The seven virtues from the wikipedia article are:
The cardinal virtues:
+Prudence
+Fortitude
+Temperance
+Justice
The theological virtues:
–Faith
–Hope
–Charity
In reality, Prudence is the mother of all virtues and Prudence at it’s best follows the Tao.
Prudence was considered by the ancient Greeks and later on by Christian philosophers, most notably Thomas Aquinas, as the cause, measure and form of all virtues. It is considered to be the auriga virtutum or the charioteer of the virtues.
Prudence at it’s best follows the Way(Tao). The Way is best explained in Tao Te Ching.
Fortitude comes as a result of one individual’s Prudence. At it’s core, it is Diligence to act in a prudent way. As a manifestation, some times, it is seen as Courage, however, sometimes, courage can be confused with rage, anger and wrath, and, rage, anger and wrath come from lack of both Prudence, Temperance and Justice. As a result, the second cardinal virtue is Diligence to act in a Prudent way.
Temperance is the manifestation of one individual’s Prudence on the individual. Temperance in this description also covers Chastity.
Justice is the manifestation of one individual’s Prudence in terms of how the individual reacts with others. So this means that Temperance is Prudence applied on Self as a whole, while Justice is Prudence applied on others(between the individual and the society or the world itself).
So essentially there is only one cardinal virtue and that is Prudence.
Fortitude is just Prudence in action, also seen as Diligence.
Temperance is just Prudence manifested on the individual/person.
Justice is just Prudence applied by the individual on the world.
The theological virtues are just extensions, be it emotions that can be both good and bad, depending on one’s Prudence. They are called Faith, Hope and Charity and can be seen as neutral virtues because, without Prudence, any one of them can do evil.
The theological virtues can only be seen as manifestation of one’s sense of Justice. Theological virtues, without Prudence, have a high chance of creating and sustaining deadly sins.
If theological virtues are proposed as ignorance of Prudence, can result in them not becoming virtues at all, quite the opposite, the recipe for creating and sustaining deadly sins.
Now, let’s compare it to the Seven Deadly Sins:
Lust is lack of Temperance on oneself that gives fruit to lack of Justice in the world.
Gluttony is lack of Temperance on oneself that gives fruit to lack of Justice in the world.
Greed is lack of Prudence that manifests itself as lack of Justice and then lack of Temperance in the world.
Sloth is lack of Fortitude and Prudence, that gives fruit to lack of both Temperance and Justice in the world.
Wrath is lack of Temperance and Prudence, as a result of the individual’s sense of Justice being questioned and can do more lack of Justice in the world.
Envy is lack of both Justice and Temperance as a result of one’s lack of Prudence that can give fruit to Justice or lack of it, depending on one’s Prudence.
Pride is lack of both Prudence and Temperance, that gives fruit to lack of Justice.
Additional sins:
One said, that Hope is as hollow as Fear, sometimes despair. Despair sometimes is seen as a deadly sin, or, a manifestation of it. Hope and Despair are two faces of the same coin.
Despair is lack of Justice in the world that manifests itself as lack of Temperance on the individual.It can change the individual’s sense of Prudence, Temperance and Justice in the world.
Partiality can be seen as a synonym to Greed.
Sorrow is very similar to Despair.
All sins can be healed only with applying Prudence on one’s self by studying and improving one’s thinking, and, as a result, improving one’s own Temperance and sense of Justice.
Thus, Prudence is the main virtue and the only one. The rest are just extensions of Prudence itself. And the deadly sins are just lack of prudence, that leads to death.
The best document that exemplifies Prudence and applies it well, is Tao Te Ching.
Tao Te Ching is translated as Way of Virtue. It doesn’t say virtues, because there is only one real virtue, and that is Prudence. It is a book that cultivates and shows The Way, Life and Time. It is one of the best descriptions of Prudence.
