The Nicomachean Ethics Book Four Chapter Three: Aristotle argues that those of noble wealth can be truly virtuous.
Aristotle clearly stated that we cannot consider a person to be virtuous unless that person posses all the virtues. He further states that there are two virtues are required magnificence and magnanimity. Magnanimity person is one who are high-minded, or noble. These are a class of people who are known to be worthy of great honors. The person who overestimates self-worth is proud, and the person who underestimates self-worth is almost a coward. The magnanimous person is great and knows it. This person therefore accepts honors knowing they are deserved, but does not take excessive pleasure in these honors. Being aware of his or
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Therefore someone who acquires honesty is and honest person. Someone who acquires for the common good can then be virtuous.
Virtues are freely obtained: we aren't born with them; it is up to us to attain them. As they are beneficial to us, we as well have reason to acquire them. Those who are not brought up in
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A man who is working nine to five to feed his family is no less virtuous then that of a CEO of a mega company. Granted the man who owns the company has more to give, he is still no greater of virtuous person. The man who is working a nine to five schedule could be working like this because of generations of turmoil and is doing the best for his family. Although he is not giving as much to the common population he is still a citizen working. Since he is a working citizen he contributing factor to the population. If one is working hard to acquire some form of higher standard then he or she is still virtuous. Now someone who does not try to sustain his or her form of standard is deemed to be foolish. There are numerous of people who can be deemed as virtuous but were not of any wealth class such as Martian Luther King, and even Ghandi. Another example is mother Teresa. You see mother Teresa was a catholic nun who gave her life to the poor. When she was about 8years old her father became sick and passed away. Mother Teresa became extraordinarily close to her mother, who instilled in her daughter a deep commitment to charity. They were by no means wealthy [1]. Mother Terssa was implanted humility and compassion, which according to Aristotle is not
According Aristotle, a virtuous person will always use reason and intellect, and effortlessly make the correct decisions in every situation. They have their hexis in the correct place, and they have truly lived and struggled. With a virtuous person, life will have not been easy, and a virtuous person will have had to experience difficult times and learn from these experiences. These experiences are what will make them a virtuous person. For example, a person who had lived their life in poverty, then makes the decision to work and study to get a high paying job. With this, they dedicate a great deal of their time and money to helping the homeless. This person would be an example of what a virtuous person, their soul has had struggled, and without this they would have not become this person. They need to have this struggle in order to become a virtuous person. With a virtuous person, they are naturally a good person.
Aristotle further divided his thought on ethics into two categories, intellectual virtue and moral/social/political virtue. With respect to his views on moral virtue, Aristotle developed a doctrine that showed that virtue is staying in the mean, the doctrine of the mean. “The moral virtue is a mean…” (Aristotle 109). This doctrine claimed that having the right amount of a characteristic would be virtuous and most often is in between having too much or too little of ...
Virtue ethics is a moral theory that was first developed by Aristotle. It suggests that humans are able to train their characters to acquire and exhibit particular virtues. As the individual has trained themselves to develop these virtues, in any given situation they are able to know the right thing to do. If everybody in society is able to do the same and develop these virtues, then a perfect community has been reached. In this essay, I shall argue that Aristotelian virtue ethics is an unsuccessful moral theory. Firstly, I shall analyse Aristotelian virtue ethics. I shall then consider various objections to Aristotle’s theory and evaluate his position by examining possible responses to these criticisms. I shall then conclude, showing why Aristotelian virtue ethics is an unpractical and thus an unsuccessful moral theory in reality.
Aristotle believes that happiness rests within an absolutely final and self-sufficient end. The reasoning behind this theory is that every man is striving for some end, and every action he does must be due to this desire to reach this final end. He believes that in order for a man to be happy, he must live an active life of virtue, for this will in turn bring him closer to the final end. Although some may believe that these actions that the man chooses to take is what creates happiness, Aristotle believes that these actions are just a mere part of the striving toward the final end. I believe that Aristotle’s great-souled man is the highest virtue of character; His actions are never too extreme and he is appropriate in all his manners. The magnanimous person is within the intermediate state of character. “The deficient person is pusillanimous, and the person who goes to excess is vain” (§35). The magnanimous person surrounds himself with great things. The great things occurs when “he receives great honors from excellent pe...
While readers can agree virtue is a trait one must obtain, opinions bifurcate how one does so. Some people surmise that by simply avoiding evil, one is virtuous; others reckon that one must do good in addition to avoiding evil to acquire virtue.
