Normally, vices are associated with addictions, both to substances such as tobacco or alcohol and to specific behaviors, such as sex or playing video games.
The vice usually has an emotional, psychological and cognitive component and, normally, implies effects on a social, health, relational, work and even economic level.
It should be said that there are very different types of vices, some that do not fall within what could be considered harmful vices. Next Let’s discover the most well-known types of vices
There are many types of vices, since, to begin with, a lot depends on what we understand by vice. A vice is, generally, some type of defect, fault or bad habit that usually borders on the line that separates moral and immoral or right and wrong. Considering that morality and propriety are aspects highly dependent on the sociocultural context it is understandable that what is seen as a vice in one culture is not so in another.
Generally, vices involve a transgression of social norms and, on many occasions, are associated with crime and danger. These behaviors can involve some harm to the person who performs them and can also harm their immediate environment. For example, the consumption of substances such as marijuana or alcohol implies damage at an individual level, especially at an organic level but, in addition, can trigger aggressive behavior towards others
In English there is a term more or less similar to the word “vice” in Spanish: vice. This word is used in Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence to refer to minor criminal acts, such as prostitution, gambling, debauchery and obscenity. This idea of vice has a lot to do with a Christian perspective of which behaviors are moral and which are not, especially those that involve the performance of one of the capital sins.
Finally, In popular language we speak of vices as those activities that we do too often and with great enthusiasm although it does not necessarily have to imply any direct damage to us or our surroundings. For example, we can say that we have a vice for dancing, for eating ice cream, for playing chess, for gardening…
The most common types of vices
Next we are going to see the different types of vices that exist and which are the most representative of each group.
Vices and addictions
On many occasions the word “vice” refers to addictions, both to substances and behavioral ones. These vices cause health damage of different severity and, Being addictions, they are considered problems on a psychological level with which, regardless of how morally transgressive they are, they must be treated with the clear purpose of ensuring that the person can be cured.
1. Addiction to pills and other drugs
One of the most serious addictions is addiction to pills and other drugs, whether legal or not. Among these drugs we can find substances such as bath salts, cocaine, crack, ecstasy and ketamine, but there are also legal pills like the wide spectrum of drugs that can be found on the market.
Being a type of vice that includes drugs of very varied legality, Its consumption can be perceived as moral or amoral depending on what the pill is For example, addiction to painkillers is not seen as something as transgressive as consuming heroin could be.
2. Alcoholism
Alcoholism is the addiction to alcohol that involves a series of behavioral and organic changes, seriously damaging the physical and psychological health of the individual Alcoholic people cannot abstain from consuming their favorite alcoholic beverages and, with each consumption, the harmful effect on their body becomes accentuated.
This addiction is progressive, since the person will need an increasing amount of substance to be able to feel the pleasurable effects that alcohol offers in the short term. He will have the feeling that he has control over what he consumes and that he only needs a little alcohol to “get in shape,” but he will begin to show cognitive problems.
3. Gambling addiction
Gambling addiction is the name given to gambling addiction, such as roulette, blackjack, slot machines and, although it may seem surprising, the lottery. In most cases, these are games that can be found in casinos, places where huge amounts of money are bet.
People with gambling addiction think that they are in control of what they bet or that, sooner or later, the goddess Fortune is going to give them joy. The problem is that chance is capricious, and the odds of winning are always against you so they end up losing a lot of money and suffer serious financial problems.
4. Smoking
Smoking is the addiction to tobacco and is one of the most accepted at a social level, so it is not surprising that it is also the most common vice. Although tobacco advertisements are practically prohibited and young people are no longer bombarded with messages encouraging them to consume it, the truth is that, today, there are many young people who smoke.
Although attempts have been made to raise awareness about the risks of smoking and the damage it entails, especially at the cardiac and respiratory level, increasing the chances of suffering from cancer, the truth is that it seems that youth continues to be attracted to this vice if you see the electronic cigarette format is gaining popularity.
Whether because they see it as an act of rebellion or because they want to be part of the smokers, often seen as the coolest, tobacco is the most widespread addiction.
5. Vice for new technologies
The development of new technologies has allowed people to be more connected than ever These devices allow communication to be quick and simple, bringing together people who may be physically far away.
But it is not all advantages, since the Internet, video games and mobile phones have become dangerous addictions among the youth of the 21st century.
Whether it is online games, sending messages via chat, checking social networks or spending all day on the Internet watching videos of kittens, the addiction to new technologies is a real fact and of serious concern.
