...Ethics, we are introduced to the term “virtue”. Contrary to our definition of virtue, Aristotle’s version of virtue does not only include moral excellence but excellence in all aspects of life. He says that “true politician” will try harder to be virtuous than anything else. The reason for this is because a politician wants their citizens to be upstanding and obey the laws put in place. Virtue is an important concept to Aristotle because human’s ultimate goal is happiness. He says to achieve happiness, we must study “human virtue”. He makes the distinction between a virtue of the soul and a virtue of the body. Happiness is a virtue of the soul so politicians must be knowledgeable of the human soul to a...
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...Confucius and Aristotle on Virtue Lisa Wilson Dr. Malone Date 12/5/2015 Confucius and Aristotle are some of the greatest thinkers in the history of mankind. While Confucius was born in China and spearheaded a new way of perceiving morality, Aristotle was born in Macedon/Greece and also immersed his philosophical work to addressing moral thinking.Both philosophers have addressed similar subjects with major points of divergence and convergence. On virtue, these two authors have almost similar opinions. However, it is their points of convergence or agreement that have had a huge impact on the modern world’s thinking and understanding of virtue and moral behavior. By the Standard English dictionary, virtue is defined as behavior showing high moral standards. This definition is borrowed from both philosophers who tend to agree by laying emphasis on character or behavior as opposed to the actions themselves. Thus Aristotle and Confucius agree that virtue is entrenched in one’s character and thus should be visible in all kind of situations and in specific situations (Yu, 1998). The twophilosophersalso agree chiefly on some components of virtue but disagree on others. One of the chief virtues that the two agree on is piety. According to Aristotle, humans serve the gods by improving the moral state of the human state. To him, being virtuous is a form reverence to the gods. Confucius has a similar take on piety noting that...
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...Aristotle defines virtues as the mean between two vices. Virtues help us determine how to determine where the means between the vices of deficiency and excess lie. For example, the mean of courage lies between the vices of rashness and cowardice. The vicious man lives in one of the two extremes of the continuum – either excess or deficiency – whereas the virtuous man acts with regard to the mean. Although this mean can change depending on the person and the circumstances, virtue allows us to determine where it lies in a particular instance. Temperance, according to Aristotle, is “a mean with regard to pleasures” (980). Few people struggle with the vice of deficiency: it is much more common for people to be excessive in pleasure as opposed to...
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...Response #1 In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle defines virtue extensively, and thus relates that definition to the activity of happiness and leading a happy life. Firstly, Aristotle begins to discuss virtue in book two, chapter one, stating, “Virtue, then, being of two kinds, intellectual and moral, intellectual virtue in the main owes both its birth and its growth to teaching (for which reason it requires experience and time), while moral virtue comes about as a result of habit, whence also its name(ethike) is one that is formed by a slight variation from the word ethos (habit)” (87). Virtue appears in two different forms, and that of moral virtue is not one decided by nature, but rather by our habits and how we live our lives. Furthermore,...
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...Umstead Plato and Aristotle, arguably two of the most influential Greek philosophers, discussed their differing views on virtue extensively throughout many of their works. Although they agree that virtue is a desirable characteristic that will lead to happiness, the ultimate good, there exists between the two philosophies salient differences. While Plato believes only philosophers are capable of true, inherent virtue, Aristotle believes all men can be virtuous with practice and dedication. GREAT. WAY TO GET TO THE POINT. BE SURE TO MENTION WHETHER OR NOT YOU'RE ARGUING THAT VIRTUE IS INTRINSICALLY GOOD. HAVE IT SMACK ME IN THE FACE IT'S SO OBVIOIUS. (LIKE THAT TYPO). Plato’s Republic contains one of the greatest recorded discussions on the nature of justice. His definition of justice can be interpreted today as virtue, or the proper working of the soul. Plato argues in this work that virtue is inherently good only when it is manifest in the perfectly ordered soul of the philosopher. This philosopher is born just and inherently good, thereby making him the only individual capable of loving and seeking after virtue completely. …..... I'M GUESSING THIS ATTACHES TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH? AND I'M NOT SURE HOW I FEEL ABOUT “BORN JUST”. REMEMBER, IT ISN'T “INBORN” BUT IT IS NATURAL. YOU AREN'T BORN THAT WAY. YOU TEND TOWARDS IT, THOUGH. Only through virtue, or justice as he calls it, can a man receive happiness, and this hints at the inherent goodness of virtue. A man’s soul will only...
