On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life Through Great Books

by Karen Swallow Prior

Diligence is the most humble, perhaps even the most boring, of virtues. Diligence is so humdrum that it doesn’t get nearly as much attention in moral philosophy as the other virtues. Some of its near cousins, such as perseverance and constancy, get more coverage, but neither of these mean quite the same thing. On the other hand, the Bible mentions diligence a considerable number of times (particularly in the King James translation). And as with all the virtues, diligence is not virtuous unless it is put toward a virtuous end. Persistence in planning a robbery or harassing strangers on the internet isn’t a virtue any more than loyalty is virtuous when it’s given to a mobster or a Klansman. Diligence must also, like other virtues, represent a mean between an extreme of excess and an extreme of deficiency. It’s easy to see how insufficient diligence is a vice, but an excess of effort is also a vice. Such excess could take various forms. One form might be the workaholic. Working too hard at one good thing (e.g., a job) while neglecting other important things (e.g., family) is a vice. Perfectionism is another example of caring to a detrimental degree. Another form of excessive effort might manifest as obsessive-compulsive disorder. Too much care and attention given to social media notifications might be another example of excessive care and attention that constitutes a vice. (Guilty!)