Aristotle 's Theory Of Virtue As A Mean

What is justice? According to Socrates, to be just is what every individual is conditioned to strive for. Those who act unjustly are guided by ignorance and only they themselves believe they are doing good. A core ideal of Socrates was that everyone should do good and avoid wrong. His views on law and justice are shaped around this ideal.

Mankind has been searching for existential reasoning since our earliest beginnings. One of the biggest questions, the one that keeps me up at night, “How ought we to live?” will be explained from the viewpoints of Epictetus in his Enchiridion and Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics. In this paper, I will discuss both philosophies in principle and practice, while giving insight to how to they may function in a modern world situation. Although both theories have useful guidance for navigating the human condition, Aristotle’s theory of virtue encompasses more of a real world schematic of how to interpret oneself in relation to our surroundings through compassion rather than apathy.

In “Non-Relative Virtues: An Aristotelian Account,” Martha C. Nussbaum (1988) responds to a growing trend among contemporary ethical theorists (e.g., MacIntyre, Williams, Foot, etc.) to connect the return to the virtues with a turn toward relativism. Nussbaum thinks this connection is mistaken. According to Nussbaum, Aristotle believed that there was a single, objective account of the human good, or human flourishing, based on virtuous action (i.e. of appropriate functioning in each human sphere). In this paper I will present Nussbaum’s argument that Aristotelianism can provide an objective account of human morality based on virtuous action. After presenting Nussbaum’s account, I will present an objection to Nussbaum and a possible reply on her behalf.

In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle’s outlook on virtue theory leads back to the highest good -- Eudaimonia, or happiness from obtaining

Nietzsche and Aristotle were two of the most significant philosopher of not only their time but their works has lasted throughout the centuries to influence even some today’s greatest minds. Their works however could not be any separated, Aristotle is a prominent figure in ancient Greek philosophy, making contributions to logic, metaphysics, mathematics, physics, biology, botany, ethics, politics, agriculture, medicine, dance and theatre. He was a student of great thinkers such as Plato and Socrates. He believes that ethics is a process to finding the final end or the highest good. He states that although there are many “ends” in life those are usually only means to further ends, our ambitions and wants must have some final purpose. Aristotle believes that this highest end is that of Happiness. He introduces the concept moral virtue which is the ability to properly control desires to follow bad actions, and is the focus of morality. Centered on the core of Aristotle 's account of moral virtue is his doctrine of the mean. According to this doctrine, moral virtues are character traits which are at in-between more extreme character traits. While Nietzsche a German philosopher, essayist, and cultural critic. He believes that "Good" is originally designated only the right of those individuals with social and political power to live their lives by sheer force of will. But a "priestly" caste, motivated by their resentment of their natural superiors, generated a corrupt

Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics is a reflection as to what virtue is. Aristotle’s definition of virtue can be described as the as the “state of character concerned with choice, lying in a mean relative to us, this being determined by reason and by that reason by which the man of practical wisdom would determine it” (Nicomachean Ethics, 31). In addition to that, Aristotle illustrates two types of virtue that stem from his primary idea; moral and intellectual virtue. Aristotle expounds moral virtue as actualizing from habit, in which the virtue cannot arise naturally, for the fact that nothing can form a habitual habit that contrasts from its nature. For instance, the example of the fire; it is impossible to teach the fire to burn downwards,

In Book II of the Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle defines virtue as “the mean relative to us.” In separate paragraphs, please describe briefly the basic notion of virtue as a mean, and then explain why he believes that such a mean is relative to us. Provide quotations/examples to support your claims. Include a final paragraph in which you explain your views on this issue of relativity. Be sure to take into consideration the counter-arguments we discussed in class.

A virtue ethicist Aristotle believed we should aim for eudemonia. Eudemonia is an ideology of happiness which would result in a life which is in perfect balance. Eudemonia include habits which include patience, temperance, courage etc. Virtues such as these are perfected so that as a society we can be perfectly happy. A virtue ethics approach would suggest that people suffering from an undefeatable illness would not be living a “eudemonia life”. If such a way existed that could improve the physical well‐ being of a person suffering from an illness, a virtue ethicist such as Aristotle would support this. However, if such a case where someone was incurably and terminally ill, Aristotle would hope that they would be brave enough to accept their

Lastly, in chapter 12, he argues that “The political good is justice”. Justice is the finished goal according to Aristotle. All men think justice is a sort of equality, but what actually remains to be determined is what kind of equality in what things. Human beings have admitted that justice has a relation to person and that equals ought to have equality. He believed that distributive justice is based on a practical assessment on an individual’s values to society. Aristotle argues that if people make unequal contribution to the society they are only granted unequal benefits. Distributive justice talks about two problems Aristotle describe in the chapter. First problem Aristotle addressed was who is to determine what is just and second problem is who makes the most contribution to the

For Aristotle virtue is a sort of sweet spot in the middle of two extremes, or vices, which were deficiency and excess. The sweet spot in the middle is what Aristotle referred to as the golden mean. For example, if we were to look at one of the eleven virtues Aristotle focused on, courage, one can see that a deficiency of courage would be cowardice and an excess of courage would result in someone being reckless or impulsive. To understand virtue Aristotle says,

Aristotle, in Nicomachean Ethics, talks about certain virtues are the intermediate area of an excess and deficiency of virtues. For example, in a scale where rashness is the excess of bravery and cowardness being the deficiency of bravery, bravery itself being the mean between the two extremes. In that example, bravery would be the virtue that everyone should seek, in Chapter 9 [How can we reach the Mean?] Aristotle briefly talks about how it is difficult to achieve that specific state. First he describes the idea that since it is hard to reach this intermediate area that is the virtue, it should be praised when we use the virtue or a doing an act at the right time, to the right person, in the right amount and for the right end. To elaborate on this idea of the right moments, Aristotle has mentioned that it is often hard to reach the mean of a

Aristotle discusses two interpretations of justice in Book V of his Nicomachean Ethics. He concludes that justice is either broad or narrow in sense - it is either lawfulness or equality. In the broader sense, a good citizen will obey the law because it is just.

Aristotle believed that of the virtues learned in our youth, each has a respective excess and deficiency. The virtue is the mean (or midpoint) of the excess and deficiency. The mean can be thought of as “just right';, and the extremities can be labeled as “vices';. The mean should not be thought of as the geometric

Aristotle states “virtue” friendships are absolutely necessary for achieving happiness, and that the highest good is your own happiness. I will assert that thinking your own happiness is the highest good makes it unfeasible to be a “virtue” friend, which then makes it impossible to achieve happiness. Instead there are actually things we can value, that don’t we don’t always value because they cause

For Aristotle, justice is a virtue but unlike the other virtues he discusses in his Ethics. Whereas each virtue was defined as the mean between two vices, justice is not the mean of two vices since injustice, the opposite of justice, is but only one extreme. Justice is the mean state of people having what they deserve. Injustice occurs when people have either too much or too little. Following Aristotle's definition of justice, a theft of one hundred dollars would result in the thief's gain of one hundred dollars and the victim's equal and unjust loss of one hundred dollars.