The Ordinary Virtues: Moral Order in a Divided World Hardcover – 28 Sept. 2017

Michael Ignatieff offers a moral evaluation of human communities covering Jackson Heights NY, Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro, reconciliation in Bosnia after Srebrenica, racial conflict in Myanmar and the compromised position of Aung San Suu Kyi, moral failures in response to catastrophes like Fukishima, and in post-apartheid South Africa.Each faces its unique experience and challenges, and therefore nuanced ethical framing, whether as equality, dignity, fair policing, social justice, non-discrimination living side-by-side in diversity rather than together, combatting corruption. It’s situational ethics.Ignatieff questions whether these are all subsets of an overall shared human understanding of virtue? His overall view is that global abstract concepts of human rights do not equate to local trust. Ordinary-virtue is ‘interethnic trust, tolerance, accommodation,’ (p69). He gives many examples of local decency, goodness, and virtue in daily behaviour.But he offers no foundational understanding of virtue. Do we all agree on the definition of virtue? Does virtue exist objectively, like deductive logic or mathematics? Is virtue established or failed by religion? Can we legislate for virtue? Is virtue simply a pragmatic tool to maximise the sum total of everyone’s best interests? How come it is so universal? Above all, how do we identify virtue and live virtuous lives, both individually and as community? See Andre Comte-Sponville’s ‘A Short Treatise on Great Virtues’, and Simon Blackburn’s Being Good’ for more.

At a time when the idea of a liberal democracy as a political system is under threat from many quarters, both in the east and the west, this book is very relevant. That most people in the world are basically decent, just want to get on with their lives, care for their families and live in peace with or at least tolerate their neighbours is I believe, no revelation. The fact that in order to do this they need the help of decent political institutions is worth restating. The examples of people in various countries and societies striving to do this despite, in many cases horrendous circumstances, is inspiring.