by Olga Levin, Spring 2008
[Note: This student is discussing a Russian word written in the Cyrillic alphabet as Душевный. She gave the romanized spellings as follows:
- душа = dusha (a noun meaning "soul")
- Душевный = dushevnii (an adjective which means literally "soulful" ML.]
In this essay I will present a Socratic discussion of a virtue of my choice. Virtue is “an internal habit of mind” (in this essay the words and phrases in parenthesis come from class notes and readings); the virtue manifests itself in concrete visible behaviors which are ambiguous in their nature. The purpose of Socratic reasoning is to formulate virtue ideas that are precise descriptions of each virtue in its most perfect form. Socratic reasoning is characterized by “midwife” principle, the aim of which is to help individuals articulate their own intuitive perceptions, “delivering their intellectual babies”. The principle relies on perceptions that are “subjective” and “culturally conditioned”. The fact that I was brought up in Russia determined my choice to discuss a virtue from my native culture because this virtue is a more meaningful concept for me than any other concept represented by an English word; it represents a variety of associations that have been acquired throughout my lifetime.
The admirable Virtue of my choice is “Душевный” (adjective). “Душевный” is a Russian word which is translated by a Russian-English dictionary as “sincere”, “hearty”, and “cordial”. The English equivalents do not fully convey the complex meaning of the concept “Душевный”. The root of this word is “душа,” dusha, a noun which is directly translated into English as “soul”; so the literal translation of the word “Душевный” is “soulful”. The problem of defining this Virtue is two-folded: first of all, the virtue is defined by a Russian word; secondly I will try to “refine” the V using English words.
After thorough thinking about my V, I came to conclusion that the admirable “Душевный” is represented by three aspects that are deeply connected between each other: otherworldly characteristics, worldly characteristics, and emotionality & wisdom.
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Negative opposites (“Душевный” is a remedy for) |
Admirable “Душевный” by contrast |
Resembles “Душевный”, but not admirable |
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Superficial/shallow |
Deep-thinking |
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Materialistic |
Spiritual |
Religious, blindly following the scripture |
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Concrete/present moment interests |
Universal/worldly interests |
Preoccupied by theoretical knowledge |
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Ambitious |
Self-sufficient |
Un-motivated/stagnant/passive |
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Stingy |
Kind |
Carelessly giving out |
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Selfish |
Unselfish |
Vagrant |
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Boring |
Interesting/pleasure to be with |
Clown/entertaining |
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Materially-minded |
Inner world-minded |
Self-preoccupied/recluse |
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Distant from others |
Close to others |
Nosy (minding other people’s business |
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Cold |
Warm |
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Unwelcoming |
Welcoming |
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Non-inspiring |
Inspiring |
Overwhelming/tiresome |
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Anxious |
Calm/content/satisfied |
Indifferent |
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Callous/hard-hearted |
Empathic |
Social/outgoing |
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Hypocritical |
Sincere |
Bluntly telling the truth (whatever comes to one’s head) |
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Non-emotional |
Emotional/deep-feeling |
Overemotional/lost in one’s emotions |
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Guided by rational mind |
Guided by inner feelings |
Educated/knowledgeable |
I. Otherworldly characteristics:
1. A. The first word W which is connected to “Душевный” is “non-materialistic”.
B. I am going to test the W by using a counterexample that shows that someone have some kind of W without having admirable V. Counterexample: A homeless person who lives in the slums and doesn’t have any motivation to move out of the degenerative conditions is “non-materialistic”. He does not care about material benefits and he is not motivated to work for better conditions.
C. Contrastive clarification of the meaning of "non-materialistic": The above mentioned counterexample shows that the W "non-materialistic" is vague and ambiguous with respect to the admirable V. To remedy this ambiguity, here is a refinement: “Non-materialistic” characteristics are related to admirable “Душевный” in a sense that a person can strive for material benefits, such as a nice house or a nice car, but “materialistic” pursuits are not regarded as of paramount importance. One has to ponder the philosophical questions, but it doesn’t have to prevent him from getting pleasures from material benefits.
2. A. Let’s take the phrase “philosophically oriented”.
B. Counterexample: A professor of philosophy achieved great mastery in presenting the works of great philosophers to his students. Philosophy is his profession and means to earn money. Thus, ones he leaves classroom, he does no longer need or feel like entertaining philosophical questions for its own sake. He is a great theoretician and experienced professor of philosophy.
C. Contrastive clarification of the meaning of "philosophically oriented": The phrase “philosophically oriented” is connected to the admirable V in a sense that a person has philosophical perspective on the world that urges him/her to search for general understanding of values and reality. His or her inner-world mindedness prompts him or her to think over philosophical questions for its own sake. For an admirably “Душевный” person this quest is natural and involuntary.
3. A. One can say that to be admirably “Душевный”, one has to be “inner-world minded”.
B. Counterexample: a monk living in isolation on the top of the mountain is inner-world minded. His life is characterized by asceticism in which he is abstinent from various sorts of worldly pleasures and aims at pursuing religious goals.
C. Contrastive clarification of the meaning of "inner-world minded": We have inner-world minded person who is not “Душевный”. We may conclude that only a particular kind of inner-world mindedness is related to admirable “Душевный”: the one that coexists with connectedness to the worldly affairs. A “Душевный” person is inner-world minded not for religious purposes, but rather for spiritual ones. He or she thinks of one’s true self rather than of an identity that was imposed by a religious doctrine. A person concentrates on one’s own soul, as opposed to material and physical things.
