Aristotle: Above the Mean
With the strict oppression of thought by religion and government in the 2nd century B.C.E., it’s a surprise in itself that Aristotle, a man with such revolutionary thoughts and ideas was able to let his thinking be known to the entire world (as it was known back then). It is therefore even more surprising that his idea’s have survived these many centuries though books, a medium of writing that has a notorious reputation of being burned when something in its contents doesn’t match the current beliefs of the established system of government or the church. We can certainly all be thankful that his idea’s have survived thus far because of the tremendous impact that they have had on thought, government, and the way of life throughout the entire world in general. Aristotle was a revolutionary thinker whose ideas have no rival from anyone in his own school of thought.
In book Two of Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics, Aristotle lets out arguably some of his best work. The idea that in life, people shouldn’t strive to be the best, but instead aim for the middle, or the mean as Aristotle calls it, was something new and innovative not only then, but even to some people today. He further backs his assumption up by supplying more than enough examples. To start out, Aristotle first defines what is “good” and what is “bad”. He does this by providing examples of several things that have both a good side along with a bad side. One example he gives is lawmakers. A lawmaker can have a positive effect on society or a negative one. Judging by the effect his laws have on the people, he is then determined to be either a bad lawmaker or a good one. Moreover, the lawmakers themselves have the power of making people into either good or bad citizens. This is done by instilling either good or bad habits into the citizens through the legislation that the lawmakers pass (Pg. 99). This once again, in turn, dictates whether the lawmakers themselves are good or bad lawmakers. Aristotle’s idea of this is (to use a cliché) is “Right on the money”. Even in today’s world, people are judged by their actions. That is to say, if someone does something good in their life, they are considered a good person, conversely, if a person is known for a failure, the people around them regard that person as a failure; or as Aristotle would simply put it, “bad”.
A staunch abolitionist, Douglass would take the country by storm through the power of his words and writings. His narrative was unique in regards to how it was written and the content it holds. Unlike most biographies of freed slaves, Douglass would write his own story and with his own words. His narrative would attempt to understand the effects slavery was having on not just the slaves, but the slaveholders as well. The success of his biography, however, did not rest on the amount of horror in it but from the unmistakable authenticity it provided. His narrative would compel his readers to take action with graphic accounts of the lashes slaves would receive as punishment, “the loude...
Douglass, Frederick. “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.” The Classic Slave Narratives. Ed. Henry Louis Gates Jr. New York: Penguin Group, 1987.
The process that they primarily use is a jury of their peers, teachers, and even students could be called upon to act as prosecutor, judge, and jury. This process has its pros and cons. On the positive side, they can argue that because the school can hold their own investigation they can get results faster than a traditional court system ruling. Colleges, unlike a traditional court system, can suspend the assailant to guarantee a safer campus. The majority of sexual violence survivors do not want to go through the process of a long criminal justice trail. More than 90% of victims of sexual assault on college campuses don’t report the assault. (Source: National Sexual Violence Resource
At first glance, the book “my bondage and my freedom by Frederick Douglass appeared to be extremely dull and frustrating to read. After rereading the book for a second time and paying closer attention to the little details I have realized this is one of the most impressive autobiographies I have read recently. This book possesses one of the most touching stories that I have ever read, and what astonishes me the most about the whole subject is that it's a true story of Douglass' life. “ Douglass does a masterful job of using his own experience to expose the injustice of slavery to the world. As the protagonist he is able to keep the reader interested in himself, and tell the true story of his life. As a narrator he is able to link those experiences to the wider experiences of the nation and all society, exposing the corrupting nature of slavery to the entire nation.”[1] Although this book contributes a great amount of information on the subject of slavery and it is an extremely valuable book, its strengths are overpowered by its flaws. The book is loaded with unnecessary details, flowery metaphors and intense introductory information but this is what makes “My Bondage and My Freedom” unique.
In sum, all of these key arguments exist in “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” because of the institution of slavery and its resulting lack of freedom that was used to defend it. This text’s arguments could all be gathered together under the common element of inequality and how it affected the practical, social, and even spiritual lives of the slaves.
In The Great Gatsby, the author uses the role of reckless driving to show carelessness and destructiveness of Jordan Baker’s character. Professional golfer, Jordan Baker
In this essay we will discuss and analyze Aristotle’s Doctrine of the Mean. This topic area can be found in Book II, page 888, 6—15, through 890, 25. The purpose for Aristotle touching on this subject matter was to discern the states of character which are virtuous from those which are not. By this, I mean he is attempting to categorize which virtues are causal of a human “to be in a good state and to perform their functions well”(888—15). In order to keep this paper orderly and comprehensible, we will work in chronological order through Aristotle’s variety of premises and conclusions which lead to his main idea which is ––––––––––––.
