The Life Of A Beautiful Mantelpiece Sat An Unusual Bust Of...

Upon a beautiful mantelpiece sat an unusual bust of one Jane Austen. This bust was flanked by that of Aristotle and Homer, leaving little space for anything else on the mantelpiece. Virtues for the earthly realm and for the gain of the heavenly realm are ones that are in a continual dispute. MacIntyre try to shed light on some the virtues that are taken up by Benjamin Franklin in his life to achieve earthly and heavenly success. Malsbary adds onto this study of virtues by taking a close look at one virtue in particular. â€Å"Virtue† has come through history, changing in some ways and staying the same in other ways. Many people have seen virtues as the way to complete the life of man. Homer saw virtue as that which fulfilled the social role the each man was born to take. Virtue was to do what one ought to do in their stature of life. Aristotle then came and spoke of virtue as an end. The internal fulfillment of the good of man has a nature end on earth. The Christian understan ding of virtue was that which led to the supernatural end as the goal for the good of man. Aristotle and the Christian understanding both acknowledge the end of virtues is that of the good of man. Thus were the older forms of virtue. Next, history comes upon the virtues of Benjamin Franklin. The man, who practiced the art of mind and body, rhetoric and exercise, devised a different set of virtues that was to be used for the sake of utility in earthly and heavenly success. He thought that the virtues needed