Unifying the first part… Being admirably “Душевный” is to be inner-world minded meaning that one is preoccupied by one’s soul as opposed to material things. However, the philosophical quest does not have to prevent a person from engaging in worldly affairs or desiring for material benefits. For admirably “Душевный” person contemplating over universal issues is of paramount importance and of a great need. Materialistic pursuits play a secondary role and do not deserve any worry or concern.
[Note: This student found it helpful to divide the counterexamples and corrective refinements into three sections (I, II, III) and do some unifying after each of the three sections, instead of leaving the unifying part until the conclusion. This can be helpful but not required. ML]
II. Worldly characteristics
4. A. In order to refine “Душевный” in the worldly context, let’s take the word “social”.
B. Counterexample: Lisa is a very sociable person. She sincerely enjoys being with large crowds of people all the time. Lisa hates time when there is no one around; she feels lost and bored during those times. Guided by the sincere desire to be around people, Lisa lives in a huge apartment with a dozen of roommates, works as a salesperson and spends her evenings in the bars.
C. Contrastive clarification of the meaning of "social": In the above mentioned case, Lisa is social but not admirably “Душевный”. The aspect of being social that is related to my V is experiencing a sincere desire to be around people is a result of self-sufficiency, rather than dependency on people around. A“Душевный” person feels deep connection to some people, not to random people around; he or she further enriches one’s inner world through meaningful relationships with people which are considered his/her soul-mates.
5. A. The next word is “self-sufficient”.
B. Counterexample: Bob is self-sufficient person. He lives by himself in a huge apartment in Downtown Boston. He hasn’t seen his parents for 15 years and he also doesn’t have any friends because he doesn’t need them. He earns enough money as an accountant and doesn’t need any support from anyone else.
C. Contrastive Clarification of the meaning of "self-sufficient:: A kind of self-sufficiency that is related to admirable “Душевный” is characterized by enriched inner world, and not the abundance of material wealth.
6. A. Let’s take the word “empathic”
B. Counterexample: A politician is donating a huge some of money to a local children’s hospital. Voters might think that he is empathic to the needs of others; however, his true intentions were to gain support of his voters. It’s not his inner motivation that guides him, but rather a desire to become famous.
C. Contrastive Clarification of the meaning of "empathic": What kind of empathy is always related to admirable “Душевный”? Only sincere desire to help others and inner motivation to care for people around oneself is related to admirable “Душевный”. Feeling another’s pain as one’s own is something what motivates a person and manifests itself in acts of kindness. Empathy is inner state that guides a person to feel for other people for its own sake and not for any material rewards.
Unifying the second part… Being admirably “Душевный” is to have an enriched inner world that motivates a person to be around a selected group of people, not because of boredom, but because he or she feels deeply connected to them and further enriches one’s inner world through communication with these people. An enriched inner world gives “Душевный” person an ability to feel for others and motivates to be responsive to the needs of others.
III Emotionality and wisdom
7. A. Let’s take the word “Emotional”.
B. Counterexample: Richard is very emotional. His feelings overwhelm him and he can’t control them. Once on his way to work he got into an accident which was the other driver’s fault. As a result Richard became so angry at the driver that he started screaming and when he completely lost control of his emotions he became physical with the other person.
C. Contrastive Clarification of the meaning of "emotional": So we have emotional person who is not “Душевный”. Perhaps, the part of being emotional that is necessary for admirable “Душевный” is the aspect of emotionality that allows a person to deeply feel one’s emotions and to be guided by inner feelings in difficult situations but in a way that is considered of other people’s needs. One is wisely guided by one’s feelings.
8. A. Let’s take the phrase “wisely guided by one’s feelings”.
B. Counterexample: Erica’s feelings tell her to donate $1000 to a children’s hospital. However, she decides that it would be more rational at the moment to renovate her house.
C. Contrastive Clarification of the meaning of “wisely guided by one’s feelings”. It seems that Erica is not “Душевный”. An admirably “Душевный” person is guided by one’s feelings that come from an enriched inner-world. Otherworldly and worldly characteristics discussed above will guide one’s actions in a way to ensure that only fair decisions will be made. Empathic attitudes, deep understanding, keen discernment and a capacity for sound judgment will guide a “Душевный” person in his decision-making.
Unifying the third part… An admirably “Душевный” person deeply feels one’s emotions and is guided in his actions by his inner feelings and wisdom.
Section Three: Unifying as a Conclusion
Unifying all that have been said about being admirably “Душевный”…
I propose that the essence of the virtue “Душевный” is an enriched inner world. How are other concepts related to the essence? Enriched inner world allows a person not to be bored when being alone, so that “Душевный” person seeks relationships only with people whom he/she feels deeply connected (so called soul-mates). Enriched inner world urges a person to ponder the universal issues rather than worry about materialistic problems. However, admirably “Душевный” person doesn’t feel disconnected from worldly affairs; he/she enjoys material benefits (i.e. excited to move up a professional ladder, have a nice apartment and a nice car). An enriched inner world allows a person to establish deep connections with others and gives a person an ability to feel for other people and help when needed. An enriched inner world stipulates for having an enriched emotional life and be guided by wisdom in one’s actions.