Journeyman (Part 7)

I think it's possible to differentiate between a virtue and a value: a virtue requires a conscious and possibly moral choice, a value does not. That is why we use the phrase 'to make a virtue out of necessity'. Thus qualities like reliability, which inanimate objects and research data may possess, are not always virtues.

I considered linking 'value' to 'evaluation' — then a value is something you can evaluate, but a virtue is not. The thing is that 'value' need not imply 'quantity' nor lead to quantitative evaluation. This makes things difficult.

Knightly Virtues

Many years ago, at the Citadel of the Wyverns, Wolff (who was then Sir Wolff) spoke to the initiates on the knightly virtues. Many of those initiates had no idea what these were, although their dreams and ideals had crafted many versions, mostly incomplete and some rather strange.

Today Wolff looks back on what he said, and this is what he recalls.

The heraldry of the Citadel shows a shield upon which a unique beast flies. It has the head of a lion, the wings of an eagle, and the body of a dragon — most often depicted with two legs, making it a sort of wyvern.

This beast is a mnemonic image for the virtues which the Citadel of old sought to imbue within the hearts of its knights.

The lion's head symbolises courage to do what is right, act justly, protect the innocent, and resist falsehood.

The eagle's wings symbolise excellence to do what is best, act rightly, aim for perfection, and resist mediocrity.

The dragon's body symbolises wisdom to do what is merciful, act generously, defend the weak, and resist ignorance.

In the book of the prophet Jeremiah it is written that the wise man should not boast of his wisdom, nor the strong man of his strength, nor the rich man of his riches — but they should understand that God prefers the exercise of kindness, justice and righteousness. This too is virtue, and not much different.

Values Inversion

So there I am, thinking about 'values-driven' education. And the man who is seriously talking about it mentions resilience, tenacity, integrity. All I can think of, it that one blinding flash of insight, is that he must be talking about hardened chewing-gum.

You can measure all three of these qualities quantitatively in a piece of hardened gum. You can evaluate them; that's why they're called values. But hardened chewing-gum has no virtue to it. It is a pestilence, an irritation, despite having resilience, tenacity and integrity. It has no justice, no compassion; it has no prudence, temperance, fortitude, faith, hope or charity.

That's because such qualities cannot be easily evaluated (if at all), and they need a live brain. They can be argued over, they can be tested and tried, but their right execution is an ideal that all societies think about at least once in their existence, and all good societies seek to imbue these characteristics in their members.

The problem with a values-driven education is the definition of values. And frankly, most people aren't very good at this.

Parallels

The word 'parallel' is Greek in origin, from 'para-', which means 'beside and distinct'; and 'allo-' which means 'in like manner or positional relationship'. A parallel, then, is something that is not the same as, but virtually equivalent to, that to which it is parallel. Greek prepositions are many and varied, but combining two in one word always leads to interesting vocabulary.

Here are snippets from a parallel universe, upon a summit one might vaguely have thought of as somewhat Olympian.

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"There is," said the elder statesman (now retired), "an institution that prides itself on putting up eagles in every courtyard, that puts its principles on display and violates them with impunity, that sets up a condition in which rule of law maintains order, but in which the law is an instrument constructed and administered by those intent on maintaining power and control.

"For where we speak of conflict, the word which our first speaker omitted must also be mentioned - and that word is power. It is a sad fact of our non-ideal world that many institutions perpetuate the power of those who no longer possess the right to power, the will to power, or the fact of power. These are old powers, no longer relevant to the modern world. What they have left is positional power, entrenched by decree, and they hang on to it ruthlessly.

"I am not speaking of the Roman Empire, although this might have applied equally to them."

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"It is a small entity," said the minister, "With the good fortune not to have any resources of note, except the will, mind and ability to sweat. I say 'good fortune', because human nature is such that if it had any resources to exploit, those in power would have wanted to attain positions of power to dip their hands into its cookie jar, or to rule and subjugate it.

"But it is a realistic entity. It functions on three principles: 1) that the world is not an ideal place (although it is a place for idealists); 2) that it can be of help to many and thus cement a place for itself; 3) that it can achieve far more than its resources seem to allow, by ingenuity, wit, patience, determination, and good humour.

"It cannot lead the world or drive global culture or revolution. But it can survive, thrive, and act as a model that others can see and be inspired by."

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Parallels are funny things. Sometimes, we see as through a glass darkly; sometimes, as face to face. (This is called optical dichroism.) Sometimes, we see with blinding sight, that happiness is not an affliction and sobriety not always a virtue. And sometimes, we are enlightened in all humility, and we reflect that the world is indeed a better place for people who can laugh at themselves.