“Does virtue lead to status? Testing the moral virtue theory of status attainment”: Correction to Bai, Ho, and Yan (2019).

Political moderation is the touchstone of democracy, which could not function without compromise and bargaining, yet it is one of the most understudied concepts in political theory. How can we explain this striking paradox? Why do we often underestimate the virtue of moderation? Seeking to answer these questions, this book examines moderation in modern French political thought and sheds light on the French Revolution and its legacy. The book begins with classical thinkers who extolled the virtues of a moderate approach to politics, such as Aristotle and Cicero. It then shows how Montesquieu inaugurated the modern rebirth of this tradition by laying the intellectual foundations for moderate government. The book looks at important figures such as Jacques Necker, Germaine de Staël, and Benjamin Constant, not only in the context of revolutionary France but throughout Europe. It traces how moderation evolves from an individual moral virtue into a set of institutional arrangements calculated to protect individual liberty, and explores the deep affinity between political moderation and constitutional complexity. The book demonstrates how moderation navigates between political extremes, and it challenges the common notion that moderation is an essentially conservative virtue, stressing instead its eclectic nature. Drawing on a broad range of writings in political theory, the history of political thought, philosophy, and law, the book reveals how the virtue of political moderation can address the profound complexities of the world today.

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Conclusion

10.1093/oso/9780198830221.003.0006 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Michael W. Austin

Keyword(s):

Social Roles ◽

Daily Life ◽

Moral Virtue ◽

Foot Washing ◽

John's Gospel ◽

Do So

This brief concluding chapter includes a summary of the book’s main points, chapter by chapter. It also includes a brief meditation on the portion of John’s gospel, John 13:1–17, in which Jesus serves his disciples by washing their feet. The act itself expresses humility, a fact that is underscored by the reversal of social roles that it exemplifies. It is especially striking that Jesus washes the feet of Judas, who would soon betray him. This reversal of social roles not only exemplifies the moral virtue of humility, it also provides a model for followers of Christ to imitate in daily life. The foot washing can also serve as a reminder to those who seek to exemplify the Christian virtue of humility, namely, that there are opportunities to do so in small, everyday situations.

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The Process of Status Attainment in the United States and Great Britain

American Journal of Sociology ◽

10.1086/226108 ◽

1975 ◽

Vol 81 (3) ◽

pp. 563-583 ◽

Cited By ~ 49

Author(s):

Donald J. Treiman ◽

Kermit Terrell

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Great Britain ◽

The United States ◽

Status Attainment

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