“There can be no high civility without a deep morality.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Civility is a virtue that marks the Golden Mean between barbarousness and glibness or superficial politeness. In early use, the term denoted the state of being a citizen and hence good citizenship. It later (apparently in the mid-16th century) took on the meaning most commonly ascribed to it in our present era – formal politeness in speech and behavior.
One of my hopes is that the study and practice of civility and other virtues might elevate the consciousness of mankind to the point that problems and conflicts are not resolved through vice, iniquity and other compensatory failings.
The relatively recent departure from the study of the classics as a basis for education in the Western world has significantly impacted the way civility and other virtues are imparted to our youth. In fact, ask a child nowadays which virtues he considers most important, he will likely have trouble even naming one. The virtue deficit we’re accumulating is growing as quickly as our national debt. We don’t tend to measure the virtue deficit, but you needn’t watch the evening news for more than half an hour to realize that we have a mounting problem on our hands.
The study of the classics was much more than a pedantic exercise in Latin and Greek. By studying those languages you gain access to the original texts of the greatest minds who spent a lot of time considering and describing the virtues. I emphasize the matter of original texts as reading translated texts is never the same. Our Founding Fathers and several of the generations that followed in their footsteps were steeped in these ancient yet timeless traditions, but the door was closed to the study of the classics when the Latin and Greek books were shut in favor of a new, science-based approach to primary, secondary and university education.
While some argue that our new system is better at preparing today’s students for the modern jobs now common as a result of the industrial and information revolutions, it is painfully obvious that the decreased emphasis on the study of the virtues untethered us from a valuable point of centering or anchoring. We now find ourselves taking enormous strides forward in our scientific understanding and in the accumulation of information while the underpinnings of civilization crumble and decay just beneath the surface.
We cannot let this happen! The fragile state of civility begs attention and the adults of our era must begin to think on a significantly different basis if we are to maintain control of the world we are creating for ourselves and for future generations. The tenets of liberalism, which evolved from the bedrock of classical republicanism, provide an intelligent framework for making sense of the world we live in today. That said, the sustainability of liberalism and classical republicanism as forms of productive association is predicated on an educated citizenry whose keel is weighted by an understanding of and fluency in the classical virtues.
The classical models of trivium and quadrivium were relinquished not very long ago (in the late 1800s/early 1900s) and the understanding of how the virtues relate to maintaining a robust and vibrant civilization is further diluted with each successive generation. We must, of course, take care that we do not overcompensate in the process of reintroducing this concept, lest we succumb to the tendency observed by Michel de Montaigne: “I have often seen people uncivil by too much civility, and tiresome in their courtesy.” In all things, balance. Especially when dealing with such fundamental matters!
I would love to hear your thoughts on how we might begin to reintroduce the virtues to a modern world in desperate need of her stabilizing and civilizing graces. For my own part I have been reading up on how the classics shaped our Great Nation and I am in the process of enrolling in our local university so that I can take an introductory course in Latin.
Whats say you?
Read more:http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/civility.html#ixzz1GIp2p3zY
Gregory Hake 
I don’t think most people realize the USA is a republic.
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Thank goodness for your emphasis on this most important facet of education and maturity, both of the individual and society. I enjoy the depth of these posts, and would love to see a broader forum develop. I agree with some of your readers who say if it isn’t going to happen in the education then let’s make it happen some other way. In the meantime, I can at least take up the studies myself. Thanks for the inspiration!
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There are many forces at work that are in one way or another moving us away from a classical type of education. It’s not necessarily conspiratorial, but there seem to be evolutionary forces (for lack of a better term) at work. I was just thinking about the movie “The Adjustment Bureau” where there is the suggestion that there are unseen forces that punctually manifest in the evolutionary trail of human consciousness, where seeds of enlightenment need to be concentrated so that the base tendencies existing within human beings don’t get the upperhand. We’ve seen periods in history such as the Dark Ages oscillate with periods of enlightenment such as the Renaissance, periods of war and concentrated destruction followed by periods of relative stability and growth. Are these areas of punctuated enlightenment enough to rescue the worst that exists in human nature? Your example of the study of the Classics is a concentrated focus to neutralize these base tendencies and forever do away with them if we can only sustain the focus over time. The lack of a sustained focus has been our one and only failure in the grand scheme of things. The study and embodiment of virtue is that which has been the common thread where there has been any upward movement in any culture at any given point in time. So to say the study of the Classics is important is a truth self-evident to this reader. Bravo post!!
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I think that learning Latin in primary education would help with discipline, and would allow the students to deal with shades of meaning that they might not see in English. A change in the educational system is one of the major changes that we need to make to bring society back from the ledge that I believe we are teetering on. Learning the classical virtues is something that very few learn. Add to that really interesting historical education that focuses on people more than events. Show children that there are many exemplary people throughout history that they can use as an example for shaping their own lives. Another thing that we have lost as a culture is the love of learning. I try to learn new things every day, and I read voraciously. I think that true learning is vilified by our educational system. Standard lesson plans and standardized testing will not appeal to every student, nor should it! There are many different ways people learn, and as a society we can figure out how to educate them all effectively. The only way to cut through the bureaucracy of our educational system is to learn to live some of those classical virtues you mentioned, because they are mutually exclusive.
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I think James has an interesting point – perhaps through the proliferation of online discussions, it will spark interest in this ancient, yet timeless subject. I’d be interested to see if there are others out there who are considering the same things or who have already begun to institute some changes in their lives and the community around them.
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Love your resolve on this matter. I wonder if the reintroduction of the virtues could center around providing our young with a vibrant, engaging, interesting source of reading in which they could orient? Something like your blog, yet toned down for their young minds, content they can look forward to connecting with?
Which in turn would allow for an opportunity for engaging with them in consideration of the content on any given day?
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Hi Gregg,
Another thoughtful and timely post. The virtues are absolutely fundamental to a fully functioing society, and if there is one unarguable truth right now is that society is not functioning optimally.
My thought is that if we could show how the proliferation of certain virtues in society would lead to more optimal outcomes, especially financially, we could at least drive the social desire to enthuse it in our youth. The need to cut costs is ubiquitous across governments all over the world and this pressure, used rightly, can aid in that transition.
Given the shunning of education budgets, I think it unlikely this education will be delivered through traditional education channels, we will have to look at digital and social media for help in spreading the word.
James
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