Institutional VIRTU3

Most institutions grow out of a set rules for two of the three domains of VITRU3. Communities depend on a set of moral and ethical standards to avoid conflicts and resolve disputes peacefully. Markets function through a set of ethical and consequential conventions that foster mutually beneficial exchanges. Governments grow out of the attempt to codify a set of moral standards that will lead to long-term positive outcomes. Each of these institutions is subject to one of the three types of blindness.

The table below shows how differences in the priorities of institutions contribute to conflicts within and between societies. True VIRTU3 comes from each of these institutions compensating for the weaknesses in the others.

	COMMUNITY	GOVERNMENT	MARKETPLACE
DOMAIN	Moral & Ethical	Moral & Consequential	Ethical & Consequential
PLUS/MINUS	Right & Good/ Wrong & Bad	Positive & Good/ Negative & Bad	Right & Positive/ Wrong & Negative
CATEGORY	Theory & Beliefs	History & Beliefs	Theory & History
TIME	The Present & Future	The Past & Future	The Past & Present
SPACE	Local	National	Global
HIGHEST VALUE	Idealized Truth	Idealized Authority	Revealed Truth
MEASURE OF SUCCESS	Population Growth	National Autonomy	International Influence
BASIS	Self-Knowledge & Human Nature	Self-Knowledge & Observed Results	Human Nature & Observed Results
STYLES OF REASONING	Intuitive & Deductive	Intuitive & Inductive	Deductive & Inductive
FAILURE MODES	Self-Delusion/ Logical Fallacies	Self-Delusion/ Black Swans	Logical Fallacies/ Black Swans
SOURCE OF ERROR	Consequential Blindness	Ethical Blindness	Moral Blindness
MORAL PHILOSOPHY	Religion	Interventionism	Laissez-Faire
SCIENTIFIC PRIORITY	Social Correctness	Social Engineering	Engineering
JUDICIAL EMPHASIS	Mens Rea & Fault-Based Liability	Mens Rea & No-Fault Liability	Fault-Based Liability & No-Fault Liability
RELIGIOUS FOCUS	Divine Grace & Justice	Divine Grace & Favor	Divine Justice & Favor
ECONOMIC TOOLS	Economic Philosophy & Economic Praxeology	Economic Philosophy & Econometric Analysis	Economic Praxeology & Econometric Analysis
POLITICAL NARRATIVES	Aspirational Rationalism	Aspirational Pragmatism	Rational Pragmatism
AMERICAN POLITICS	Progressive Movement	Bipartisan Establishment	Conservative Movement
POLITICAL ECONOMICS	Cooperative Socialism	Regulatory Corporatism	Market Capitalism
POLITICAL HIERARCHY	Cooperative Meritocracy	Authoritarian Collectivism	Market Aristocracy
POLITICAL POWER-GROUP	Revolutionary Patriot-Insurgents	The Government (Civil & Military)	Reactionary Patriot-Insurgents
POLITICAL FAILURE MODE	Revolutionary Fragmentation	Military Totalitarianism	Reactionary Fragmentation

Personal VIRTU3

The three domains of VITRU3 show up in many other areas of human action. The table below shows how some important conflicts and differences of opinion map back to fundamental disagreements about the nature of virtue. The columns represent the three absolutist stances on each of the different topics. More complex, nuanced views would apply to the three blindnesses. A full understanding of VIRTU3 comes from synthesizing these views without compromising any of them.

