Moderation

Moderationis the process or trait of eliminating, lessening, or avoiding extremes. It is used to ensurenormalitythroughout the medium on which it is being conducted. Common uses of moderation include:

A way of life emphasizing perfect amounts of everything, not indulging in too much of one thing.
Amoderatormay remove unsuitable contributions from thewebsite,forumorchat roomthey represent in accordance with theirmoderation system.
Ensuring consistency and accuracy in the marking ofstudent assessments.
A "moderator" is one name for the formal position of one whopresides overa discussion, helping to ensure that the discussion is balanced among its many voices, for example in theMethodistchurch's use of the term for the heads of its conferences.
Aneutron moderatoris used to slow downneutronsin anuclear reactor.

History

Ancient Greece

Moderation is also a principle of life. In ancient Greece, the temple of Apollo atDelphibore the inscriptionMeden Agan(μηδὲν ἄγαν)— "Nothing in excess". Doing something "in moderation" means not doing it excessively. For instance, someone who moderates their food consumption tries to eat all food groups, but limits their intake of those that may cause deleterious effects to harmless levels.

According to thehistorianandsociologist of science Steven Shapin:^[1]

From thepre-Socraticsthrough theHippocraticandGaleniccorpus, and in the writings of suchStoicphilosophers asEpictetusandSeneca,health was seen to flow from observingmoderation—in exercise, in study, and in diet.

Christianity

InChristianity,moderationismis the position that drinkingalcoholic beverages temperatelyis permissible, thoughdrunkennessis forbidden (seeChristianity and alcohol).

In the apocryphalBook of Wisdommoderation is listed among the greatest virtues.^[2]

Islam and Judaism

Wasat, also calledwasatiyyah(Arabic:وسطية) is the Arabic word forbest,middle,centered,balanced.In theIslamiccontext, it refers to the "middle way" or "moderation" —a justly balanced way of life, avoiding extremes and experiencing things in moderation.^[3] Moderate Muslimsuse contextual relativism^[jargon]to interpret theQuran.

The Jewish philosopherMaimonides,who was heavily influenced by Islamic and Aristotelian thought, also set forth moderation as an ideal within Judaism.^[4]

Taoism

Moderation is considered a key part of one's personal development in ChineseTaoistphilosophy and religion. It is one of the three jewels of Taoist thought. There is nothing that cannot be moderated including one's actions, one's desires, and even one's thoughts. It is believed that by doing so one achieves a more natural state, faces less resistance in life, and recognises one's limits.^[5]Moderation as a guiding principle is complex and can be difficult to not only accept, but also understand and implement. It can also be recursive in that one should moderate how much one moderates (i.e. to not be too worried about moderating everything or not to try too hard to find the perfect middle ground)

Moderation as a principle ofTaoist philosophyturns up in all three of its main texts.

Others

Moderation is a characteristic of theSwedishnational psyche, more specifically described by the Swedish synonymLagom.

References

^Shapin, Steven(2010).Never Pure: Historical Studies of Science as if It Was Produced by People with Bodies, Situated in Time, Space, Culture, and Society, and Struggling for Credibility and Authority(2nd ed.).Johns Hopkins University Press.p. 245.ISBN 978-0801894213.
^"The Book of Wisdom: Chapter 8".United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
^
- Kamali, Mohammad Hashim (2015).The Middle Path of Moderation in Islam: The Qurʼānic Principle of Wasaṭiyyah.Oxford University Press.ISBN 9780190226831.
- Moderation in Islam: In the Contex[t] of Muslim Community in Singapore: a Compilation of Working Papers Presented in the PERGAS Ulama Convention 2003, Held on 13th and 14th September 2003, which Carried the Theme of Moderation in Islam.PERGAS. 2004.ISBN 9789810510329.
- Hashem, Ahmad Omar (1999).Moderation in Islam.United Printing Publishing and Distributing. p. 177.
^Saks, Jeffrey (2021)."The Extremes Are More Consistent But Absurd".Tradition.53(3).
^Mason, Bill."Taoist Ethics".www.taoism.net.Archived fromthe originalon 20 July 2018.

External links

The dictionary definition ofmoderationat Wiktionary

[1] Shapin, Steven(2010).Never Pure: Historical Studies of Science as if It Was Produced by People with Bodies, Situated in Time, Space, Culture, and Society, and Struggling for Credibility and Authority(2nd ed.).Johns Hopkins University Press.p. 245.ISBN 978-0801894213.

[2] "The Book of Wisdom: Chapter 8".United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

[3] 
Kamali, Mohammad Hashim (2015).The Middle Path of Moderation in Islam: The Qurʼānic Principle of Wasaṭiyyah.Oxford University Press.ISBN 9780190226831.
Moderation in Islam: In the Contex[t] of Muslim Community in Singapore: a Compilation of Working Papers Presented in the PERGAS Ulama Convention 2003, Held on 13th and 14th September 2003, which Carried the Theme of Moderation in Islam.PERGAS. 2004.ISBN 9789810510329.
Hashem, Ahmad Omar (1999).Moderation in Islam.United Printing Publishing and Distributing. p. 177.

[4] Kamali, Mohammad Hashim (2015).The Middle Path of Moderation in Islam: The Qurʼānic Principle of Wasaṭiyyah.Oxford University Press.ISBN 9780190226831.

[5] Moderation in Islam: In the Contex[t] of Muslim Community in Singapore: a Compilation of Working Papers Presented in the PERGAS Ulama Convention 2003, Held on 13th and 14th September 2003, which Carried the Theme of Moderation in Islam.PERGAS. 2004.ISBN 9789810510329.

[6] Hashem, Ahmad Omar (1999).Moderation in Islam.United Printing Publishing and Distributing. p. 177.

[4] Saks, Jeffrey (2021)."The Extremes Are More Consistent But Absurd".Tradition.53(3).

[5] Mason, Bill."Taoist Ethics".www.taoism.net.Archived fromthe originalon 20 July 2018.

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