it will not let me forget about it, and is mentally blocking me from writing other pieces, so here I am to finish that thought, or at least continue it enough that I can free myself from the guilt of leaving the topic so scandalously, so fraudulently, so irresponsibly unexamined.

I previously wrote that People of Taste possess a valuable quality and thus occupy an important position in our culture. This I still believe to be true. I asserted that discernment is critical not just to the individual, but also to those around them. It is critical for maintaining order, for staving off entropy, and increasingly for cutting through the sheer artificial slop soup that we find ourselves swimming in.

But this discernment which is so critical is not merely an aesthetic or a cultural preference. What’s most critical about discernment is that ability to identify what is truly of value. “What is valuable?” you may ask. Value comes from proximity to that trifecta of life itself: the True, the Good, and the Beautiful. Those are, in fact, all three, the same thing. More on this another time. Maybe another year? Suffice for now to say that they are different aspects of the same thing and the foundation of reality. A small affordance, I know, but stay with me.

This kind of discernment is sensitive to aesthetics because aesthetics is a facet of, an expression of, Beauty. But this discernment goes beyond attunement to aesthetics and Beauty, for Beauty is the same thing as Truth. This discernment must therefore also recognize Truth. And Truth is the same thing as Goodness; thus discernment must recognize Goodness as well.

What special kind of discernment recognizes Truth, Goodness, and Beauty? Virtue, of course! This is what I meant when I previously wrote that a more apt term for the recognition of value is not Taste but Virtue. Taste is simple and relative. Virtue, however, is infinitely deep and universal. It is about distinguishing between what has value and what does not, between what elevates and what degrades, between what serves Life and what serves death. Such a quality is indispensable for the maintenance of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty — for Life itself. This is the necessity of Virtue.

Furthermore, the quality of Virtue is not something that one is simply born with or without, as my previous entry may have suggested. Rather, it is something that must be cultivated and exercised through continual practice and reflection. If you care about yourself or others, you must cultivate Virtue in yourself and in others. True Life, true flourishing, for you and everyone you know, depends on it.

I suppose I could be nitpicky with myself and call the recognition of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty “Wisdom”, and the practice of them “Virtue”. But that would be too much splitting hairs for this sitting. The point is that one must both recognize and practice these things, and that recognition and practice are inseparable.

Go be Wise and Virtuous.

-cowboat