What is eubolia?  :confused1:

The link does not work either.

What are gnome and synesis too?

Btw, Ancilla, if I may ask, are you a Thomist?

I like this thread, Ancilla. I think one can profit from participation in a good Internet forum if done well, so determining what this entails is very important.

1) Regarding your first point, brevity, in a forum such as this one where there is often solid discussion at a realistic pace, I don't think a brief post is always what is called for. Some boards move at a pace such that after a day or two has passed, a popular topic has created dozens of responses and the subject matter may have shifted two or three times. In this case, a lengthy post is often overlooked or read in a hasty manner and the poster's intentions and points are frequently distorted. Those instances call more regularly for brief posts that often fail to flesh out the topic, but can deliver the message nonetheless to those who are willing to receive it.

However, CathInfo (thankfully, in my opinion) moves in what I'd consider a more human pace--giving one time to read and consider a topic before responding. With this scenario, those with much to share have an opportunity to communicate a more complex topic without being "skimmed" if those reading the material have the necessary disposition--euboulia.

2) On discerning sex, I believe that not only is this important, but many times determining level of experience (age, perhaps, but not directly proportionate), vocation, and other attributes are equally necessary. Some topics are merely a matter of opinion and one man's is arguably as good as another's, but this is realistically seldom the case. In order to be open to receiving good counsel, one must be able to determine if indeed "good" is the sort of advice they are receiving. This is often difficult as our own motives interfere in discerning good from bad and certainly in an open forum, majority opinion does not equal good counsel. However, knowing where an individual is coming from in giving their recommendations goes a long way to breaking down the idea that no one's opinion is more or less valid than your own.

3) I'll leave #3 for now because I'm not sure a main objective is even present on this site. I think it might vary greatly from one sub-forum to another and perhaps for the sake of this discussion could be defined separately for each. But, I haven't given it enough thought as of yet to say what exactly those would be.

All of that having been said, if I'm reading St. Thomas correctly, euboulia is the virtue of having the proper disposition to receive good counsel. Many come to a forum ready and willing to give their two cents, but never being open to receiving. I think to be added to your list would be something pertaining to the best techniques for encouraging counsel of a particular sort to be given in a forum. I doubt that lurking will be determined to be the best method.  :wink:

I like this thread, Ancilla. I think one can profit from participation in a good Internet forum if done well, so determining what this entails is very important.

All of that having been said, if I'm reading St. Thomas correctly, euboulia is the virtue of having the proper disposition to receive good counsel. Many come to a forum ready and willing to give their two cents, but never being open to receiving. I think to be added to your list would be something pertaining to the best techniques for encouraging counsel of a particular sort to be given in a forum. I doubt that lurking will be determined to be the best method.  :wink:

(*By the way, I used that example because often someone may remain "logged in" in this site because they just didn't sign off their computer.)

Part of euboulia is not merely the disposition to receive good counsel, but in the fuller sense, the disposition for discernment.  Sometimes this discernment is not done enough interiorly with one's own motives.  I'm referring even to the minor details, and not just a wide, far-reaching objective (i.e.,"my aim is to enlighten readership with my deep understanding of theology").    :cool:

lol

What my intent was to discuss and develop within the conversation (the thread) as to how we can apply euboulia in our discernment of contributions to Catholic forums.  

If we were to take your example of giving advice to lurkers, we could take a few steps back and say, "how do we define a lurker?*"  because the issue you imply is that other people are the problem and not ourselves.  Euboulia implies that the person who has it is making decisions for himself as he/she applies this virtue.  One cannot apply virtue via another person's actions, and therefore it is not so much a concern what other people do.  The question here is "what do we do?" or applying it to this thread, "What concerns/questions should be reasonably considered?"  Even more specifically, since pride is one of the biggest obstacles (if not entirely at face value, at the root of all obstacles):  

1.)  How do we ensure that our motivations are pure?  (In other words, for purpose of this thread, what are some of the questions we should be asking ourselves?  Please note:  it is not my intention that we even begin to attempt to answer these or subordinate questions, but rather, that we begin to identify where we should take counsel.  If we can not identify that we (yes WE, our very selves) do indeed require counsel, then we are not, infact, apply the virtue of euboulia.  

2.) What are the things we should regard in 'hearing' others, and responding?  What are these expectations, within realistic regard, and where do we normally take 'counsel' on this?  And why do we normally stop/start there


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In threads to follow, should this one not die out before its time, we could then apply these questions to the following:

1.)  How do we apply what we've identified in this discussion (areas that should be reasonably discerned, which we've not done as much identifying as trying to find conclusions) in common law or ordinary rules.  (synesis)

And

2.)  How do we apply what we've identified as areas that should be reasonable discerned by higher law.  (gnome)