Grateful Successors

Pietas Quest Question: How does gratitude for the great thinkers of the past shape our own moral development?

Direct Answer
Before pietas, we often take for granted the philosophical foundation laid by those who came before us, leading to ingratitude and a shallow view of our own inheritance. After pietas, we recognize that true gratitude means paying attention to the great thinkers, sifting their ideas, and building upon them with humility — thereby honoring their gift and advancing our own moral growth.

…a completed system of philosophy…is to be built up, only as systems of physical science are formed, by the careful inductions of successive in­quirers conducting their work through successive ages. - James McCosh

Ingratitude comes in many forms, but one that we are most apt to fall into is disregard for the great thinkers who laid the philosophical foundation upon which we stand. Human dignity, inalienable rights, and the reliability of human reason are all concepts that have crystallized over centuries of wrestling with the great questions concerning man and society. We owe those who‘ve done that wrestling a debt of gratitude.

Even those thinkers we disagree with, if they were sincere in their pursuit of truth, deserve our appreciation. In raising objections and proposing contrary views, they forced our predecessors to refine and strengthen their arguments. These thoughtful antagonists have often made us better.

The best way we can show our appreciation for our inheritance of knowledge is to pay attention to those who have done that hard thinking. The more I read, the more I’m amazed at how relevant the millennia-old ideas of Xenophon, Cicero, and Epictetus are to present-day challenges. They provide perennial counsel that helps us to navigate even our modern, technology-inundated world.

But they wouldn’t want us to accept their ideas uncritically. The best compliment we can pay them is to sift, appropriate, and build upon the best of what they’ve given us.

So, let’s show true gratitude by putting their gift to good use.