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In the Star Trek universe, which was created in the 60's and has many ongoing series to this day, one of the alien races watchers are most familiar with are Vulcans, a pointy-eared, green-blooded people who value controlling-- or even suppressing -- their emotions and replacing them with logic, their belief being that logic is more beneficial for the common good that their own emotions. But Vulcans are not the only beings who hold this opinion; indeed, according to Parmenides of Elea, a very real (and very much human), Presocratic philosopher, reason is only attainable through logic. In his opinion, to truly know we must distance ourselves from empirical knowledge. He believed that there were two worlds: the real world and that of the opinion. In the realm of opinion, we would then find our human sensitivities. But is our sensitive nature incompatible with a virtuous life? On one side, some believe that our choices should be guided by concrete and indisputable facts in order to lead a good life, and on another, some prefer to let themselves be guided by their feelings and sensibilities and believe that this is in no way an obstacle between them and a so-called “virtuous” life If one were to answer the question in the affirmative, it would be logical to adopt a lifestyle which resembles (takes after) a vulcan’s, meaning repressing emotions one feels, but if one were to answer in the negative, that would mean admitting that logic is superfluous to human happiness.
It is perfectly possible to live a constructive and positive life all the while incorporating human sensibilities to our choices.
The term “sensitive nature” in this case refers to the human emotions which guide many of our values, like anger , which can push us to violence (physical or other), or like compassion, which encourages us to be kind and loving towards others. And if we still base ourselves on vulcan culture, a virtuous life would be led in a pacifist manner, contributing to society in a positive manner, and that is also how most human beings would define a virtuous life.. A good example of such a life would be a carpenter who spends his life building homes within their community or a scientist searching for technological advancements.
To begin with, it is accurate to assert that the sensitive nature and a virtuous life are not incompatible because the concept of a virtuous life is dependent on a certain sensitive nature Without emotions to guide us and inspire our values, it would be impossible to live a virtuous life. To define virtue, we must define what is beneficial et and to know what is beneficial we must observe the emotions and reactions which a given action provokes. To conclude, one cannot know what evil is or how to avoid it if values are not taught to them, and the definition of a bad action depends on the emotions it evokes in the person towards who it is directed or that of their entourage. So, a child is not born with this knowledge, it must be taught.
Adversely, there exists those who believe that the sensitive nature of human beings is in fact incompatible with a virtuous life. These people often remark that, often, human sensibilities lead to conflict or even to great violence. Plato, a great philosopher and disciple of Aristotle, says himself that: “The universal primes over the particular”. It is a value that even modern people share and it implies necessarily that an individual’s emotions be ignored in order to bring good to the community. (The needs of the many over the needs of the few) In this respect, human sensibility would them be the cause of all conflict and all war. So in order to live a “virtuous” life, it would be problematic to make use of our emotion to make our choices. Feelings would in this case be counterproductive. If one’s goal is to keep one’s job, it is more advantageous to ignore your boss’ derogatory and hurtful remark than to assert one’s feelings. In the same vein, if a farmer is tired and would like to rest but is not done with his day’s work, he should force himself to finish the work rather than taking a nap because if no one finishes the work, the harvest may be ruined and no one would be able to profit from it.
Admittedly, human beings’ sensitive impulses sometimes lead to disastrous scenarios, but the presence of feelings in no way signifies the absence of reason or logic. it is sometimes necessary to put aside our own feelings for the common good, but without emotions to dictate what the common good is it would be impossible to do so. As a matter of fact, even Vulcans, who value logic and lack of emotion so much, are aware of the fact that total dedication to logic sometimes leads to weaknesses and is thus sometimes disadvantageous. Furthermore, human nature is, by definition, a sensitive one and strongly dependent on emotions. It would therefore be impossible to entirely detach oneself from our feelings but would also be beneficial to draw inspiration from the infallible logic of the Vulcans.
In conclusion, a sensitive nature is not incompatible with an effort to live a virtuous life. This nature is actually required in order to live this lifestyle despite the complications which it may bring in a social context. The presence of emotion does not nullify the effects of reason. Nonetheless, it is always necessary to distinguish which moments require our logic and which require our emotional capabilities.