Why Be Virtuous?

[piercehawkeye45]

First, I would like to claim that I, and many others I know, find happiness in virtue. I try to be virtuous because it brings me happiness. Helping others bring me happiness.

I think the connection of virtue and happiness comes across through evolution and the growth of living and interacting in a community.

For one, humans are very community based animals, and for this we can not look at modern society because we have not evolved to live in a society like ours today, but a more nomadic and communal society. So the question has to change too, why would it be advantageous for me to help someone in my community?

The answer seems pretty simple. In that time, it would be better for my survival to watch out for the interests of the community instead of my own because a strong community will better insure the passing of my genes than watching my individual interests. If I lived a million years ago by myself, there is a good chance I would be quickly killed because even though humans are smart, it is not easy to kill predators, find food, and build shelters by oneself. So, instead I become more altruistic and watch out for the interests of the community because if the community strengthens, so does my chance of passing on my genes. Basically, if I watch your back, you watch mine, and we both have a better chance of survival and people that showed the trait of being virtuous and watching out for the community survived while the selfish did not.

That is my guess.