An excellence of character that makes a life and a community good.
Greek
ἀρετή (aretē)
Chinese
德 (dé) / 仁 (rén)
Latin
virtus
Aristotle: virtue is a settled disposition, acquired by habituation, lying in a mean between extremes.
De and ren are cultivated through ritual, learning, and example until they become second nature.
Moral worth lies in acting from duty under the categorical imperative, not from inclination.
Where do these traditions agree, and where do they genuinely part? Open the editor to write the comparison in your own words.
Aligning an AI is the engineering form of teaching virtue: RLHF tries to instil good conduct, while specification gaming shows how the letter can betray the spirit.
Defined plainly: Alignment · RLHF