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...Nicomachean Ethics written by Aristotle and Plato’s Meno written by Plato both address the concept of virtue. With the system of Eudaimonism, Plato and Aristotle attempt to arrive at a theory or system or set of moral principles or values dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation. They further go on in applying these principles of conduct in governing an individual or group. Their main concern with conformity to this standard of right is the idea of virtue. They also seem to place one virtue as being of particular moral excellence. The widely accepted definition of Eudaimonism is having a good attendant spirit or a theory that the highest ethical goal is happiness and personal well-being. This definition of Eudaimonism...
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...Come up with your own list of moral virtues (at least five, no more than ten). Try to come up with some virtues that Aristotle neglected. Give a brief reason why you selected the ones you did. The own virtues that I came up with are friendliness, forgiveness, empathy, hope, and knowledge. To be friendly maybe sound weird or normal to some people, but I think it is very important to just generally be nice to everyone, no matter who that person is and it always makes me very happy if someone is polite, even if they don’t like the other person. The defect to that virtue would be to be impolite or rude and the excess to be fake, if you don’t really mean what you are saying. The second virtue is forgiveness, which I find is a good character trait,...
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...we were to utilize the virtue of courage, we’d state that abiding by the mean would be not acting too excessively, being...
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...I. THE THEORY OF THE IDEAS AND PLATO’S ONTOLOGY I. 1. The ontological dualism The theory of the Ideas is the base of Plato’s philosophy: the Ideas are not only the real objects ontologically speaking, but they are the authentically objects of knowledge epistemologically speaking. From the point of view of ethics and politics, they are the foundation of the right behaviour, and anthropologically speaking they are the base of Plato’s dualism and they even allow him demonstrate the immortality of the soul. Plato defends a clear ontological dualism in which there are two types of realities or worlds: the sensible world and the intelligible world or, as he calls it, the world of the Ideas. The Sensible World is the world of individual realities, and so is multiple and constantly changing, is the world of generation and destruction; is the realm of the sensible, material, temporal and space things. On the contrary, the Intelligible World is the world of the universal, eternal and invisible realities called Ideas (or "Forms"), which are immutable and do not change because they are not material, temporal or space. Ideas can be understood and known; they are the authentic reality. The Ideas or Forms are not just concepts or psychic events of our minds; they do exist as objective and independent beings out of our consciences. They are also the origin of sensible things, but although they are the authentic beings, Plato, unlike Parmenides of Elea, do not completely...
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...Aristotle As an important figure head in the field of philosophy, Aristotle and his numerous influences will be detailed. Identification and evaluation of key concepts and analyses that comprised his theories will be discussed along with identification and description of his contributions to the field of philosophy will also be offered. Lastly, further discussion will focus on how the culture and the time period influenced his ideology. Metaphysics Metaphysics is a branch philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being. It is considered to be one of the greatest philosophical works. It kind of piggy backs off of Plato’s theory of forms. Plato believed that the nature of things is eternal and doesn’t change, but we know from just living in this world that things are always changing daily. Aristotle wanted to reconcile these contradictory statements of the views of the world. Aristotle used the influence of both Heraclitus and Parmenides. One believed that things appear to be permanent but they are really gradually changing all the time. Parmenides, argued certain conclusions could be reached by using reason alone and making no use of senses. After studying at the Academy, Aristotle would turn against his teaching and felt that there was a connection between the abstraction of existence and the science of nature. Aristotle described substance as material reality and formal and discusses the connection between actuality and potentiality. According to...
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...Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle was one of the greatest intellectual figures of western history; his philosophical system became the framework for many religions such as Christian scholasticism and medieval Islamic philosophy. Aristotelian concepts remain embedded in modern day thinking as he developed the logic of the categorical syllogism and perception of virtue ethics. Men are mortal, Socrates is a man, therefore Socrates is mortal. In propositions like the previous one, Aristotle says, something is predicated of something else. This phrase is a categorical syllogism modernly called deductive reasoning; deductive reasoning is now defined as from the combination of a general statement and a specific statement, a conclusion is deduced. This phrase structure is commonly used in today’s argumentative literature line of reasoning. In addition to inventing this technical vocabulary, Aristotle deciphered the meaning behind virtue ethics. Aristotle’s findings in ethics led to a belief in no truism. It’s a distinctive ethical theory that differs with other influential ethical belief systems because his research and beliefs aren’t based on cliche, obviously true statements. Aristotle sums up explaining this process by stating “Only when correct reasoning and right desire come together does truly virtuous action result.” Aristotle called this a practical syllogism; consisting of a general recipe for a good life, followed by a description of the actual circumstances and concluding...
