VIRTUE AS SOCIAL NOT MERELY INDIVIDUAL HABIT

 Virtue is not itself a habit.

 Virtue isn't something you can do in your free time. Habituation is only a tool for developing virtue but
true virtue needs decision, understanding, and knowledge. The virtuous person does not behave rightly
out of a lack of response, but because he or she has learned the value of virtue and why it is the proper
response.

 Aristotle believed that forming virtue as a habit requires a clear decision from the start. The virtue habit has
not yet developed, but over time one gets used to behaving virtuously, and after a while one behaves
virtuously without having to use will.

 Virtues are important since they are the essential attributes required for our well-being and happiness. It
will lead to improved communication, understanding, and acceptance between us if we recognize the value
of virtues in our life.

People in society live together under the terms of an agreement that provides moral and political standards of
behavior. Some individuals think that if we live under a social contract, we may behave morally because we
choose to, rather than because a divine power forces us to. Philosophers going all the way back to Socrates have
attempted to outline the ideal social contract and explain how actual social contracts have changed through the
years. According to philosopher Stuart Rachels, morality is a system of norms that reasonable individuals accept
on the condition that others embrace them as well.

It is possible for social contracts to be explicit, such as laws, or implicit, such as raising one's hand to speak in
class. It outlines the powers and limitations of the government. People who choose to reside in America agree to
be governed by the social compact described in the Constitution.

o Regardless of whether social contracts are explicit or implicit, they provide an important framework for
societal cohesion.