The Necessity of Self-Love in Creating a Virtuous Society

A world characterized by goodness upheld by systems and institutions centered around such values as trust and kindness is deemed ideal by believers of a virtuous society. In such a place, prejudices that define our current societies would be torn down and evils reduced across all countries. This world is not possible simply by wishing for those in power to reform systems of morality; instead, it demands that each of us look first at the values and fashion by which we live and more specifically, the strength of our relationship with ourselves. Both our values and our external friendships are indicators of the strength of this relationship with the self. When there is a failure to create such a relationship, our friendships are likely not based on goodness, and our interactions with the community are not in alignment with a world based on goodness. Through the study of classical philosophical texts, the concept of developing a friendship of goodness with oneself is analyzed with relation to the effects its existence or lack thereof has on the virtuousness of our society