Aristotle Vices

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Aristotle's “doctrine of mean”states that virtues and vices are learned through habituation by acting in a virtuous way. In order to act in a virtuous way, one must acknowledge their action as a virtue, choose to do the action for the sake of virtue and do the action from a firm character trait. In other words, virtues are not natural but are instead an outcome of the experiences we have and what we learn. Furthermore, virtues and vices can be seen in a spectrum where vices are a result of acting too virtuous or not virtuous enough. In that case, virtues can be identified through the use of reasoning to determine what is too much and what is too little. However, as humans, Aristotle believes we are more inclined to act for our pleasure so we should be mindful of these when determining how we should act. …show more content…

In order to obtain the virtue of courage, one must act courageously repeatedly. Through habituation, then, the person will become courageous. If the person is too courageous, however, they will develop the vice of arrogance. On the other hand, if the person is not courageous enough they will develop of vice of cowardice. At the same time, we may feel an enhanced pleasure from praise when acting courageous, so when determining our actions, we must be mindful that we do not become arrogant, Similarly, these idea can also be illustrated with generosity. In order to develop the virtue of generosity, the person must act generously periodically. Eventually, generosity will become a habit and therefore a virtue. However, if the person is too generous they may become reckless, whereas if they are not generous enough they could become stingy. On the same tract, the pleasure of giving may lead people toward reckless giving, while the pleasure of being wealthy may lead to people becoming

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