Aristotle I
Born: 384 B.C. - Death: 322 B.C
Plato’s Academy: 367-347 B.C. (20 years)
Abroad: 347-335 B.C. (12 years)
Lyceum: 335-323 B.C. (12 years)
Virtue as an active condition
Desires, needs, lazy habits.
Counterbalance with good habits.
Deliberation turns repeated actions into ways of being-at-work (Greek: energeia). Deliberately holding
oneself in a certain way regarding feelings and desires is an active condition (Greek: hexis).
Virtue is also considered an excellence—that which makes something an outstanding specimen of its
kind.
“Assume a virtue, if you have it not. That monster, custom, who all sense doth eat, of habits devil, is
angel yet in this, that to the use of actions fair and good He likewise gives a frock or livery, that aptly is
put on. Refrain to-night, and that shall lend a kind of easiness to the next abstinence: the next more
easy; For use almost can change the stamp of nature” —Hamlet (III, iv, 181-9)
Virtue as a mean
cowardice — courage — rashness
stinginess — generosity — prodigality
self-denial — proper pride — vanity
bashfulness — modesty — shamelessness
,The Good - Useful, Pleasurable, Beautiful
Questions
Ethics How do we know what’s the right or wrong thing to do? Is there an ultimate purpose or goal in
life? Do these questions have subjective or objective answers? Aristotle’s analogy between living rightly
and playing an instrument correctly: What’s an alternative approach?
Do you think people have an ultimate goal or purpose in life? Why or why not?
Are virtue and beautiful actions a good way to evaluate our lives? What’s an alternative?
How are Aristotle’s ethics empowering? How are they disappointing?
Aristotle II
Bases for friendship
Use, Pleasure, Virtue. Friendship as reciprocal good will
“The complete sort of friendship is that between people who are good and alike in virtue, since they
wish for good things for one another in the same way insofar as they are good... And those who wish for
good things for their friends for their own sake are friends most of all” (Nicomachean Ethics 1156A 4–5).
Friendship and politics
excessive self-love can be harmful to city but Aristotle’s notion of self-love—when virtue leads to pursuit
of the good and doing good deeds for friends—is beneficial to city.
political life seemingly must be built on bonds of trust and friendship.
Aristotle fails to condemn slavery.
, “For the city to be of excellent stature is no longer a matter of luck but of knowledge and choice. And
certainly, a city is excellent by having the citizens who take part in government be excellent” (Politics
1332A 32-33)
The politics of “essentialism”
“a human being by nature is a political animal” (Politics 1253 A8)
Hand/body analogy
“One who is no part of a city, either from lacking the power to be in association or from needing nothing
on account of self-sufÏciency, is for that reason either a beast or a god” (Politics 1253 A27-30)
Sketch of best city
All citizens are virtuous and possess property.
serve in military when young, hold ofÏce in middle years and do priestly tasks when old.
common system of education (because citizens share the same goals)
an aristocracy
Second-best city
a mix of aristocracy/polity (or oligarchy/democracy?)
citizens have a more common form of virtue.
middle class, which has many members, exerts control.
Questions
How do you know what is good for a friend? Does friendship require self-sacrifice? How do virtues come
into play?
What is a citizen? What is a city?
Born: 384 B.C. - Death: 322 B.C
Plato’s Academy: 367-347 B.C. (20 years)
Abroad: 347-335 B.C. (12 years)
Lyceum: 335-323 B.C. (12 years)
Virtue as an active condition
Desires, needs, lazy habits.
Counterbalance with good habits.
Deliberation turns repeated actions into ways of being-at-work (Greek: energeia). Deliberately holding
oneself in a certain way regarding feelings and desires is an active condition (Greek: hexis).
Virtue is also considered an excellence—that which makes something an outstanding specimen of its
kind.
“Assume a virtue, if you have it not. That monster, custom, who all sense doth eat, of habits devil, is
angel yet in this, that to the use of actions fair and good He likewise gives a frock or livery, that aptly is
put on. Refrain to-night, and that shall lend a kind of easiness to the next abstinence: the next more
easy; For use almost can change the stamp of nature” —Hamlet (III, iv, 181-9)
Virtue as a mean
cowardice — courage — rashness
stinginess — generosity — prodigality
self-denial — proper pride — vanity
bashfulness — modesty — shamelessness
,The Good - Useful, Pleasurable, Beautiful
Questions
Ethics How do we know what’s the right or wrong thing to do? Is there an ultimate purpose or goal in
life? Do these questions have subjective or objective answers? Aristotle’s analogy between living rightly
and playing an instrument correctly: What’s an alternative approach?
Do you think people have an ultimate goal or purpose in life? Why or why not?
Are virtue and beautiful actions a good way to evaluate our lives? What’s an alternative?
How are Aristotle’s ethics empowering? How are they disappointing?
Aristotle II
Bases for friendship
Use, Pleasure, Virtue. Friendship as reciprocal good will
“The complete sort of friendship is that between people who are good and alike in virtue, since they
wish for good things for one another in the same way insofar as they are good... And those who wish for
good things for their friends for their own sake are friends most of all” (Nicomachean Ethics 1156A 4–5).
Friendship and politics
excessive self-love can be harmful to city but Aristotle’s notion of self-love—when virtue leads to pursuit
of the good and doing good deeds for friends—is beneficial to city.
political life seemingly must be built on bonds of trust and friendship.
Aristotle fails to condemn slavery.
, “For the city to be of excellent stature is no longer a matter of luck but of knowledge and choice. And
certainly, a city is excellent by having the citizens who take part in government be excellent” (Politics
1332A 32-33)
The politics of “essentialism”
“a human being by nature is a political animal” (Politics 1253 A8)
Hand/body analogy
“One who is no part of a city, either from lacking the power to be in association or from needing nothing
on account of self-sufÏciency, is for that reason either a beast or a god” (Politics 1253 A27-30)
Sketch of best city
All citizens are virtuous and possess property.
serve in military when young, hold ofÏce in middle years and do priestly tasks when old.
common system of education (because citizens share the same goals)
an aristocracy
Second-best city
a mix of aristocracy/polity (or oligarchy/democracy?)
citizens have a more common form of virtue.
middle class, which has many members, exerts control.
Questions
How do you know what is good for a friend? Does friendship require self-sacrifice? How do virtues come
into play?
What is a citizen? What is a city?
