The House We Live In; Virtue, Wisdom and Pluralism; Segall

Seth Zuihō Segall [+–]

Independent Scholar

Seth Zuihō Segall completed a PhD in clinical psychology from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in 1977 and was ordained as a Zen Buddhist priest in 2016. He served on the faculties of Southeast Missouri State University (1978), Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (1979-1980), the Yale University School of Medicine (1981-2009), and SUNY Purchase (2012-2017) and is a former Director of Psychology at Waterbury Hospital (1998-2004) and a former President of the New England Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (1998-2000). He is currently a contributing editor for Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, a review editor for The Humanistic Psychologist, the science writer for the Mindfulness Research Monthly, and a teacher at the New York Insight Meditation Society.

His publications include Encountering Buddhism: Western Psychology and Buddhist Teachings (2003, SUNY Press), Buddhism and Human Flourishing: A Modern Western Perspective (Palgrave MacMillan, 2020), and Living Zen: A Practical Guide to Balanced Existence (Rockridge, 2020) as well as articles for the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, The Humanistic Psychologist, H-Net, Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, and other periodicals.

Author’s page: www.sethzuihosegall.com. His blog, The Existential Buddhist (www.existentialbuddhist.com), publishes essays on Buddhist philosophy, meditation, art, politics, and literature.

The values of liberalism, pluralism, and democratic governance are under sustained attack from right-wing Christian fundamentalists, white ethnonationalists, and economic populists. At the same time, liberal democracies are failing at cultivating and transmitting the values, wisdom, and virtues that are the perquisites for individual and collective flourishing. Liberal democracies seem increasingly unable to negotiate diverse visions of the good life rooted in regional, ethnic, racial, religious, generational, and socioeconomic differences. Aspiring autocrats and social media organizations exploit these divisions to enhance their power or profit, resulting in increased tribalization and affective polarization.

Solving these problems requires a renewed understanding of human flourishing and the wisdom and virtues that make it possible. The House We Live In explores the commonalities underlying three classical approaches to virtue ethics—Aristotelean, Buddhist, and Confucian—to develop a flourishing-based ethics capable of addressing the problems of liberal democracies. The book examines the moral and intellectual virtues that promote flourishing, the diversity of ways in which we may flourish, and the factors all flourishing lives share. It shows how a flourishing-based ethics can serve as a corrective to the historical Western over-emphasis on individualism at the expense of community. Finally, it addresses problems in domestic and foreign policy and the difficulties in talking to each other across the political divide from a flourishing-based perspective. The book is a reaffirmation of pluralism, the liberal democratic tradition, and the necessity of a pragmatic approach to living together despite seemingly incommensurable differences.

Chapter 1

The House We Live In [+–]

America’s initial vision was not one of a pluralistic multicultural democracy. Pluralistic multiculturalism was an ideal that emerged slowly over time—through the vicissitudes of the civil war and successive waves of immigration—and in the face of considerable resistance. This is the vision of America that was on the ballot in the presidential elections of 2008-2020. The cultural divide between traditionalists who view America through the lens of white, Christian, patriarchal values, and those who view it through the lens of pluralistic, secular, and multicultural values is the defining conflict of our era. This chapter emphasizes that America is already a de facto pluralistic multicultural society marked by divergent values and visions of what the good life entails. While the hallmark of liberal societies is their ability to tolerate pluralism in values and visions, America is struggling to arrive at a consensus on values that can help solve the pressing issues of the day: economic inequality, climate change, ecological degradation, racial, ethnic, and gender discrimination, and epidemics of deaths of despair in the middle aged and anxiety and depression in the young. The increasingly multicultural, secular nature of American society means that any newly emerging value system cannot be grounded in the teachings of a single religious tradition but must be congruent with the moral intuitions of people from diverse ethnic, religious, and racial groups. The culture war and the urgent need for a new consensus on values serve as the backdrop for the project of this book: a transcultural ethics uniquely suited to the needs of secular, pluralistic, multicultural democracies.

Chapter 2

On Virtue [+–]

Values arise out of social conditions and change with social circumstances, but that does not mean they are entirely socially contingent. They are also grounded in relatively unchanging aspects of human nature and the universal existential circumstances all human societies must address. Values can have core aspects that are universal to all cultures, as well as phenotypical expressions particular to a time and place. The chapter begins by exploring how values are internalized, reflected on, and refined. Values can be judged as good or bad according to the degree to which they promote individual and collective flourishing. Virtues are constellations of habit and value that promote and partially define flourishing. There can be no definitive list of the virtues, since virtues are partially dependent on the whole-way-of-life that constitutes a culture, but there can nevertheless be a core set of virtues that are common to all cultures—a common thread running through the philosophies of antiquity and the world religions of today. The chapter closely examines three ethical philosophies of antiquity—Aristotelean, Buddhist, and Confucian—to discern their commonalities and differences. It then proposes and examines seven universal moral virtues—courage, benevolence, conscientiousness, temperance, equanimity, truthfulness, and justice—in terms of their relation to flourishing.

