Magnificence is one of those virtues that few people know about.
Ask anyone to name a handful of virtues and even those who have no idea about Aristotle will likely say “truthfulness”, “courage”, and “generosity” pretty quickly.
But magnificence?
What the hell is that?
And explaining this virtue to people often doesn’t make it any more clear as to why exactly it is a virtue.
Here’s the thing with virtues – virtue ethics has a long history in philosophy.
Many great thinkers have weighed in with their opinions.
And the greatest thinkers typically converge and end up with a list of virtues close to Aristotle’s list in The Nicomachean Ethics.
That’s why we’re using those virtues as our base.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t question the virtues.
Questions like…
- “Is this really a virtue?”
- “Would acquiring this trait really lead to a happy life?”
- “Would this benefit the common good?”
Are valuable and we should constantly demand more of ourselves with questions like this.
Have long-running debates in your head, write ideas down, discuss with friends.
But I’d also ask you to place some trust in one of the greatest thinkers to have ever lived.
I don’t want to say the thinking has already been done for you…
But it kind of has.
At least reserve judgement on the virtues until you’ve given each of them a chance and tried to integrate them into your life.
Having given each of them a solid effort and your consideration, you can then refine them at a later date – sculpt your own principles out of experience with these ones.
So what is magnificence?
Here’s Aristotle’s definition of this virtue:
it is a fitting expenditure involving largeness of scale. But the scale is relative; for the expense of equipping a trireme is not the same as that of heading a sacred embassy. It is what is fitting, then, in relation to the agent, and to the circumstances and the object.
Simply put, magnificence is the virtue of spending large sums of money in order to bring grand things into the world.
This is one of those virtues that will be out of many people’s reach for a long time.
the magnificent man is liberal, but the liberal man is not necessarily magnificent. The deficiency of this state of character is called niggardliness, the excess vulgarity, lack of taste, and the like, which do not go to excess in the amount spent on right objects, but by showy expenditure in the wrong circumstances and the wrong manner.
Think of magnificence as being like the next step up from liberality.
Once you’ve nailed liberality, you’re going to take it up a notch and become magnificent.
Aristotle calls the vices niggardliness (which means being penny-pinching or close-fisted) and vulgarity or lack of taste.
It certainly does seem confusing that the act of spending large sums could be considered a virtue, but remember it all comes down to spending on the right things and in the right way.
Typically when people feel disgusted by excessive displays of wealth it’s because the one spending has done it in the wrong way and ends up looking tacky.
But if you think about the opposite extreme, wealthy people who have money but refuse to spend it, we are equally disgusted by that.
The mean, then, is magnificence – suitable and appropriate displays of wealth.
The magnificent man is like an artist; for he can see what is fitting and spend large sums tastefully.
The virtue of magnificence is all about having taste on a large scale.
That’s why it might be beyond your reach right now.
Unless you were born into wealth or you’ve already been working a large chunk of your life in a lucrative profession, most people don’t have the means to be magnificent – especially younger people.
But we’ll discuss how we can address that problem.
First, a bit more about the virtue of magnificence from Aristotle:
Now the expenses of the magnificent man are large and fitting. Such, therefore, are also his results; for thus there will be a great expenditure and one that is fitting to its result. Therefore the result should be worthy of the expense, and the expense should be worthy of the result, or should even exceed it. And the magnificent man will spend such sums for the sake of the noble; for this is common to the virtues. And further he will do so gladly and lavishly; for precise calculation is a niggardly thing. And he will consider how the result can be made most beautiful and most becoming rather than for how much it can be produced and how it can be produced most cheaply.
Here’s an example to illustrate this idea:
Two men are planning their daughters wedding.
One says, ‘Damn the expense! We’re going to make this grand, make this a show, everyone’s going to have a great time, it’s going to be beautiful, and we will remember this great occasion for the rest of our lives.’ The wedding costs a lot of money, but the experience and the memories made, the result of it far exceeds what was spent.
The other man nickels and dimes the whole way through. “That dress is too expensive. We have to cut the catering. We don’t need to give people plus-ones. I think your cousin Jeff has a camera, so he can take the photos.” This stresses the daughter out no end and results in an embarrassing budget wedding.
Being magnificent doesn’t mean you have to be a billionaire, but it does involve spending large.
Being magnificent is also a character and a state of mind.
It’s about creating beauty with money and being abundant with wealth for a noble end.
It’s lavish if you do the same thing without a noble end and without taste.
Which is more valuable: a bar of gold or a rare watercolour by one’s favourite artist?
The bar of gold might have more monetary value, but the painting (which is also expensive) is more magnificent because of the taste that has gone into selecting it for its beauty.
The painting inspires admiration, the bar of gold does not.
That’s magnificence.
a poor man cannot be magnificent, since he has not the means with which to spend large sums fittingly; and he who tries is a fool, since he spends beyond what can be expected of him and what is proper, but it is right expenditure that is virtuous.
Suitable expenditure results in the best interest of many people.
Indian culture has the right idea when it comes to weddings – you basically invite the whole city.
You’ll never see a celebration as magnificent as a traditional Indian wedding.
Magnificent people are those who spend large sums fittingly.
An example of the vice, vulgarity and tastelessness, from Aristotle is that of the man who “gives a club dinner on the scale of a wedding banquet”. Sure, he’s spending a lot of money. But it’s inappropriate and does not suit the occasion.
It’s these displays of wealth we find distasteful. And it comes down to intent:
all such things he will do not for the sake of the noble but to show off his wealth, and because he thinks he is admired for these things, and where he ought to spend much he spends little and where little, much.
On the other end, you have the wealthy penny-pincher:
The niggardly man on the other hand will fall short in everything, and after spending the greatest sums will spoil the beauty of the result for a trifle, and whatever he is doing he will hesitate and consider how he may spend least, and lament even that, 30 and think he is doing everything on a bigger scale than he ought.
You might not be wealthy now, but you can still work on the virtue of magnificence and put a plan in place that you’ll use until you become wealthy (if you are not already).
Let’s get into the virtue assignment for this week.
Virtue Assignment for Magnificence:
THIS WEEK:
– If you aren’t currently wealthy, start brainstorming ways you can add extra income streams so one day you can be magnificent.
Remember that acquiring virtues is a life’s project.
Your journey to becoming magnificent can start even before you have the means.
And it starts with figuring out how you can acquire the means.
So this week, you can concentrate on coming up with wealth generation ideas.
Can you sell a service? Can you consult on the side? Can you source a product and ship it? Can you start affiliate marketing? Can you write a book and sell it? Can you teach something?
– Put together ideas and a plan of action for a grand event you can host.
If you don’t have a lot of money, consider “grand” to be relative to your means.
What can you plan that will be beautiful (a work of art) that has a noble end? Can you plan a wedding? If that’s too big, can you plan a baby shower? Can you plan a birthday? Can you plan a charity function?
You don’t have to throw this event this week.
Just get some ideas flowing for a future grand event you might be able to pull off.
How much money would you need in order for that event to be magnificent?
– Spend time absorbed in art this week, refining and developing your tastes.
Visit an art gallery if you can.
Be around big paintings, big works of art, big structures.
Go to places that are magnificent, both man-made and natural.
Maybe you’ll go to the theatre and watch an opera. Maybe you’ll go to a large park or to a waterfall.
Embark on large magnificent works of literature (can you read a chapter of Moby Dick each day this week? Or War and Peace? Contemplate how grand they are).
– As always, keep your journalling habit this week.
Think about what you find tasteful, what you find tacky, and what magnificence means to you.
READING HOMEWORK:
That’s the virtue challenge for this week.
Next week we’ll look at pride.