In classical Greece, sophrosyne (" soh-froh-soo'-neh ") referred to excellence of character and soundness of mind in a well-balanced individual. This complex ideal has no direct translation into English. Its roots suggest a bringing together (syne) of the qualities of wisdom (sophia). It conveys the idea of happiness (in a proper philosophic sense) derived from:
Plato discusses it in the dialogue Charmides, subtitled "On sophrosyne". There, the word is usually translated temperance or moderation. After extended discussion with Charmides, who is as intelligent as he is beautiful of body and soul, the speakers agree that it is an essential quality, but it cannot be precisely defined.
At the end, Charmides says, "Good heavens, Socrates! I don't know whether I have it or not! How could I know when you two can't even figure out what it is?" At least Plato has illustrated it in the person of Charmides, who obviously embodies it, and whose name is related to the word for charm and gracefulness.
The editors of The Collected Dialogues of Plato (Princeton University Press, 1989), in introducing Charmides, write
...the subject of the Charmides is, What is sophrosyne? -- and that word cannot be translated by any one English word. The truth is that this quality, this sophrosyne, which to the Greeks was an ideal second to none in importance, is not among our ideals. We have lost the conception of it. Enough is said about it in Greek literature for us to be able to describe it in some fashion, but we cannot give it a name. It was the spirit behind the two great Delphic sayings, "Know thyself" and "Nothing in excess." Arrogance, insolent self-assertion, was the quality most despised by the Greeks. Sophrosyne was the exact opposite. It meant accepting the bounds which excellence lays down for human nature, restraining impulses to unrestricted freedom, to all excess, obeying the inner laws of harmony and proportion.
There had been some narrowing of meaning of the word in the Koine Greek by the first century. Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament gives the meanings soundness of mind (since Homer), opposed to mania; sanity, soberness; self-control; virtus (Cicero)
The word occurs once in the New Testament, in 1 Timothy 2:15, as one of the saving qualities of a woman -- faith, love, holiness, and sophrosyne: temperance (NEB), sobriety (KJV), modesty (RSV), and discreteness (Gk-Eng NT).
It is related to:
sophroneo (verb) -- to be of sound mind, right mind; to exercise self-control, to put a moderate estimate on oneself; to think of one's self soberly; to curb one's passion.
Mk 5:15 and Lk 8:35, said of the Gadarene man now in his right mind
2 Cor 5:13, God will say whether Paul is in his right mind
Titus 2:6, exhorting men to be discrete, soberminded
1 Peter 4:7, be soberly watchful since the end is near.
sophronizo (verb) -- to make one sophron (wise); to restore to the senses; to moderate, control, curb, discipline; to hold one to his duty; to admonish; to exhort earnestly.
Titus 2:4, to teach (young women to have certain qualities)
sophronismos (noun) -- (1) an admonishing or calling to soundness of mind, to moderation, to duty, to self-control; (2) self-control, moderation.
2 Tim 1:7. The Lord has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, Love, and sophronismos, a sound mind (KJV)
sophronos (adv) -- with sound mind, soberly, temperately, etc.
Titus 2:12. The grace of God teaches us that we should live discretely (KJV: soberly), etc. in the present age.
Every day the newspapers recount the evidence. We have lost the ideal of sophrosyne in our culture, especially in our public life, especially in the Congress. We often seem to believe that the present situation is entirely normal, or that there is nothing that can be done. Even if we dare to think that public life could be better, we seem perplexed about what needs to be done.
What is needed is a recapturing of the vision of the ideal. We protest: We can
never achieve
an ideal !! Of course not.
There will always be tension between "the ideal" and "the actuality". The
ideal is never the actuality. The ideal is a mental/spiritual "form" which in
the Platonic sense exists outside of ordinary spacetime reality, in what I
have called the nuocontinuum, the "mind
continuum" within which the spacetime continuum exists, and which connects and
seeks to integrate all things.
The ideal is the heading for our compass, as we take each next step, politically or personally. But, especially politically, we do not have to look all the way back to classical Greece to reconnect with our ideals. We need look only to the time of the founding of the United States itself, and to the ideals which motivated and oriented the Founders.
This political "New Order of the Ages" was based on the classical ideals of harmony and proportion. The "inalienable rights" to "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" were considered to derive directly from the laws of harmony and proportion in the natural world, which government structures must recognize, as well as people individually.
Our system of "self-government" is designed to work only when the people govern themselves. As greed and selfishness become stronger in a society, order eventually breaks down, and so does freedom. The answer to our problems is not more government, except in the sense that we each must be our own government. We must deal with ourselves, to recognize that we each are a part of society and society's problem in some way. We do not have to have a collective solution. We have to learn individually to live our own lives by the ideal, and then the realm of public affairs will start sorting itself out. We must individually change ourselves, by individual reflection.
Government is only a mirror of ourselves.
Solving our problem requires recapturing a vision of the ideals summarized in the ancient word sophrosyne: excellence of character and soundness of mind in a well-balanced individual. Perhaps "wholeness" is the modern concept which comes closest to capturing this essence. Yes, sophrosyne is the quality of character which we must expect, and elect, in our leaders. But first, it must exist among ourselves.
Government is only a mirror of ourselves.
E pluribus unum: The Precinct Papers, a short
novel by Donivan Bessinger, whose theme is recapturing our lost
ideals in contemporary politics, based on respect for the wholeness and
harmony of all of life. [Complete online]
Carl G. Jung: A Brief Introduction to his Ideas. Jung's theory of the psyche emphasizes awareness of the whole self, conscious and unconscious alike. Self-awareness is also central to sophrosyne.
Emerging From Chaos: Wholeness, Ethic, and New World Order. A book. In today's complex world, thinking sincerely about ethics requires globalizing awareness, raising consciousness to encompass all of life. This "primer" on life-systems connectedness helps relate us to the whole of self and society, and to respect for the laws of harmony and proportion in the natural world, qualities of sophrosyne.