The 1920’s were a time of social and technological change. After World War II, the Victorian values were disregarded, there was an increase in alcohol consumption, and the Modernist Era was brought about. The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a perfect presentation of the decaying morals of the Roaring Twenties. Fitzgerald uses the characters in the novel--specifically the Buchanans, Jordan Baker, and Gatsby’s partygoers--to represent the theme of the moral decay of society.
Edgar Allen Poe’s short story The Black Cat immerses the reader into the mind of a murdering alcoholic. Poe himself suffered from alcoholism and often showed erratic behavior with violent outburst. Poe is famous for his American Gothic horror tales such as the Tell-Tale Heart and the Fall of the House of Usher. “The Black Cat is Poe’s second psychological study of domestic violence and guilt. He added a new element to aid in evoking the dark side of the narrator, and that is the supernatural world.” (Womack). Poe uses many of the American Gothic characteristics such as emotional intensity, superstition, extremes in violence, the focus on a certain object and foreshadowing lead the reader through a series of events that are horrifying and grotesque. “The Black Cat is one of the most powerful of Poe’s stories, and the horror stops short of the wavering line of disgust” (Quinn).
I acquire the same feelings for the Maybelline ad, however knowing the background of the ad I appreciate the ad more than before. I enjoyed how they were able to create an emotional appeal to their consumers while achieving their objectives. In addition, I value advertisements that are not geared toward just sales. Personally, when an advertisement is all about making the sale it turns me away from the product. I do like CoverGirl’s ad a little more than I did, however if I had to choose between Maybelline and CoverGirl I would still go with Maybelline. Knowing CoverGirl made an emotional connection with the delicious lipstick and relating it to the delicious ice cream was clever and I appreciate it. Nevertheless, my feeling on the overwhelming effect of being crowded still stands
Aristotle’s “doctrine of the mean,” I believe, may shed some light on the nature of moral virtues (virtues of character). The doctrine of the mean can tell us some things about moral virtues, but I would also that the doctrine of the mean ultimately creates a rather unhelpful and overly simplistic concept of morality. More than anything, I think the doctrine of the mean tells us more about Aristotle than the nature of moral virtues. First, we should define the terms we are discussing. When Aristotle talked about “moral virtue,” he considered it a state of character— character as opposed to “virtues of intellect” (which Aristotle also talked about). The doctrine of the mean is Aristotle’s analytical model for determining how people can best
Edgar Allan Poe wrote that the single effect was the most important aspect of a short story, which everything must contribute to this effect. Poe’s gothic tale “The Black Cat” was written trying to achieve an effect of shocking insanity. In this first person narrative the narrator tells of his decline from sanity to madness, all because of an obsession with two (or possibly one) black cats. These ebony creatures finally drive him to take the life his wife, whose death he unsuccessfully tries to conceal.
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle changed the world so drastically that it still impacts modern day society. Some ideas they pushed even serve as a backbone to Western beliefs, while others contrast as today’s society refuses to accept them.
Aristotle states in his writings that it is infact ethically justified to lie but only when it is the mean between the two extremes, meaning that every virtue has two opposites. The first being excess and the second deficiency. For example, in a situation that involves fear the person who falls under the excess category would be rash, the person under deficiency would be a coward, and the mean would be courageous. Aristotle stressed that it is important to be a person that is the mean between deficiency and excess. A person in the mean would be someone who is virtuous and someone who has the best character traits. The traits, good or bad, are created by one 's natural tendencies. Aristotle says, “Virtue lies in our power, and similarly so does vice; because where it is in our power to act, it is also in our power not to act...” He believes that everyone has the power of their own actions. The actions that they make will eventually become their natural tendencies whether they are good or bad. This means that in Aristotle 's eyes everyone has the opportunity to be a virtuous person if they make the right
In conclusion, Aristotle disagreed with Socrates and Plato as he denied that humans are naturally drawn towards “the good”. He said that you can be a good person if you choose to do the right thing, if you choose to be virtuous. He categorised and defined sciences and therefore defined what virtue and ethics is and how to be virtuous. He also came up with the idea of the “moral mean”, for example, too much bravery is too rash but too little bravery is being cowardly. The most important thing he says is that you cannot just simply know what the right thing to do is; you have to do that right thing.