People may prioritize staying constantly informed and not missing anything before attending to their academic, work, and family obligations.
Furthermore, the Internet is not harmless It has been through this telecommunication that the transmission of “fake news” and comments critical of the appearance or hobbies of people under anonymous profiles have been encouraged, decreasing self-esteem and misinforming.
6. Vice to work
Working is necessary to survive, there is no doubt about this. However, there are many people who end up developing a work addiction, prioritizing meeting all work objectives before paying attention to your family or your own well-being
The addiction to work has been called both “workaholism” and “karachi” (in Japanese “death from overwork”) and can seriously damage a person’s health, since they do not enjoy what happens while they are working: His own life.
7. Sex addiction
Sex addiction, also called sexual dependence, hypersexuality or nymphomania, is the behavior of search for sex caused by an insatiable need for sexual relations
This great need for sex, depending on its severity, can be considered a mere slightly harmful vice to a serious psychological disorder that must be treated. The nymphomaniac person can risk their health by not taking proper prophylactic measures.
8. Vice for sport
Playing sports is healthy, as long as it is done within what is considered advisable and we do not become obsessed. Sport is considered a vice when you exercise for so long a day that you leave aside your obligations
The person does so much physical activity that, far from gaining muscle mass or becoming healthier, they begin to wear out their joints and suffer damage to bones, such as the knees or feet.
This obsession can reach the point that the person goes on an extremely strict diet, preventing them from going out with friends for a beer or going out to dinner because they do not want to eat anything that is outside of what they have forced themselves to eat.
Vices of the will
Within the legal language, We would speak of vices of will to a non-voluntary action carried out in a criminal context They are certain conditions that prevent the person who committed a crime from being judged as if he had been fully aware or free to do what he did, although not without receiving some type of penalty.
1. Ignorance or error
We understand ignorance or error as vices of will to mean that a person committed an action but did not know what consequences it would entail Yes, she will be judged, but not being fully aware of what she was doing, the punishment will be different.
2. Fraud
Fraud refers to simulation, dissimulation or deception by any of the parties involved in the commission of a crime. The person did not perform an action voluntarily, but was deceived.
3. Violence or intimidation
Actions carried out under threats of violence or intimidation imply fear in the person of suffering some type of punishment or dishonor, and the action of the victim that results from the intimidating action of his aggressor would not be considered voluntary.
Vices in virtue are those behaviors that are seen as negative or immoral at a social level, regardless of whether they involve any real harm to the person who performs them or those around them.
They may or may not be crimes depending on the legal code of each country but there is no doubt that they imply some transgression of the social norms of that culture.
A virtue, for example, is a personality trait considered desirable within the framework of society, such as being altruistic or kind. Also within this definition would be those considered sins, seen as those personal traits or behaviors that distance us from the desires of religion, or that prevent us from being guaranteed salvation.
In the case of Christianity, the theological virtues are three: hope, faith and charity. The sins are pride, greed, lust, anger, gluttony, envy and sloth. Other virtues would be responsibility, generosity, honesty and punctuality, which, although transgressions do not have to be sins, can be seen as vicious behaviors in the context of each culture.
Language vices
As strange as it may seem, The word vice is also used to refer to linguistic phenomena that contradict grammatical norms or hinder understanding between speakers, both written and oral. Some of these language vices are as follows.
1. Pleonasm
A pleonasm is the use of words redundantly in the same sentence as would be the following case: “today I will go to Juan’s house to deliver Juan’s scooter to Juan because Juan gave it to me yesterday and he had not yet returned it to Juan.”
This same information could be transmitted with a less redundant phrase: “today I will go to Juan’s house to give him the scooter that he gave me yesterday and had not yet returned.”
2. Apocope
The apocope is the elision of some letters of a word to gain speed or sound It can be presented in a dialectal way, although that, in theory, would not be a defect of the language itself but rather an example of intralinguistic diversity.
We would be talking about a case of apocope that is grammatically incorrect, for example saying “primer” instead of “first” when the noun is feminine. For example: “this is the first time I do it” instead of saying “this is the first time I do it”
3. Queism and dequeism
Queism and dequeism are two very widespread language vices. Both phenomena consist the subtraction (queism) or unnecessary addition (dequeism) of the grammatical particle “de” in certain types of sentences
For example, a case of dequeism would be “I’m glad that athlete retired” instead of “I’m glad that athlete retired.” On the other hand, we would talk about dequeism in the following phrase “He told me to come to his house.” instead of saying “he told me to come to his house.”
