What is Virtue?

A virtue is a trait of excellence, typically associated with being a good person (i.e. of a high moral standard). But if different people have different ideas of what entails “being a good person” how can we even define virtues? We felt it important to consider virtues valued by a range of cultures over history. Fortunately we can stand on the shoulders of Katherine Dahlsgaard, Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman who painstakingly examined philosophical and religious traditions in China (Confucianism and Taoism), South Asia (Buddhism and Hinduism), and the West (Athenian philosophy, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). They stated: “We found a surprising amount of similarity across cultures and strongly indicate a historical and cross-cultural convergence.” [1]

Subsequently they also defined the underlying character strengths related to each of the six virtues:

Wisdom Creativity Curiosity Judgement Love of Learning Perspective Courage Bravery Honesty Perseverance Zest Humanity Kindness Love Social Intelligence Justice Fairness Leadership Teamwork Temperance Forgiveness Humility Prudence Self-Regulation Transcendence Appreciation Gratitude Hope Humour Spirituality

Developing Virtue

A virtuous life is a good life, so any initiation should be aiming for this. iAs such, Initiation Tracks seeks convey knowledge and suggest methods of practicing virtues. Initiation Tracks uses this list of character traits and virtues a catalyst for creating a curriculum (or initiation track) for kids, teens and young adults. For each character strengths the site:

  • Defines the character strength
  • Provides examples of behaviour that personify the character strength
  • Suggests literature and media resources to further illustrate examples of the character strength in action
  • Suggests mentors who exemplify the character strength and who may provide advise on building it life (note that these will only be visible to logged in users who have been set up by their mentors)
  • Suggests events or places that may help build on this character strength
  • Suggest experiences or challenges that develop the character strength
  • Suggest a track that combines literature, media, events, places, experiences and challenges to develop this character strength

Getting Started

With 24 character strengths where should you start? Great question! We suggest working on your natural strengths first which can be discovered through this VIA Institute’s Free Survey. Once you know your natural strengths, pick one, search for the associated initiation step here and get cracking! (note if the step hasn’t been added to the site yet let us know so we can get cracking).