Get Goodness: Virtue Is The Power To Do Good

From the preface: This book looks at virtue as "the power to do good" from the theological, philosophical, and poetic perspective. From a theological perspective: Long ago, Anselm defined theology as "faith seeking understanding," (f. 1) a definition which has endured to the present day. It would be difficult, if not impossible, for anyone to try to understand virtue or goodness without looking through some lens of faith.…Get Goodness was written, in part, because my own faith was seeking understanding. Second, this book will look at virtue and goodness from a philosophical perspective because the word "philosophy" (from the Greek philos + sophia) means "love of wisdom." (f.2)…As we will find in this book, the virtue of love has been understood by most theologians and philosophers before me to be the essence of each and every virtue. Therefore, we must first love wisdom before we are able to practically discern, distinguish, deliberate and decide prudently in any effort to understand how virtue is the power to do good.… Third, this book will be suffused with poetry….because poetry is a language that goes beyond logic, thought, and reason…. It is a language of the spirit and a language of human life, love, observation, and experience….Any poem is an attempt to try to understand the experience of the world and the universe around us in spiritual terms. None of us should be seeking virtuous perfection in orienting ourselves to the good in this life; we should only be seeking change. The journey is the goal.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 Preface Chapter 2 Chapter One: Virtue Chapter 3 Chapter Two: Essence - Virtue "Is" Chapter 4 Chapter Three: Power - Virtue Is The "Power" Chapter 5 Chapter Four: Freedom-Virtue Is The Power "To Do" Chapter 6 Chapter Five: Goodness-Virtue Is The Power To Do "Good" Chapter 7 Chapter Six: A Chapter 8 Chapter Seven: C Chapter 9 Chapter Eight: D Chapter 10 Chapter Nine: E Chapter 11 Chapter Ten: F Chapter 12 Chapter Eleven: G Chapter 13 Chapter Twelve: H Chapter 14 Chapter Thirteen: I Chapter 15 Chapter Fourteen: J Chapter 16 Chapter Fifteen: K Chapter 17 Chapter Sixteen: L Chapter 18 Chapter Seventeen: M Chapter 19 Chapter Eighteen: O Chapter 20 Chapter Nineteen: P Chapter 21 Chapter Twenty: R Chapter 22 Chapter Twenty-One: S Chapter 23 Chapter Twenty-Two: T

About the Author :
Michael Hickey is a writer and poet who lives in Naples, Florida in the fall and winter and in Swampscott, Massachusetts in the spring and summer. He is a graduate of Northeastern University and a Master Of Divinity Studies graduate of Weston Jesuit, a Boston College theological school. Following careers as a corporate executive and executive director of two charitable non-profits focused on third world and U.S. poverty, he eventually began his own marketing business. He retired as a successful entrepreneur to become a full time writer and poet. His first book, Get Wisdom, published in 2006. He writes a weekly column called "Words Of Wisdom" for The Naples Daily News and teaches courses on religion, philosophy, and poetry at Hodges University, CLL and Florida Gulf Coast University, RA. His wife, Theresa, is a published poet, and in their forty-four years together they have raised four happy and "well-adjusted" children into adulthood.

Review :
The book explores 47 different virtues from the Catholic perspective. All of which are dimensions of goodness, Hickey defines virtue in the book as "the highest expression of the human soul." Each chapter tackles a specific virtue, beginning with the origin of the word or etymology. Hickey then discusses each virtue from the theological and philosophical perspective. He ends the chapters with a poem, which Hickey said, is "an attempt to try to understand the experience of the world." The book is not only geared towards those needing or wanting to become better human beings. Hickey says it speaks to everyone. “Virtue and happiness are intertwined,” he said. “If you want to be happy, then do good. If you do good, you will be happy. Even though someone may not necessarily want goodness. There’s nobody out there who’s not interested in happiness.” In this book, Hickey has transformed what can be a dry topic from antiquity into a living relevant study ready to apply in our lives today. He examines the virtues and idea of goodness from philosophical and theological perspectives, with the fascinating addition of integrating poetry relevant to the concepts discussed in prose. Hickey is able to write from a scholarly background illuminating words and phrases through etymology without becoming difficult to understand or obscure. His well-researched academic perspective adds to the book, rather than causing it to be dense and cryptic.