Chastity as a Virtue

Hwa Yeong Wang

doi:10.3390/rel11050259

Abstract

This paper analyzes two philosophers’ views on chastity as a virtue, comparing Song Siyeol, a Korean neo-Confucian philosopher of the east, and David Hume, a Scottish philosopher. Despite the importance in and impact on women’s lives, chastity has been understated in religio-philosophical fields. The two philosophers’ understandings and arguments differ in significant ways and yet share important common aspects. Analyzing the views of Song and Hume helps us better understand and approach the issue of women’s chastity, not only as a historical phenomenon but also in the contemporary world, more fully and deeply. The analysis will provide an alternative way to re-appropriate the concept of chastity as a virtue.

Highlights

Understood as a commitment or disposition to remain innocent of extramarital sexual intercourse, has been considered a virtue among human beings for a long time, in traditional societies but in contemporary societies as well
The value of chastity has been recognized since very early times and regardless of geographical location; it was an important virtue in ancient Greece and
I will analyze chastity as a virtue as it was understood by the Korean neo-Confucian philosopher Song Siyeol

Summary

Introduction

Understood as a commitment or disposition to remain innocent of extramarital sexual intercourse, has been considered a virtue among human beings for a long time, in traditional societies but in contemporary societies as well. The value of chastity has been recognized since very early times and regardless of geographical location; it was an important virtue in ancient Greece and. Song and Hume both lived in the period spanning the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and left substantial writings about women’s chastity Both philosophers considered women’s chastity as a moral virtue and vigorously defended its importance. Their views represent their particular times and cultures but most of what they argue persists in and informs contemporary Korean and Western societies. The law was rescinded by the Constitutional Court in 2015 After analyzing their views, I will attempt to find a new way to re-appropriate concepts and ideas in the writings of Song and Hume from a feminist perspective and show that by rethinking chastity we can discover that it has important implications for our lives today. My analysis will provide a preliminary sketch of an alternative way to conceptualize the general distinction between natural and artificial virtues

Chastity in the Chinese Classics

Song Siyeol

Hume: Chastity as an Artificial Virtue

Hume and Song

Chastity a New Spousal Virtue