Humanity And Moral Virtue In Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics

In order for one to feel the human benefits attached to goodness, one must first have knowledge and understanding of the subject. It is the knowledge of goodness in sometimes its in entirety or in an accessible portion that produces happiness for man. Thus, it is possible for human beings to possess goodness and be exposed to goodness but not be cognizant of its presence. Such human beings are not able to experience the happiness that naturally should be a result of goodness. Aristotle also discusses the correlation between the nature of happiness and education.

His main argument—his premises—is not diluted by this jump in reasoning. When one finishes this work they are not really contemplating taking his advice to wholly ignore reputation and superficiality, but rather one is reminded to try to pursue nobler aspects of life: truth, wisdom, and self-knowledge. The overall significance of my critique is that a literal interpretation of The Defense of Socrates can be dangerous as it promotes disregard for fellow humans. It can be used as an excuse for scholars to hermit themselves away, never abide by societal norms when interacting with others, and, due to a terrible reputation, never effectively share their ideas with the rest of society. While I am sure that there are not many literalist readers, the fact that this severe deductive reason and broad, dangerous conclusion exist in this work should still be noted as a flaw in sound

On the other hand, Plato takes a stance of a more theoretical view. His study into the soul is showing what is logical to the individual’s values. His stories consider that while conditions may be applied, what should be right is still a higher value Thus, this leads me to conclude that Thucydides makes empirical claims and Plato makes

Within the second book of Aristotle’s “Nicomachean Ethics”, he expands upon the ultimate human good of happiness, and interprets virtues of character in order to clarify his connection between the two. Although virtuous activity is differentiated into irrational and rational desires, a combination of both is important for one’s soul (Aristotle). Furthermore, an excessive or deficient amount of any activity is capable of corrupting one’s virtue of character, but can be counteracted by properly habituating these extremities to intermediary levels (Aristotle). However, distinguishing between too much and too little effort can be complicated and that is why humans rely on feelings in order to interpret their progress in life. Aristotle interprets

According to Lao-Tzu, “Recognize beauty and ugliness is born. Recognize good and evil is born. Is and Isn’t produce each other,” (Tao Te Ching 2). In this case, Confucius leans further toward Aristotle, as he places great significance on using correct names. A reader of both Confucius and Aristotle can immediately notice the resemblance between their views of how people should behave.

The virtue of good engineer includes creativity, good understanding of culture, morality, and capability of communication. In utilitarian and Kantian view of ethics, such virtuous values are not taken into consideration. This short paper suggests how future engineers should apply the virtues and excellences in their fields and why virtuous engineers are more likely to contribute to society and make it better. In Aristotle’s view, virtue(arête) is defined as an essential factor to achieve happiness of an individual, while happiness(eudaimonia) is defined as an ultimate objective of human-being. Aristotle insisted that the order of priority may decide whether one’s goal should be considered as a means or the goal itself.

In order for justice to full thrive kings would have to become philosophers and philosophers would have to become kings. Plato believes justice can be something external which reflects on a principle of good. He also believed that the ruling is a craft (Barney, 2004). However, Thrasymachus recognized it as nothing more than the advantage of the stronger. This simply means that anyone who is weak will not be carried on further.

As Aristotle once said, “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” Aristotle recognizes that humans are essentially rational, which further highlights his theory that our final cause or purpose is to be rational. We must base our actions, as much as possible, on logic and reasoning. Our greatest capacity as humans is our intelligence and in following our internal compass is to develop this capacity. If we do this, we develop it not only in matter of science, but in practical life as well. Therefore, to act ethically is to engage our capacity to reason as we develop good

Virtue is important when people consider their own characters: virtues are what defines a person, what they stand for, what they believe in. The argument made here is that virtue is a type of knowledge, as Plato states in Meno. In Meno, Socrates and Meno talk about how virtue is not a type of knowledge, up until they describe it. Socrates says, “If then virtue is something in the soul and it must be beneficial, it must be knowledge, since all the qualities of the soul are in themselves neither beneficial nor harmful, but accompanied by wisdom or folly they become harmful or beneficial.” (88c4-88d2) Wisdom is necessary for the characteristics of the soul, such as that brashness is a result of courage without wisdom, and because an understanding is necessary to have virtue, it is a characteristic of

“Every skill and every inquiry, and similarly every action and rational choice, is thought to aim at some good; and so the good has been aptly described as that which everything aims. But it is clear that there is some difference between ends: some ends are activities, while others are products which are additional to the activities. In cases where there are ends additional to the actions, the products are by their nature better than activities.” (Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics, as translated by Crisp, 2000, p. #3) Aristotle was the first philosopher who wrote a book on ethics titled, Nichomachean Ethics. The quote above is the opening statement of this book. It is saying that in all that man does, he/she seeks some good as ends or means.