Aristotle and Neitzsche
How should people live their lives? Two intellectual figures, Aristotle and Friedrich Nietzsche have given some suggestions in regards to this question. Aristotle was an ancient Greek philosopher and scientist. Aristotle was more than just a thinker; he was a physicist, chemist, political theorist, and much more. Aristotle poses an answer: that a person's life should be based on and limited by the idea of virtue. Virtue is defined as moral excellence, righteousness, or goodness, and vice is defined as evil or immoral practice. On the other hand, there is Friedrich Nietzsche a literary and social critic who lived during the late nineteenth century. Nietzsche declared that man (people) should be strong and independent like the "Superman." These two intellectual minds present many of their ideas in their works. When analyzed a contrast is seen in the excerpts from Rhetoric by Aristotle and Thus Spake Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche. In the excerpt Rhetoric, Aristotle talks about the ideals of virtue, an aspect that people should live their lives by. Aristotle defines virtue as "a faculty of providing and preserving good things, a faculty productive of many and great benefits...." Virtue has the
Nietzsche bases his image of society with beings that he refers to as the "Superman". Aristotle states that "those things of which the reward is honour are noble. The second idea Aristotle explains in his excerpt is vice. Courage "makes men perform noble acts in the midst of dangers. The opposite of self-control is "licentiousness," means no discipline. Magnanimity "is a virtue productive of great benefits" which means a feeling of generosity and unselfishness. This is what constitutes as vice according to Aristotle. To blaspheme the earth is now the dreadfulest sin. ," such as acts done for benefit to others, all acts of kindness, or success which was gained for the sake of others. ," such as something done without interest in money, something that is just purely good, or something done for the sake of one's country, without considering one's own interests and selfish motives. "Superman" is also a person who is true to his feelings and desires, and acts on it to fulfill them, according to Nietzsche when he says "I conjure, my brethren, remain true to the earth!. ------------------------------------------------------------------------**Bibliography**None. Self-control "is a virtue which disposes men in regard to pleasures of the body as law prescribes", which means that self control allows men to control their desires from committing immoral acts.
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