Summary Of On Liberal And Vocational Studies By Seneca

If these compiled virtues are the ultimate freedom, the main goal of a person should be to develop their character. “The good for man is an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue, or if there are more kinds of virtue than one, in accordance with the best and most perfect kind.” (Nicomachean Ethics, 1.7) These virtues are achieved by constant interaction with society and any obstacles that present themselves. This interaction must be an activity of the mind; only through internal activity can one hope to further an internal change. “The expectations of life depend upon diligence the mechanic that would perfect his work

Much like the ancient philosopher Socrates, Seneca the young strived to uphold the idea of ethical knowledge. Not going solely after ones desires it is better to be guided by reason to truly live a happy life. The idea of virtue and the liberal studies are the key points of Seneca’s letter “On Liberal and Vocational Studies”. In Seneca’s famous letter “On Liberal and Vocational Studies”, the only way to establish virtue is through the liberal study of wisdom. The effects of having virtue can be seen through harmony, temperance, and kindness.

One very important virtue includes prudence, the virtue that disposes us to see rightly, the way things are in the world around us, and to employ that truthful vision to act rightly. It enables

In Aristotle's, *place name here*, book he writes an overview of virtues we need to follow in order to reach our full potential. Having knowledge of the

“Can virtue be taught?”, was a question I struggled with when Meno ask Socrates. In Aristotle Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle answers the question in a way I better understand. He believes that virtue can be taught and if you are taught good behavior you are excellent. He especially believes that the virtue of a human being is “being characteristic”, which helps me understand “What is virtue? “Virtue, according to Aristotle, are the characteristics that makes us either good or bad. Everything we do is not natural we learn what is moral and immoral by what we were taught. Somethings we believe are right might not be right to others, but just because we may think it is immoral does not make it necessarily wrong. Aristotle mentions that passion is presented in the soul virtue.

Socrates, in a simple but bold statement, proclaims wisdom as being the cardinal virtue. He believed that if one does not examine oneself, their life has no true meaning. Socrates defended the idea and virtue of self-examination, for he believed it is through change and growth that people attain self-betterment. Not only this, but this method of critical reflection also realigns values with what is actually important in life, such as wisdom and spirituality.

In Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, ethical virtue is at the base of every Aristotle argument. Aristotle’s goal is to discover: what constitutes human excellence? A key position Aristotle takes in ethical virtue involves habit among human actions, “Neither by nature, then, nor contrary to nature do the virtues arise in us; rather we are adapted by nature to receive them, and who are made perfect by habit.” (Nic.2.1.1103a23-25). Through this statement, Aristotle believes that humans do not have virtues by nature, which means humans cannot be born with virtue. However, nature equips humans with the potential to acquire virtue over time through social training and habituation. Aristotle’s concept is on the same grounds as Roger Bergman’s, author of Catholic Social

Aristotle’s idea of Virtue Ethics was influenced by his belief that all things and all humans have a purpose (a telos). For him a complete explanation of something has to include its final cause or purpose which essentially is to realise its potential. Virtue Ethics itself is concerned with the characteristics of a person rather than how a person behaves and it is this he outlined in his book Nicomachean Ethics. A ‘’virtue’’ are qualities that lead to a good life e.g. courage and honesty. Aristotle explains for a person to adopt these qualities into their own lives is to maximise their potential to achieve a happy life and he goes

     Temperance is a sign of moral excellence. Epictetus says that one ought exude self-control at all times. For, it is inevitable that one will find oneself in the face of adversity, rumor, and conceit on numerous occasions in a life span. Epictetus dispenses his insight into this matter:

According to Aristotle, intellectual virtues belong in the ‘rational’ fragment of the soul and moral virtues lie in the ‘irrational’ measure of the soul However, they are both dependant on reason. Although Aristotle recognised many virtues, he was an advocate for the notion of the existence of only four cardinal virtues. His proposal proved to be popular in the society that he lived in, being acknowledged by Plato and other bodies. The four cardinal virtues are: courage, a virtue which ensures control in the interest of goodness, temperance, a virtue which diminishes wants and desires by limiting them to reason, justice, the only virtue that consists of expressing care for other beings. A human that possesses the virtue of justice has the ability to practise this virtue on other human beings and not solely on themselves. The final and one of the most important virtues is prudence, a logical virtue of practical reason by which we separate the good and the methods of achieving it. Aristotle accentuates that virtues are pragmatic skills and hence experience guides us towards becoming more dexterous in avoiding deficiency. Although familiarity with the vices as extremes supports us in our aspiration for the mean, the wider connotations of the doctrine is that only through experience will we as humans come to know the right pretences and

Moral virtue is acquired through the habituation of good acts which constantly aim for a mean between excess and deficiency in each circumstance. It is the choice of moral virtue through our acts, which allows us to satisfy a major requirement for happiness. Virtue, for Aristotle is a state in which reason helps us decide to do good acts. This is a part of our natural function as human beings, since reason is our distinguishing characteristic and good is the always the object of “correct reason.” The habituation of good acts, then, is what leads us to states of virtue in our lives. Since action always implies either pleasure or pain, it is our job to maintain the appropriate amount of each in the things that we do.

In his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle explores virtues as necessary conditions for being happy. A virtuous person is a person with a disposition toward virtuous actions and who derives pleasure from behaving virtuously. Aristotle distinguishes between two types of human virtue: virtues of thought and virtues of character. Virtues of thought are acquired through learning and include virtues like wisdom and prudence; virtues of character include bravery and charity, which are acquired by habituation and require external goods to develop. As a consequence, not all people can acquire virtues of character because not all people have the external goods and resources required to develop that disposition.

In other words, one could be cheerful and with high moral standards in any profitable environment. On the other hand, Seneca letter on liberal and vocational learning was the only letter recognized as the moral epistle. In the letter, Seneca makes the effort to describe liberal studies and distinct it from vocational training. During the days of Seneca, liberal training is designed for liberal or someone who is a free person. With regard to its existing, Seneca never felt eager to protect pursuing literature, music, geometry, astronomy, and argues that by doing so it makes people become a

Aristotle found that there are two kinds of virtues of the soul. First, there are virtues of thought, such as wisdom. Next, there are virtues of character, such as generosity. The main focus of his virtue ethics lies in the virtues of character. Aristotle assumed that these virtues are learned through habit. For example, whereas intellectual virtue may arise from reading a book, the adoption of virtuous character is inherited solely by practice. Therefore, it is through a person's upbringing that moral virtues are cultivated, and it is through the habit of thinking virtuously that one can excel towards happiness.

One of the points Seneca makes is that people are too preoccupied with gaining things that they do not have or devoting their lives to someone else, whether it be by pursuing other people’s money or envying their superiors (2). In a way, Descartes alludes to this fact by speaking of the reason that he abandoned his education. Once Descartes realized that he could reasonably doubt everything that he had been taught, he wanted to clear his mind of the beliefs and opinions of others, and create a method that could lead him in the right path. He expands on this thought when he states, “it is almost impossible that our judgments are as pure or as solid as they might have been if we had full use of our reason from the moment of our birth, and had been guided by that alone” (13). If people were not influenced by the judgments of others, they would have a much better ability to reason clearly and precisely, therefore allowing them to live a fuller life. Since Seneca does not provide people with a way to not be preoccupied with the lives of other people, Descartes method of wiping his thoughts of the judgments of others can be added to Seneca’s position on being preoccupied with others in order to gain better wisdom.