Civic virtue is an instrumental means to liberty, not a perfectionist end

Evidence

Among the more salient themes in the classical republican tradition are the importance of civic virtue and the dangers of corruption. We may understand the term ‘corruption’ simply to mean the advancement of personal or sectional interest at the expense of the public good, and ‘civic virtue’ as its opposite—that is, a willingness to do one’s part in supporting the public good. Critics of republicanism often fear that this implies extensive selfsacrifice and frugality, a renunciation of individuality and self-identification with the community (Herzog 1986; Goodin 2003; Brennan and Lomasky 2006). These fears are no doubt encouraged by the civic humanist reading of the classical tradition along perfectionist lines. Civic republicans accordingly have been at pains to show the contrary—that civic virtue should be understood as a strictly instrumental good, useful in establishing and maintaining republican liberty. Far from calling for the subjection of individual to collective aims, they argue, republican liberty is desirable in part because it enables citizens to pursue their private aims with assurances of security (Skinner 1984, 1991; Spitz 1995; Dagger 1997; Viroli 2002; Maynor 2003). — Frank Lovett, Republicanism, 62

Categorization

• DEFINE: Usefully precise definitions of ‘corruption’ and ‘civic virtue’ as paired opposites, plus the instrumental vs. perfectionist reading.
• XREF: Connects to the civic humanist vs. civic republican debate and to positions in the author’s knowledge of republican theory. — connects to: Civic virtue advances republican freedom instrumentally, not intrinsically. — Frank Lovett, Republicanism, 65
• corroborated: 5 independent passages support this claim — Frank Lovett, Republicanism, 62

Related

• Civic virtue advances republican freedom instrumentally, not intrinsically. (similarity 0.90)
• Republican liberty may not require citizens to be inwardly virtuous. (similarity 0.84)
• Republicans prefer civic-minded dispositions over civic virtue to avoid the positive liberty connotation. (similarity 0.82)
• Republican civic virtue is thin enough to suit pluralist societies (similarity 0.81)
• Lacking civic virtue costs a person identity, not just effort. (similarity 0.81)
• Civic virtue grows from rewarding group identification, not self-discipline. (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Civic virtue advances republican freedom instrumentally, not intrinsically. #corroborates (0.95) — Frank Lovett, Republicanism, 65