I am sure that you have run across a few of them, indeed, you may be one of them yourself – a person who proclaims, with complete sternness and steadfast belief – that everyone has a vice. It is, indubitably, a common enough sentiment. So, even if I have written about it before, it has been far too long – and I intend to touch upon it again. An appropriate place to start, it seems to me, is with a definition. So please, take a moment to go and define the word “vice”.
Now that you are back, I hope that you have stumbled upon the problem that I did… the definitions are riddled with moral verbiage. As a result, “vice” inherits all of the complexities of “morality” that have kept humanity quibbling for thousands of years. Luckily for me, since I am only interested in examining what other people are saying when they agree that someone else has a vice – we can start our conversation with a smaller bit of luggage.
We’ll assume, for simplicity, that we can simply post a public poll and follow the sentiments of the majority to determine if some action is actually a vice. Of course, then, we must contend with the cultural and temporal limitations of our polling method, but we can openly acknowledge those without them getting too much in the way of our examination. Again, in what follows, I am more interested in what people think that they are saying, rather than if they are correct or not in their application of a term…
Sin, or Religious Vice
Feelings such as lust and jealousy are commonly referred to in religious doctrines as “vices” – but in everyday-life these are rarely what people are talking about when they use the term. Instead, they are talking about activities, not emotional motivators. This is historically interesting, but won’t be dealt with directly here. We’re regarding the term as it’s used modernly, as activity… bad activity.
The Differences Between an Addiction and a Vice
Is there a difference between an “addiction” and a “vice” as we commonly use the terms, what is their relation? I believe that there clearly is a difference, and that it is specifically this: addictions are a subset of vices. We may have a vice that is not an addiction, but we cannot have an addiction that is not a vice. As examples: Someone can do cocaine only recreationally a few times a year, and many people would still consider that a vice. However, someone that is addicted to something that even other people think is “good” – say, feeding the hungry – can be called a vice if it interferes with the individual’s life to too great a degree. (Of course, what that degree is must be subjective.)
Addiction is a voluntarily-created imbalance, crutch, and requirement for happiness. Voluntarily-created imbalance as a category are usually regarded as vices. External requirements for happiness are the usually thought of as normal (think: spouses, cars, paychecks). Crutches can go either way, but usually boil down to the balance thing (think: praying on occasion vs praying every thirty minutes)..
Outlets vs Addictions
I originally wanted to think that it was quite obvious – not everyone has an addiction. I still thinks that is true, but I’m not as sure it’s so clear. The confusion stems from dividing outlets from addictions. Where do we draw the line? Consider TV, how frequently must someone watch TV before we suspect an addiction? Is it about time spent watching, or time spent thinking of watching, reaction to not watching, or measures taken to ensure ability to watch?
Generally speaking, I think it’s more about the latter two than the former two. Addicts become irritable without satisfying their addictions, and will usually go to great lengths to ensure they are satiated. They generally make excuses to themselves and others about why they should be allowed to satisfy their addictions. Frequency may actually be less important to the issue of addiction than it is generally regraded. (think: recovered alcoholics still addicted to alcohol.)
lets assume
Now that we’ve taken the time to consider a few of the terms, let’s consider what our vice peddlers’ sentiment. Does everyone, indeed, have a vice? Surely everyone acts, so that won’t be a stumbling block. Finding activities that qualify as addictions seems like much more of a challenge. I, personally, very much doubt that it can be done.
That leaves us with