The human soul at its best combines our circumstances and passions to produce happiness. Happiness has an element of choice and while a slave can be happy in a personal sense, circumstances don’t allow a slave to pursue his own interests. Protecting freedom is simply allowing individuals more control over their choices. Freedom also has an element where good personal choices allow a person to pursue their own interests better. Interests vary, some people have pioneering personalities and others tend toward security. It is a fascinating combination of traits that make up each individual. The area ethics deals with is the part that makes a person feel good about themselves. There is a certain amount of honor and pride we should all have as we move through this series of moments we call life and in all our pursuits.

When honor exists among a group of people it is enjoyable to be around them. A community that treats each other respectfully is where a good person wants to be. A work environment where people have a high regard for each other is one each employee will enjoy. Where citizens treat each other with respect and honor is a country that people will want to belong to. Those who lack ethics cover up their lack by pointing fingers and calling other people’s successes privilege. The truth is that those who choose to work hard, make fair exchanges and treat others with respect will create an environment for success and accomplishment for themselves and others.

When happiness is present, it creates an atmosphere where people get along well with each other. It contains a certain optimism that believes anyone can rise above social injustices through day to day application of hard work and honesty. Each individual has their own preferences concerning things they enjoy but what is common to all are the principles of ethics. No one wants to be burned or ripped off. Everyone wants to be treated with honor and respect. To put happiness in context, it is an environment where we feel safe and confident. People who feel safe and confident tend to make good choices and have a higher degree of productivity. Living and working among people you can trust without having to force them to do right through laws is the idea behind ethics. This creates the ideal environment for the pursuit of happiness according to each person’s passions.

The soul is the director that causes natural things to organize and to function a certain way. DNA is simply a record in a living cell but something must exist to imprint the genetic message in the same way a typed letter will require a programmer or a typist. Once this director is gone, the material decays back to a natural state. On this earth, there is a cycle of life entering and building and then leaving the materials behind to decay.

Complex animals have mobility and also additions to the soul’s faculties such as senses and knowledge. This allows for choices which are also a function of the soul. The animals with the most complex souls are Humans since they have the ability to make the most choices. They can override instinct and their environment to accomplish dreams. There is an advanced part of the human soul called the rational ability that follows the soul pattern of using raw materials such as a person’s passions and interests to build an object. The ultimate objective for a seed could be a beautiful flower. Of course this involves a process of time and work. The ultimate objective for a human soul is a happy life for the human that has it.

A flower that will reach its fullest potential by virtue of a good root system. It will grow by virtue of good foliage. The word virtue is used to describe something that is functioning at its best to help accomplish the soul’s ultimate objective. Virtue in a human sense describes areas that help a person achieve the most happiness in ways that last the longest. The word vice is used for the things that pull them away from the ideal. The ideal can be described as a target and there are a million ways to miss. To stay on track is more difficult but will give a person a better life.

To hit the target of virtue with our passions and actions, a person avoids having too little or too much. There is a zone in between that benefits the most for the goal of happiness. Depravity describes a state where a person loses the ability to see the target because they have gone so far to an extreme. Most of what is described in ethics applies to those who have a will to hit the target. It helps us understand why we miss at times ourselves and why others do what they do. Understanding produces empathy and having this skill is how we get along best with others. Virtues aren’t there to point out shortcomings but to give us a map to the target of contentment and happiness.