Chapter 3

On Wisdom [+–]

In addition to the moral virtues, Aristotle, the Buddha, and Confucius stressed the role of wisdom in human flourishing. Wisdom has three aspects. First, wisdom is a cultures’ fund of advice about how to live. Every culture has its unique treasure house of ethical resources passed down through the generations in its religious and philosophical texts, poetry, literature, myths, legends, folk tales, fables, and adages. Second, wisdom is a faculty of mind—a set of intellectual abilities that enable one to make good ethical judgments. Aristotle thought phronesis, or practical wisdom, was the intellectual virtue that made all the moral virtues possible—the ability to “hit the mark” and discern the appropriate thing to do in any situation. Practical wisdom is a “knowing how to” rather than a “knowing that.” The chapter explores nine dimensions of practical wisdom: 1) self-and social-awareness, 2) practical relationship know-how, 3) rules of inquiry and inference, and the abilities to 4) weigh multiple factors simultaneously, 5) think abstractly, 6) see things from other perspectives, 6) attend to the wisdom of the body, 7) observe one’s own mental processes, and 8) maintain an attitude of open inquiry. All of these contribute to the ability to make proper ethical judgments. Beyond phronesis or practical wisdom, there is also what Aristotle called sophia, or philosophical wisdom. Even when the great philosophers disagree, studying their contributions widens our perspectives, deepens our sense of awe and mystery about life, and makes us humble about what we think we know. They help us to cultivate a “philosophical attitude” which allows us to step back from our immediate experience, investigate it with curiosity, and bear untoward events with equanimity.

Chapter 4

On Flourishing [+–]

Flourishing means living lives that are decent, meaningful, fulfilling, and admirable. This chapter examines seven dimensions of flourishing: relationship, accomplishment, aesthetics, meaning, whole-heartedness, integration, and acceptance. Flourishing lives realize all or most of these dimensions. Flourishing lives realize and satisfy individually appropriate sets of values with the caveat that they must be lived not just for oneself, but also for the sake of others. Higher levels of flourishing call for lives of open-ended inquiry into values rather than lives lived in accordance with dogma.

Chapter 5

Only Connect [+–]

America is in need of a new Great Awakening—an ethical renewal based on human flourishing. Belongingness, relationship, caring, and connection are as crucial to flourishing as individuality and freedom, but our culture emphasizes individualism at their expense. This overemphasis on individualism lies at the root of our current discontents. It is the mindset that led the conquistadors to subdue indigenous peoples everywhere and that permits corporations to heat up the atmosphere; pollute the soil, water, and air; kill off pollinating insects, birds, and fish; and raise domestic animals in inhumane factory farms. It has led to senseless American military interventions around the world and is the root cause of extreme economic inequality. It is the reason why over 800,000 Americans lost their lives to COVID, and is the main impediment to overcoming our history of racism. This chapter shows the implications of restoring the balance between individualism and relationality for domestic policy, foreign affairs, the environment, education, and communicating across the cultural divide. It emphasizes that while there are many ways we can fix the house we share together, only a new moral vision can allow us to make the changes we need.

Reviews

It would hardly be an exaggeration to call this brilliant and beautiful book one of the most important works of our time. In my view, it should certainly rank as one of the wisest. Looking deeply into today’s social, cultural, and political crises, the author points to the compelling need to re-envision the perennial moral and intellectual virtues as the indispensable key to human flourishing in both the personal and communal dimensions of our lives. His close and careful analysis of these virtues, and their connection with well-being, shows us what we must do to emerge intact from the confusion and conflicts of our age.
Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi, Buddhist scholar and translator of Pali Buddhist texts

Segall is a gifted writer with encyclopedic knowledge, keen insights, and flowing prose. The reading public who are concerned about the general state of affairs in America should be very interested in this book. It is full of sensible examples and free from academic jargon while thoughtfully engaging great ancient thinkers from different cultural and intellectual milieus, i.e., Aristotelian, Confucian, and Buddhist, for alternative sources of virtues and values at this moment of our history.
Tao Jiang, Ph.D., author of Origins of Political-Moral Thought in Early China

Through a rich and rigorous synthesis of flourishing-based ethical perspectives, Seth Zuihō Segall offers insights and inspiration from religious and secular traditions both past and present. To address our increasingly global crisis, we urgently need the kind of globally informed ethics that this book provides.
Stephen Batchelor, author of After Buddhism: Reimagining the Dharma in a Secular Age

Talk of “multiculturalism” and of “the virtues” are often seen as incompatible. “Multiculturalism” is a slogan of contemporary liberals, while conservatives bemoan the loss of our traditional “virtues.” Segall’s The House We Live In is an exciting attempt to bring multicultural liberalism into dialogue with classic accounts of virtues like wisdom, courage, and justice. Segall makes an ambitious attempt to show that the freedom offered by multicultural liberalism has to be grounded in a robust account of what it is to live well and to be a good person. This provocative and timely book deserves a wide audience.
Bryan W. Van Norden, James Monroe Taylor Chair in Philosophy, Vassar College

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The House We Live In

Virtue, Wisdom, and Pluralism

Seth Zuihō Segall [+–]

Independent Scholar

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