With respect to acting in the face of danger, According to Aristotle, the virtuous habit of action is always an intermediate state between the opposed vices of excess and deficiency: too much and too little are always wrong the right kind of action always lies in the mean. Thus, good conduct arises from habits that in turn can only be acquired by repeated action and correction, making ethics an intensely practical discipline.Įach of the virtues is a state of being that naturally seeks its mean relative to us. Unlike any intellectual capacity, virtues of character are dispositions to act in certain ways in response to similar situations, the habits of behaving in a certain way. In this sense, at least, "virtue is its own reward." True happiness can therefore be attained only through the cultivation of the virtues that make a human life complete.Įthics is not merely a theoretical study for Aristotle. A happy person will exhibit a personality appropriately balanced between reasons and desires, with moderation characterizing all. Ethics I 7) Thus, human beings should aim at a life in full conformity with their rational natures for this, the satisfaction of desires and the acquisition of material goods are less important than the achievement of virtue. The good for human beings, then, must essentially involve the entire proper function of human life as a whole, and this must be an activity of the soul that expresses genuine virtue or excellence. Ethics I 2) This end of human life could be called happiness (or living well), of course, but what is it really? Neither the ordinary notions of pleasure, wealth, and honor nor the philosophical theory of forms provide an adequate account of this ultimate goal, since even individuals who acquire the material goods or achieve intellectual knowledge may not be happy.Īccording to Aristotle, things of any variety have a characteristic function that they are properly used to perform. The central issue for Aristotle is the question of character or personality - what does it take for an individual human being to be a good person?Įvery activity has a final cause, the good at which it aims, and Aristotle argued that since there cannot be an infinite regress of merely extrinsic goods, there must be a highest good at which all human activity ultimately aims. Here he discussed the conditions under which moral responsibility may be ascribed to individual agents, the nature of the virtues and vices involved in moral evaluation, and the methods of achieving happiness in human life. Aristotle Notes Aristotle: Ethics and the VirtuesĪristotle applied the same patient, careful, descriptive approach to his examination of moral philosophy in the Nicomachean Ethics.
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