Hon. Hone Harawira M.P. and the four Virtues

 

Te Tai Tokerau MP Hone Harawira

The focus of this post is on the four virtues which form part of the Stoic philosophy - as New Zealanders have always admired people who display attributes associated with Stoicism; witness the legendary Buck Shelford playing on after ripping his scrotum and loosing teeth in a ruck, and the calm understatement in the face of difficulty displayed by Sir Edmund Hillary.

So it’s not entirely inappropriate to look at one of the most high profile Maori leaders, Te Tai Tokerau MP Hone Harawira, using this philosophy developed by Zeno of Citium in ancient Greece and then widely adopted in both Greece and Rome at that time.  If this approach seems far fetched, consider the Spartan Cleomenes III - who sought to engage in battle with Aristomachos of Argos at Pallantium.  Aristomachos deliberated over his army of 20,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry and his opposition, listened to his advisors, and then decided to withdraw as he felt they would be no match for Cleomenes and his 5,000 Spartans.  Mr Harawira’s comportment in adversity bears comparison with Cleomenes, and his deep commitment to his culture also bears comparison to Cleomenes encouragement of traditional Spartan values.

 Zeno of Citium

Virtue isn’t a word you hear commonly any more outside of a reference to chastity, which is a shame, because it used to refer to living according to ethical and moral principles.  The four moral principles that were important to the Stoics are; andreia, dikaiosyne, sophrosyne, and sophia.

Lets start with andreia, or courage.  

The first component of courage is bravery – or “the ability to stand up for what is right in difficult situations.”  This could be physical, where you act in spite of possible physical risk and harm, or moral bravery where you act in a way you believe to be right in the face of popular opposition, or shame, scandal, or backlash.  Another component of courage is perseverance, where you continue to seek your goal in spite of obstacles and perhaps failure.  While perseverance overlaps with self control it more about long term action rather than the immediacy of self control.  Another way to look at courage is to consider it as being your ability to be true to yourself and your beliefs across all circumstances.

So, does Mr Harawira live up to this first ideal?  It would be hard to argue that he isn’t morally brave in the face of popular opposition, is persistent, and the column which started the current disagreement where he criticises the compromises made by his political party indicates his need to be true to his beliefs.

The next virtue is dikaiosyne, or justice.  Lets examine three aspects of justice;  

Legal justice is your obligations defined by the law of the land.  You are morally constrained to follow these unless the law requires you to do something that is morally wrong, in which case you must do morally and ethically right.  Over and above the requirements of law, a citizen should also be civic-minded, willing to participate in the political process and concerned about the welfare of the community.

Commutative justice requires fundamental fairness in agreements and exchanges between individuals or groups, so that resources are allocated by free choice and equal opportunity.

Distributive justice is about the proper allocation of things such as wealth, power, reward, or respect among different people.  To meet the requirements of distributive justice everyone would have equal protection under the law, for example.

Does Mr Harawira meet this test?  He is noted for his disrespect of parliamentary rules and of laws, but this seems to be because he believes they lack moral authority based on historic events which breached commutative and distributive justice for Maori, and his belief that Maori cultural rules and practices take precedence.  You can’t argue that he isn’t civic minded, concerned about the welfare of his community and fully participates in the political process.

The next virtue, and usually considered the most important is sophia, or wisdom.

Wisdom is more than just theoretical knowledge, it is the combination of knowledge and experience used deliberately to improve wellbeing, and is based on an understanding of what is of real value.  First you must understand all the options available, and then choose the best one.  Researchers in the field of positive psychology have suggested the following tests for determining wisdom;

• A wise person has self-knowledge.
• A wise person seems sincere and direct with others.
• Others ask wise people for advice.
• A wise person's actions are consistent with his/her ethical beliefs.

There was recent publicity over Mr Harawira’s comments about not wanting his daughter to bring home a Pakeha boyfriend.  Much less coverage was given to his rationale, which showed it was based on a reasoned and practical approach, albeit with what many would consider flawed logic and inherent racism.  While Mr Harawira seems to meet the above tests you have to wonder if he is not so completely immersed in his culture that he fails to see all the courses of action available to him, or rejects options by placing belief before reason, so his decision making may not always be wise. 

The stoics belief was that human beings will always have emotional reactions to events.  They also believed that emotions often lead to errors in judgement and they sought to transform their emotions using logic, reflection and concentration to developing an inner calm so that they could gain clarity of thought, reason and judgement.   

The virtue associated with this is sophrosyne, or temperance.

Temperance is “moderation in action, thought, or feeling; restraint.”  A lack of temperance undermines prudence.  A lack of emotional temperance is evidenced in many ways including anger.  The latest publicity regards a facebook comment made by Mr Harawira "It looks like these dickheads only have expulsion on their mind, if that's their plan then we may need to refocus,".  This statement indicates a lack of temperance, and that is perhaps Mr Harawira’s biggest flaw and his potential downfall. 

 The Toki - representing wisdom and courage

For all his courage and his sense of justice, without tempering his emotions Mr Harawira cannot make truly wise decisions - including ones which will ensure his own future ability to use his positive virtues for the good of his constituents.  And until he develops it he will lack the ability to be truly objective, have clear judgement, and maintain equanimity in the face of life’s ups and downs – what the Stoics would simply call having peace of mind.