Abstract

This book exemplifies the clarity and precision which Simon brought to the various subjects he addressed. Why though, would one be interested in virtue? Do not such theories as the natural goodness of man, social engineering, or perhaps psycho-technology provide us with more fruitful and less difficult means of finding the end of good human action? In a particularly enlightening discussion of the problem of nature and use, Simon shows that theories of the natural goodness of man and psycho-technology are true insofar as they provide necessary preconditions for good human action, but he claims that they are not sufficient individually or collectively to assure such action. Simon notes that the nature of things determines how it will be possible to use them well. For example, someone with severe neuroses or psychoses is unable, because of these problems, to make good use of himself as a human being; he is unable to act morally as a result of inappropriate fears or anxieties. On the other hand, man's natural goodness, Simon suggests, is perfected by its good use, just as one's talents as a musician or as a thinker are perfected by the use of these faculties.