Virtue and vice – this sounds medieval, like a sermon, like a wagging finger. In reality, however, this pair of concepts has occupied people for over two thousand years, from Aristotle to contemporary virtue ethics. Hildegard von Bingen wrote one of the most detailed doctrines of virtue ever produced in the 12th century: 35 virtues, each with its counterpart. Anyone who reads Hildegard quickly realizes that her aim was not to moralize, but to make a very precise observation of what makes people who they are.
What Virtue and Vice Actually Mean
The German word Tugend (virtue) comes from the Middle High German tugent – literally "capability," that is, a power to be able to do something. In philosophy, virtues are firmly established inner dispositions that enable a person to actually do good. Not spontaneous impulses, but developed character traits.
Vices are the opposite: enduring inclinations that repeatedly pull a person in an unfavorable direction. Importantly – a single wrong action is not yet a vice. One speaks of a vice only when a pattern has become entrenched. The two condition each other: patience only becomes visible where anger arises and is overcome. Courage only becomes apparent where there is fear.
The Ancient Roots: Aristotle and Seneca
Aristotle, in his Nicomachean Ethics, coined the famous formula of virtue as the "golden mean." For him, courage lies between cowardice and recklessness, generosity between miserliness and extravagance. Four virtues were considered fundamental in antiquity: prudence, justice, courage, and temperance – the so-called cardinal virtues.
Seneca approached the question differently: what actually makes a life successful? In De vita beata – "On the Happy Life" – he arrives at a clear conclusion: happiness and virtue cannot be separated. Those who chase pleasure become unfree. Those who strive for virtue find a happiness independent of external circumstances. His often-quoted phrase "No one becomes good by chance" makes the point: virtue is a matter of practice.
The Christian Seven-and-Seven Doctrine
With Christianity came three additional virtues – faith, hope, and love. Together with the four ancient virtues, these formed the seven cardinal virtues, which were counterposed by seven cardinal vices: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth. Pope Gregory the Great brought this list into the form known in the 6th century, which later became known as the "deadly sins."
| Virtue | Opposing Vice |
|---|---|
| Prudence | Sloth |
| Justice | Wrath |
| Courage | Cowardice |
| Temperance | Gluttony |
| Faith | Pride |
| Hope | Despair |
| Love | Greed / Lust |
Hildegard and Her 35 Virtues
Hildegard von Bingen (1098–1179) was a Benedictine nun, abbess, composer, and writer – and one of the few women later elevated to the status of Doctor of the Church (by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012). Her doctrine of virtue is found primarily in the Liber vitae meritorum, the "Book of Life's Merits," and in the musical drama Ordo Virtutum. More about her life in our biography of Hildegard von Bingen.
Where the classical seven-virtue doctrine works in broad strokes, Hildegard goes into detail. She describes 35 virtues, each with its counterpart. And she does something remarkable: she lets these figures speak to one another. The vices appear, have their say, describe their view of the world – and the corresponding virtue responds. Hildegard portrays the vices with surprising vividness: pride with a lion's head, greed with claws, wrath with fiery eyes.
The Complete List
| Vice | Virtue |
|---|---|
| Love of the World | Love of Heaven |
| Wantonness | Self-Discipline |
| Buffoonery | Modesty |
| Obduracy | Compassion |
| Cowardice | Victory |
| Wrath | Patience |
| Inconstancy | Longing for God |
| Carelessness | Repentance |
| Hard-Heartedness | Mercy |
| Hypocrisy | Truthfulness |
| Envy | Peace |
| Vainglory | Longing for the Eternal |
| Disobedience | Obedience |
| Unbelief | Faith |
| Faint-Heartedness | Hope |
| Lust | Chastity |
| Injustice | Justice |
| Sloth | Strength |
| Forgetfulness | Holiness |
| Fickleness | Steadfastness |
| Concern for Earthly Things | Desire for Heavenly Things |
| Stubbornness | Contrition |
| Desire | Contempt of the World |
| Hardened Heart | Empathy |
| Excess | Moderation |
| Corruption | Salvation of Souls |
| Pride | Humility |
| Ambition | Contentment |
| Lying | Truth |
| Quarrelsomeness | Peaceableness |
| Greed | Generosity |
| Gluttony | Temperance |
| Despair | Heavenly Joy |
| Grumbling | Praise of God |
| Godlessness | Piety |
What stands out about this list: Hildegard focuses on phenomena that barely appear in the classical seven-doctrine. Grumbling, for instance – that quiet, constant dissatisfaction. Or carelessness, which is not the same as laziness. Hildegard clearly had a keen eye for what actually occupies people in their daily lives.
The Ordo Virtutum
Around 1151, Hildegard composed the Ordo Virtutum – both text and music. It is considered one of the earliest surviving morality plays of any kind. Sixteen virtues appear, along with the human soul and the devil. Notably, the devil does not sing. He can only speak or shout, because in Hildegard's view, what is vicious stands outside the harmonious order. The virtues, by contrast, sing in the melodies Hildegard herself composed. More on this in our article on Hildegard's music.