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...All in all, Aristotle’s philosophy made an astounding influence. In fact, it is in Aristotle’s Philosophy that Alexander the Great, which the former tutored in 347 BCE, laid down the foundations of the latter’s empire. Throughout Alexander’s rule, the influence of Aristotle, his mentor, can be seen in the former’s skillful and diplomatic handling of difficult problems throughout his career. When Alexander became a king, he had set forth on a Persian expedition to expand his empire. Perhaps, it is the experience of the encounter between people’s that played a huge role in the development of the idea of cosmopolitanism, the idea that a man is a citizen of the world. “Aristotle's writings, like Plato's, have influenced virtually every avenue...
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...Introduction Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) entered Plato’s academy at the age of seventeen and spent twenty years with Plato. During his stay with Plato, he expressed his brilliance such that Plato considered him as the brilliant mind of the academy. Given this relationship, Plato influenced Aristotle in one way or the other such that some people even considered Aristotle a successor of Plato when Plato died. However, this never distracted Aristotle from taking a different path in his career. In fact, Aristotle contrasted with Plato in many areas. He also criticized him because he argued in different manner (Newport, 1998). On the other hand, Aristotle had various components in his system. This paper evaluates the key components of Aristotle’s system and the various contrasts of his philosophical works in relation to that of Plato. The paper starts by evaluating the key components of Aristotle’s system before it evaluates the contrasts between their worldviews. Key components The first key component of Aristotle’s system is metaphysics. This component explains Aristotle’s philosophical views and the history of philosophy. Based on this component, Aristotle showed the relationship between the form and nature of history. He also became the first person who identified the technological language because of this component (Masih, 1999). With the help of this component, Aristotle also established both practical and theoretical reasoning. The second component of the Aristotle’s system...
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...as we know it can be explained through science, and science alone. First we will look at what Aristotle, one of the early philosophers, view on metaphysics, epistemology, and value theory and then look at a current century way of viewing the world. Chapter 1 Aristotle - Biography Aristotle was born in 384 BCE. at Stagirus, a Greek colony and seaport on the coast of Thrace. His father Nichomachus was court physician to King Amyntas of Macedonia, and from this began Aristotle's long association with the Macedonian Court, which considerably influenced his life. At age 17 his guardian, Proxenus, sent him to Athens, the intellectual center of the world, to complete his education. He joined the Academy and studied under Plato, attending his lectures for a period of twenty years. In the later years of his association with Plato and the Academy he began to lecture on his own account, especially on the subject of rhetoric. At the death of Plato in 347, the pre-eminent ability of Aristotle would seem to have designated him to succeed to the leadership of the Academy. But his divergence from Plato's teaching was too great to make this possible, and Plato's nephew Speusippus was chosen instead. Aristotle on Metaphysics Aristotle's editors gave the name "Metaphysics" to his works on first philosophy, either because they went beyond or followed after his physical investigations. Aristotle begins by sketching the history of...
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...Jennifer Canon PHI - 2010-15850 T 7PM Aristotle the Great Philosopher The Greek philosopher Aristotle made significant and lasting contributions to nearly every aspect of human knowledge, from logic to biology to ethics and aesthetics. In Arabic philosophy, he was known simply as “The First Teacher”; in the West, he was “The Philosopher.” Aristotle was born in 384 B.C. northern Greece in a town called Stagria . Both of his parents were members of traditional medical families, and his father, Nicomachus, served as court physician to King Amyntus III of Macedonia. Some believe it to be his father's influence that gave Aristotle his interest in anatomy and the structure of living things in general. At age 17 he went to Athens to enroll in Plato's Academy. He spent the next 20 years first as a student and then as a teacher at the school. When he left the school he emerged as a great teacher and had many opinions about his teacher Plato. For the next five years, Aristotle went to the coast of Asia Minor as a guest of former students at Assos and Lesbos. It was here that he began his research into marine biology and married his wife Pythias, with whom he had his only daughter, also named Pythias. In 342 Aristotle was summoned to Macedonia by King Philip II to tutor his son, the future Alexander the Great. Although speculation concerning Aristotle's influence upon the developing Alexander has proven irresistible to historians, in fact little concrete is known about...
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