He contends that while a general outline can be provided for ethical behavior, real life is much more situational and particular occurances require quicker thinking. In his vitue ethics, to remain virtuous in a world such as this means we must be conditioned to be vitruous. Aristotle claims that virtue is not inherent in a human, but rather nature predesposes us to be virtuous and we must hone this as we would hone any other art or skill. He asserts that "we become just by doing just acts" (124) in order to illustrate that ethics are not simply an idea but rather that we learn ethics through learning how to live. In striving to be fullfilled in life, we naturally aquire abilities pertinent to an ethical life. Aristotle belives that the best way to act justly is by acting as a just person would act. Basically this means learning by observation as well as basing moral decisions on factors that are outside our own self interest. He shows that while we are not good by nature, in striving to be good, we naturally aquire the state of character of a good person. Aristotle also places heavy emphasis on the concept of living in the mean. He believes that living in between two extremes of a character trait is almost always to best choice, as there are excess to any state of character. We remedy this by finding a balance between the two extremes and acting towards that
them, it is fundamental to search for them , because virtues are voluntary acquired, we are not
According to Aristotle, a virtue is a state that makes something good, and in order for something to be good, it must fulfill its function well. The proper function of a human soul is to reason well. Aristotle says that there are two parts of the soul that correspond to different types of virtues: the appetitive part of the soul involves character virtues, while the rational part involves intellectual virtues. The character virtues allow one to deliberate and find the “golden mean” in a specific situation, while the intellectual virtues allow one to contemplate and seek the truth. A virtuous person is someone who maintains an appropriate balance of these two parts of the soul, which allows them to reason well in different types of situations.
Moral virtues satisfy the impulses of the appetitive part and the intellectual virtues hav... ... middle of paper ... ... tp://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen.html. Kraut, R., (2014). Aristotle’s Ethics.
He believes that someone cant just decide weather they were happy or not but rather that there were certain virtues that if preformed would enable somebody to be happy. Virtues acts such as courage, temperance, wittiness, modesty, patience and friendliness are a few of these virtues. In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle defines virtue as “a characteristic involving choice, and that it consists in observing the mean relative to us, a mean which is defined by a rational principle, such as a man of practical wisdom would use to determine
The virtues defined by Aristotle consist of two extremes or vices, the excess and the deficiency. The mean or the intermediate between the excess and the deficiency is the virtue. One virtue Aristotle explains is bravery, with its vices being rashness and cowardice. Each aspect of these is contrary to the others, meaning that the intermediate opposes the extreme. Similarly, one extreme opposes the mean and its other extreme. The implications of this are that the excess opposes the deficiency more than the mean. This causes the mean to sometimes resemble its neighboring extreme. Obtaining the mean involves the challenge of being excellent. The challenging part, however, is “doing it to the right person, in the right amount, at the right time, for the right end, and in the right way” (Nicomachean Ethics 1109a28-29:29). Fortunately, one can steer themselves to the mean if one is conscious of the extreme they are naturally inclined to go towards. Since everybody is uniquely different the means by which one steers themselves in the right direction is different for each individual. In addition, Aristotle names three requirements for an action to be a virtue. First one must be cons...
He claims that virtue of thought is taught and that virtue of character is habitually learnt. Either way, virtues do not “arise in us naturally” (216, 1103a20). He argues that humans have the capacities for virtues, but they must act on them (216, 1103a30). Thus, a person must learn to use the capability of being virtuous, meaning someone needs to teach them those virtues (217, 1103a10). To be virtuous, it is not just the action that matters, but the reason behind the action too. Aristotle says that a person should be consciously acting virtuous because this would result in him living a happy life (221, 1105a30). This takes time and a person must constantly repeat these actions to achieve the end goal of being virtuous (221,
Aristotle once stated that, “But if happiness be the exercise of virtue, it is reasonable to suppose that it will be the exercise of the highest virtue; and that will be the virtue or excellence of the best part of us.” (481) It is through Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics that we are able to gain insight into ancient Greece’s moral and ethical thoughts. Aristotle argues his theory on what happiness and virtue are and how man should achieve them.
It has more to do with character and the nature of what it is to be. human, than with the rights and wrongs of our actions. Instead of concentrating on what is the right thing to do, virtue ethics asks how. you can be a better person. Aristotle says that those who do lead a virtuous life, are very happy and have a sense of well-being.
Aristotle made contributions to logic, physics, biology, medicine, and agriculture. He redesigned most, if not all, areas of knowledge he studied. Later in life he became the “Father of logic” and was the first to develop a formalized way of reasoning. Aristotle was a greek philosopher who founded formal logic, pioneered zoology, founded his own school, and classified the various branches of philosophy.