	INTENTIONS	ACTIONS	RESULTS
DOMAIN	Moral	Ethical	Consequential
PLUS/MINUS	Good/Bad	Right/Wrong	Positive/Negative
CATEGORY	Belief	Theory	History
TIME	The Future	The Present	The Past
SPACE	Hearts and Minds	The World of Forms	The Real World
HIGHEST VALUE	Ideals	Truth	Experience
MEASURE OF SUCCESS	Popularity	Wisdom	Prosperity
BASIS	Self-Knowledge	Human Nature	Observed Results
STYLE OF REASONING	Intuitive	Deductive	Inductive
FAILURE MODE	Self-Delusion	Logical Fallacies	Black Swans
SOURCE OF ERROR	Belief ≠ Reality	Theory ≠ Reality	Data ≠ Reality
MORAL PHILOSOPHY	Intentionalism	Natural Law	Utilitarianism
SCIENTIFIC PRIORITY	Social Advancement	Procedural Correctness	Practical Utility
JUDICIAL EMPHASIS	Mens Rea	Fault-Based Liability	No-Fault Liability
RELIGIOUS FOCUS	Divine Grace	Divine Justice	Divine Favor
ECONOMIC TOOLS	Economic Philosophy	Economic Praxeology	Econometric Analysis
POLITICAL NARRATIVES	Aspirational	Rational	Pragmatic
AMERICAN POLITICS	Democratic Party	Liberty Movement	Republican Party
POLITICAL ECONOMICS	Socialism	Voluntaryism	Capitalism
POLITICAL HIERARCHY	Progressive Meritocracy	Associative Individualism	Traditional Aristocracy
POLITICAL POWER-GROUP	Scientific-Technical Elite	Guerilla Patriot-Terrorists	Military-Industrial Complex
POLITICAL FAILURE MODE	Totalitarian Communism	Feudal Anarchy	Totalitarian Fascism

The 10 Commandments of VIRTU3

1. Live virtuously at all times.
2. Act only with good intentions towards yourself and others.
3. Act only in accordance with the rights of yourself and others.
4. Act only in ways that will yield positive results for yourself and others.
5. Do not act with bad intentions towards yourself or others.
6. Do not wrong yourself or others by your actions.
7. Do not act in ways that will yield negative results for yourself or others.
8. Do not use good intentions to justify wrong actions or negative results.
9. Do not use right actions to justify bad intentions or negative results.
10. Do not use positive results to justify bad intentions or wrong actions.

The 3 Types of Blindness

Some people believe that one of the three domains of virtue is completely irrelevant. Because of this belief, they voluntarily blind themselves to the full view of VIRTU3-space.

Moral Blindness

Those who believe that morality is irrelevant are susceptible to moral blindness. For the morally blind, ethics and consequences are the only standards of virtue. An action can be judged as wholly good without any consideration of the moral intentions that led to the behavior. Immoral behavior is justified and wholly excused by correct ethics and positive outcomes. Moral blindness is associated with sayings like "fake it 'til you make it" and totally rejects personal morality as having any weight, even as a secondary or side constraint.

This figure shows how the morally blind orient VIRTU3-space. The yellow and white corners are considered equally virtuous. The blue and black corners are considered equally vicious. The other four corners are mixed, since they are either ethical or constructive, but not both.

Ethical Blindness

Those who believe that ethics are irrelevant are susceptible to ethical blindness. For the ethically blind, morals and consequences are the only standards of virtue. An action can be judged as wholly good without any consideration of the ethical nature of the behavior. Unethical behavior is justified and wholly excused by correct morals and positive outcomes. Ethical blindness is associated with sayings like "you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs" and totally rejects ethical rights as having any weight, even as a secondary or side constraint.

This figure shows how the ethically blind orient VIRTU3-space. The purple and white corners are considered equally virtuous. The green and black corners are considered equally vicious. The other four corners are mixed, since they are either moral or constructive, but not both.

Consequential Blindness

Those who believe that results are irrelevant are susceptible to consequential blindness. For the consequentially blind, morals and ethics are the only standards of virtue. An action can be judged as wholly good without any consideration of the real or predictable outcomes of a given behavior. Destructive behavior is justified and wholly excused by personal morality and correct ethics. Consequential blindness is associated with sayings like "do what's right, come what may" and totally rejects real-world results as having any weight, even as a secondary or side constraint.

This figure shows how the consequentially blind orient VIRTU3-space. The aqua and white corners are considered equally virtuous. The red and black corners are considered equally vicious. The other four corners are mixed, since they are either moral or ethical, but not both.