The Virtue of Patience

Abstract

Many traditions and worldviews have held that patience is a virtue—a habit that is morally praiseworthy. In this essay we orient readers to recent work on what patience is and what patience does. What are the distinctive markers of the disposition of patience? And why have people regarded it as so important to living well? We outline four contemporary views all anchored in historical philosophical traditions and then suggest future directions for work on patience in normative ethics and political philosophy.