Aristotle on Virtue
Aristotle defines virtue as acquiring excellence through the fulfillment of a particular function. Stating that all people are born with the potential to be virtuous yet they must act accordingly through their function. Any function good and well must possess a telos or end objective which a soul is in search of, and it is through the activity of the soul that a function may achieve its telos. Aristotle sees anything that moves as having a soul, consisting of nutrition, locomotion, perception, and rationality. However only the human soul is able to reason and rationalize leading to human excellence, eudemonia, and ultimately happiness. Virtue to Aristotle is not as much about knowledge as it is about the social activity of being good and moral to people. To Aristotle the sole act of listening does not make one virtuous, yet action towards the good does. However there are no definitive rules to follow in being virtuous considering practical circumstances vary so much. Aristotle believes moral virtue is to be learned through habit and practice, as a balance of two vices each deficient and excessive in their means of feeling, choosing, and acting well. Thus virtue comes from the rational part of our soul managing and co
In doing so one must avoid the extreme which is farther from the mean, as well as being aware of errors he might be vulnerable to and avoiding them. ntrolling the irrational appetitive part as we deal with the emotions that arise in our soul when confronted with a situation. Aristotle felt that virtues and being active were a means to happiness and well spiritedness, as everything we do has a goal of happiness. Each state of the soul has a purpose to prosper or worsen, yet it is the pleasure and pain which lead people to become bad in their pursuit or avoidance. It is the pursuit of pleasure which prompts us to perform basic actions. Responsibility for any moral action comes from whether or not the action was voluntary, and if the person was aware of the potential consequences. By obtaining happiness through balance and moderation one is able to flourish and show the best that they are capable of towards human excellence. These are seen as the intellectual virtues which have the power to change society as they lead people to work towards the good. Scientific knowledge is the use of deductive reasoning to find truths in the logic of mathematics where intuitive knowledge is the ability to recognize that very logic in nature in the form of principles. These moral virtues however are states of ones character as a disposition rather than a feeling or emotion, as feelings and emotions are not subject to praise or blame the way virtues and vices are. Intellectual virtues are learned through instruction, as the means to arriving at the truth through the part of the soul which reasons and thinks. A combination of these two knowledge's culminates in acquiring philosophical wisdom, allowing a person to choose the right means to the virtuous ends as set forth by moral virtue. These intellectual virtues are distinguished as either practical or hypothetical; in helping us know what is just and admirable. Practical virtues include techne, which deals with art forms and craft, and practical reasoning which deals with ethics, politics, and the way people act towards each other. And when a person does die the honors or dishonors they receive as well as the behavior of his family may slightly affect his happiness.
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