this book is a book for all life and could help change better our character just wonderfull book

books:

	• A Small Treatise on the Great Virtues: The Uses of Philosophy in Everyday Life Andre Comte-Sponville Holt Paperbacks, 2002 - 368 pages average customer review:based on 19 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

inspirational look at ideal human behavior

Andre Comte-Sponville examines 18 virtues, from the minor to the major, culminating in far and away his most important, love. One may argue around the edges whether his 18 form the right list, and the author admits his own challenge in making the final cuts. I may have tossed simplicity and purity, but that's not important, as even those chapters have solid insight.

The term "treatise" may imply a heavy, theoretical view of the virtues more suited for the famous philosophers. While the author incorporates centuries of ideas from the famous, and responds to them (e.g., Spinoza must appear 100 times), his style is much more informal and accessible, almost conversational at times. The philosophical survey is handy for readers not familiar with their ideas, but that was of secondary value compared to the personal.

Do not read this book if you expect virtues to be derived from or align with religion. Comte-Sponville, an atheist, instead identifies what he believes is moral and proper, independent of religion, although of course his conclusions often overlap with those of the religious. The personal touch includes the same tolerance seen in the author's "The Little Book of Atheist Spirituality", as he understands human weaknesses, including his own, and that religion can be a strong motive for virtuous behavior. His tolerance does not extend to evil, no matter how many other virtues the evil-doer exhibits. The Nazis serve repeatedly as counter-examples. A loyal and courageous killer is still a killer. Fidelity in the service of evil is no virtue.

I knew this was a book for me when the prologue included, "To think about the virtues is to take measure of the distance separating us from them. To think about their excellence is to think about our own inadequacies or wretchedness.... Thinking about the virtues will not make us virtuous, or, in any case, is not enough in itself to make us so. But there is one virtue it does develop, and that virtue is humility - intellectual humility in the face of the richness of the material and the tradition, and a properly moral humility as well, before the obvious fact that we are almost always deficient in nearly all the virtues and yet cannot resign ourselves to their absence or exonerate ourselves for their weakness, which is our own."

Thus we have a basis for a self-assessment of how we measure up. The author is no absolutist, recognizing gray areas in most virtues, as behavior falls in a continuum for each virtue, whether applied to others or to ourselves. I was surprised at the difficulty in contemplating how friends, family and co-workers did, even people I felt I knew fairly well. Is it the embodiment or certain virtues or their absence that forces our opinions of the people around us?

The sections are clear and well-written, with some exceptionally good, and the chapter on humility rather thin. The final virtue, love, occupies one fourth of the book. It's a long riff on the three types of love familiar to Catholics and others (eros, agape, philia), with a major theme being how the lack of love is what mandates virtuous behavior. The essay, while charming and serious, doesn't really fit, as it's not tightly focused on love as a virtue.

4.5 stars

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ars est caelere artem

The real beauty of this book is the way Comte-Sponville reminds us of philosphy's original purpose: to help us figure out the best way to live. His quotes--from Spinoza, Aristotle, Montaigne, Kant, Epicurus, Augustine, Descartes, Pascal, Plato, Acquinas, Rousseau, and Jankelevitch, among others--almost always surprise me and make me want to go back to the authors themselves. The text at times reads smoothly and at times requires us to slow down and reread. The more I read this, the more impressed I am. The ideas are brief, dense, and resonant. He has an eye for gnomic thoughts and has trained himself to write aphorisms with the best of them. The first chapter--on politeness--dazzles with its insight. It reminds me of Poe's purloined letter. Everything he says seems so obvious, but for some reason I failed to notice it until he pointed it out to me. The last chapter--on love--is a surprise, especially the way he uses it to raise questions about the nature of ethics. I keep finding myself reading this the way I read Montaigne or Aristotle--there's too much to keep in my head at one time, but I keep coming back to it, knowing that each half hour will make me pause and give me something to think about for the rest of the week.

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A Small Treatise of the Great Virtues

An eztraordinary intelligent well written book, should be a must for everybody. The world would be a much better place.

To live Well

What a wonderful idea for a book. To bring Philosophy to the masses...
Of course one would wish that this book was written in English, rather than a translation of the stream of consciousness that the author passes on as good writing. If it is clarity you are searching for, this is not a terribly useful book. If you are willing to work with the book and be patient in translating what the author intends to say, then perhaps one could use this book as a basic stepping stone to delve more deeply into the essentials of good living.

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this book is a book for all life and could help change better our character just wonderfull book

this a special amazing book for all life.. we could read now.. and to 10 years over.. and when we are older.. this is a eterny book.. that teach us.. to understand and to know the virtues.. and how we could add them to our character..
of course that is not your power.. but God always can add virtues to our character if we beg him and if we want really sincerily.
that is just amazing and wonderfull
I have been readind and sharing with many friends..
and in my job also.. I m yoga and pilates teacher..
then.. you know...
bye
silvia garcia pinto

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

In this graceful, incisive book, writer-philosopher André Comte-Sponville reexamines the classical virtues to help us understand "what we should do, who we should be, and how we should live." In the process, he gives us an entirely new perspective on the value, relevance, and charm of the Western ethical tradition. Drawing on thinkers from Aristotle to Simone Weil, by way of Aquinas, Kant, Rilke, Nietzsche, Spinoza, and Rawls, among others, Comte-Sponville elaborates on the qualities that constitute the essence and excellence of humankind. Starting with politeness-almost a virtue-and ending with love-which transcends all morality-A Small Treatise takes us on a tour of the eighteen essential virtues: fidelity, prudence, temperance, courage, justice, generosity, compassion, mercy, gratitude, humility, simplicity, tolerance, purity, gentleness, good faith, and even, surprisingly, humor.

Sophisticated, lucid, and full of wit, this modestly titled yet immensely important work provides an indispensable guide to finding what is right and good in everyday life.

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