The Mechanics of Virtue #346: Ego in Virtue
346
It ought to be a vice to cultivate a virtue which
contributes less than one's highest potential to humanity. Additionally, to catch sight of one's highest
potential requires a severe self-inspection that is tantamount to egoism. Thus, to catch sight of the correct virtue, it is our duty to march
through the otherwise muddling vices of egoism and ambition. We rephrase the original assertion: it ought
to be a vice to cultivate a virtue which has not first passed through a moral
filter of vanity: “What is my highest
potential?”