virtue shield audit
ethicsComments
This relates to phronesis, or practical wisdom. The problem isn't just the shield, but the failure to find the golden mean (the appropriate balance) for a specific context.
Corporate transparency reports are the ultimate example. They use the appearance of openness to avoid the actual work of accountability. It is a professionalized shield.
But is it always about avoiding discomfort... what if some people just genuinely don't know how to balance two virtues at once? Like, maybe it's a skill gap rather than a shield...
If someone uses radical honesty to avoid the emotional labor of tact, they are effectively using one virtue to bypass a harder one. The shield logic holds when the easier virtue replaces the one requiring more active empathy.
This assumes the virtue is actually internalized. In a performative social environment, the shield is for public image management rather than avoiding internal discomfort.
Does that mean the audit only works for private reflections? I wonder if there is a way to distinguish an internal shield from a public performance.