Vice
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2008-06-27T16:59:15Z
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/* Examples of vices */ Re-added a POV omission.
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'''Vice''' is a practice or habit that is considered immoral, depraved, and/or degrading in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a defect, an infirmity, or merely a bad habit. Synonyms for vice include fault, depravity, sin, iniquity, wickedness and corruption. The modern [[Spanish language|Spanish]] term that best captures its original meaning is the word ''vicious'', which means "full of vice." In this sense, the word ''vice'' comes from the [[Latin]] word ''vitium'', meaning "failing or defect". Vice is the opposite of [[virtue]].
Vice is also a generic legal term for criminal offenses involving prostitution, lewdness, lasciviousness, and obscenity. Illegal forms of gambling are also often included as a vice in law enforcement departments that deal with gambling as a crime.
==Overview of religious views on vice==
One way of organizing the vices is as the corruption of the virtues. A virtue can be corrupted by nonuse, misuse, or overuse. Thus the cardinal vices would be [[lust]] (nonuse of [[temperance (virtue)|temperance]]), [[cowardice]] (nonuse of [[courage]]), folly (misuse of a virtue, opposite of [[wisdom]]), and [[venality]] (nonuse of [[justice]]). See: [[Virtue#The four virtues|The four virtues]].
== Examples of vices ==
Some vices recognized in various [[culture]]s of the world include:
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*[[absent-mindedness]]
*[[addiction]]
*[[aggression]]
*[[alcoholism]]
*[[animosity]]
*[[antagonism]]
*[[apathy]]
*[[bigotry]]
*[[bitterness (emotion)|bitterness]]
*[[callous]]ness
*[[wikt:caprice|caprice]]
*[[careless]]ness
*[[child sacrifice]]
*[[cowardice]]
*[[political corruption|corruption]]
*[[cruelty]]
*[[denial]]
*[[dependence]]
*[[wiktionary:despair|despair]]
*[[diffidence]]
*[[dishonesty]]
*[[dishonor]]
*[[disobedience]]
*dis[[respect]]fulness
*[[drunk]]enness
*[[excess]]
*[[favoritism]]
*[[filthiness]]
*[[flippancy]]
*[[flightiness]]
*[[foolishness]]
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*[[greed]]
*[[hatred]]
*[[hostility]]
*[[homosexuality]]
*[[ignorance]]
*[[inconstancy]]
*[[indecision]]
*[[indifference]]
*[[indolence]]
*[[indulgence]]
*[[inequality]]
*[[infidelity]]
*in[[gratitude]]
*[[injustice]]
*in[[sincerity]]
*in[[temperance]]
*im[[modesty]]
*[[immorality]]
*[[impatience]]
*[[impiety]]
*im[[providence]]
*ir[[responsibility]]
*ir[[reverence]]
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*[[laziness]]
*[[lewdness]]
*[[licentiousness]]
*[[lightmindedness]]
*[[malevolence]]
*[[malice]]
*[[misanthropy]]
*[[misandry]]
*[[misogyny]]
*[[moral relativism]]
*[[negativity]]
*[[omissiveness]]
*[[officiousness]]
*[[paranoia]]
*[[parasitism]]
*[[passivity]]
*[[permissiveness]]
*[[perversion]]
*[[pessimism]]
*[[poor judgment]]
*[[pornography]]
*[[prejudice]]
*[[presumptuousness]]
*[[pride]](hubris)
*[[procrastination]]
*[[promiscuity]]
*[[purpose]]lessness
*[[rash]]ness
*[[rudeness]]
*[[ruthless]]ness
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*[[secretiveness]]
*[[self-degradation]]
*[[selfishness]]
*[[sensuality]]
*[[shortsightedness]]
*[[slackness]]
*[[slavery]]
*[[suppression]]
*[[stinginess]]
*[[stubborn]]ness
*[[stupidity]]
*[[tact]]lessness
*[[treachery]]
*[[fairness|unfairness]]
*[[forgiveness|unforgiveness]]
*[[kindness|unkindness]]
*[[unscrupulousness]]
*[[unsophistication]]
*[[vanity]]
*[[violence]]
*[[wanton]]ness
*[[weakness]]
*[[wildness]], uncivilization
*[[wiliness]]
*[[worldliness]]
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== Popular usage ==
The term ''vice'' is also popularly applied to various activities considered [[immorality|immoral]] by some; a list of these might include the use of [[alcoholic beverage|alcohol]] and other [[recreational drug use|recreational drug]]s, [[gambling]], smoking, recklessness, cheating, lying, [[selfishness]]. It is also used in reference to police [[vice unit]]s who prosecute crimes associated with these activities. Often, vice particularly designates a failure to comply with the sexual [[mores]] of the time and place such as [[sexual promiscuity]].
Behaviors or attitudes going against the established virtues of the culture may also be called vices: for instance, [[effeminacy]] is considered a vice in a culture espousing [[masculinity]] as an essential element of the character of males.
==See also==
* [[Vice unit]]
* [[Virtue]]
* [[Sin]]
* [[Golden mean (philosophy)]]
* [[Roman decadence]]
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==Bibliography==
*''Virtues and Vices'', Aristotle, trans. H. Rackman, Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, l992. Vol #285.
*''In the Garden of Evil: The Vices and Culture in the Middle Ages''. Edited by Richard Newhauser, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Toronto 2005 ISBN 0-88844-818-X
==Sources==
*All [[etymology|etymologies]] are according to the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]''.
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