Editing Open Sourcing the Virtues of a Perl Programmer (section)

=== About Objective Truth and Human Ends ===

Underlying both classical and Christian accounts of virtue is the claim that a virtue must be oriented toward what is true and toward a genuinely good end. Aristotle's practical wisdom requires sound judgment about circumstances and ends; in the Thomistic tradition, prudence guides action rather than merely admiring clever possibilities. Chesterton's later warning about virtues that become detached and “go mad” expresses the same practical concern from another angle.<ref name="Chesterton1908" />

In programming, truth has an unusually concrete presence. Code either behaves as claimed or it does not; data either represent reality adequately or they do not; an interface either helps its users accomplish their work or frustrates them. Yet technical truth alone does not answer every question. A program can be correct and still be needlessly hostile to users, impossible for maintainers to understand, or brilliantly optimized for a purpose that does not deserve the effort invested in it. Virtue therefore concerns both truthful understanding and the ends toward which technical ability is directed.

The Perl community, like every collaborative technical culture, depends on such judgments. ''Practical Wisdom'' requires seeing the real problem rather than merely the interesting one. ''Spiritedness'' requires knowing what is worth caring enough to fix or defend. ''Good Order'' requires structures that serve people rather than rules that exist only to perpetuate themselves. When these virtues are anchored in truth and good ends, they guide the community toward clarity, cooperation, useful work, and flourishing. When that anchor is lost, even genuine strengths can pull a project off course.

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