At the center stands humility – in Hildegard's conception, the "queen of virtues." Not in the sense of self-abasement, but as clarity about where one stands as a human being within creation.
What Research Says
Heinrich Schipperges, the Heidelberg historian of medicine, was the one who first made Hildegard's work broadly accessible in the German-speaking world. His most important point: for Hildegard, virtues are not moral rules, but life forces. They lead a person back into their own proper order.
The American medievalist Barbara Newman, in Sister of Wisdom, highlighted a different aspect: Hildegard's virtues are all feminine – grammatically and in their portrayal. Newman shows that this is no accident, but a deliberate theological statement about creative, ordering power.
Annette Esser of the Scivias Academy connects Hildegard's doctrine of virtue with her concept of viriditas, the "greening power." In this reading, virtues are expressions of a creative life force – while vices, by contrast, represent a "withering." More on this concept in our article on Viriditas.
In modern philosophy, it was above all Alasdair MacIntyre with After Virtue (1981) who revived virtue ethics. Martha Nussbaum extended it to include a political dimension: for her, virtues are not merely a private matter, but a prerequisite for a just society. The ancient virtues also reappear in positive psychology (Martin Seligman, Christopher Peterson) – now under the name "character strengths."
Virtue in Literature: Seneca, Büchner, Goethe
Seneca's idea that happiness and virtue are inseparably linked has resonated across the centuries. In drama, the theme appears quite differently – for instance in Georg Büchner. Danton's Death (1835) shows what happens when virtue becomes ideology. Robespierre proclaims uncompromising virtue; Danton lives in a more complex, more pleasure-seeking, more fallible way. The famous line "Virtue must reign through terror" has since become a cipher for the dangers of an absolutized morality. Büchner shows how virtue tips into terror when it can no longer tolerate anything human beside it.
In Goethe, the tempter himself appears: Mephistopheles. Faust stands between virtue and vice – a constellation that is not coincidentally reminiscent of Hildegard's Ordo Virtutum.
Famous Quotations
- "No one becomes good by chance." – Seneca
- "Virtue consists in the mean." – Aristotle
- "Virtue is not knowledge, but action." – Aristotle
- "He who has virtue has everything; he who lacks it has nothing." – Cicero
- "Virtue must reign through terror." – Robespierre, in Büchner's Danton's Death
- "Virtue is the health of the soul." – Joseph Joubert
What Stays with You from Hildegard
Anyone who reads Hildegard today quickly notices that her doctrine of virtue does not seem dusty. This is because she understands virtues not as rigid rules, but as movements, as forces. Humility is not self-diminishment, but a form of clarity. Patience is not passive endurance, but an attitude. And vices are not simply "sins" – in Hildegard's imagery, they are a withering of the life force.
One virtue receives particular emphasis in Hildegard: moderation, discretio. She calls it the "mother of all virtues," because it helps one find the right measure in everything – including in the other virtues themselves. Those who pray too much may perhaps neglect their neighbor. Those who fast too much harm their body. This idea runs through her teaching on daily life and nutrition as well – more on this in our article on nutrition according to Hildegard von Bingen.
Further Reading
- Biography of Hildegard von Bingen
- Nutrition According to Hildegard von Bingen
- Hildegard's Music and Chants
- Viriditas – the Greening Power
- Hildegard's Herbs at a Glance
- Books on Hildegard von Bingen
- Galangal According to Hildegard
- Herbal Teas
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between virtue and vice?
Virtues are firmly established dispositions that enable a person to do good. Vices are their counterpart – entrenched inclinations that pull in an unfavorable direction. Neither consists of individual actions, but of character traits formed through repetition.
How many virtues does Hildegard describe?
In the Liber vitae meritorum, Hildegard sets 35 virtues against 35 vices. In the Ordo Virtutum, an additional 16 virtues appear as personified figures.
What are the seven cardinal virtues?
Prudence, justice, courage, and temperance – the four ancient cardinal virtues – plus faith, hope, and love as the three theological virtues.
What are the seven deadly sins?
Pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth. This list goes back to Pope Gregory the Great in the 6th century.
What is the Ordo Virtutum?
A musical drama by Hildegard from the mid-12th century – one of the oldest surviving morality plays in existence. Hildegard wrote both the text and the music herself.
How did Seneca view the relationship between happiness and virtue?
For Seneca, a happy life without virtue was impossible. In De vita beata, he argues that only a rational, virtuous life brings inner freedom – whereas pleasure and outward success create dependency.
What role does the theme play in "Danton's Death"?
Büchner shows two poles: Robespierre's uncompromising ideology of virtue and Danton's complex, fallible approach to life. The drama makes visible how absolutized virtue can tip into terror.
Which virtue is most important to Hildegard?
Humility – she calls it the "queen of virtues." In the Ordo Virtutum, it appears as a crowned figure leading the other virtues. Alongside this, moderation (discretio) carries particular weight in her thought.
Note: This article serves exclusively to provide information on philosophical, theological, and cultural-historical content as well as the legacy of Hildegard von Bingen.
