What is it about a particular characteristic that makes it virtue? Distinguishes it from its associated vices?
The main theme I got from the reading was the existence of balance. Moderation between the two extremes of a characteristic made it desirable and beneficial to the most people, and did the most good for the most amount of people. This characteristic does good for the whole society, not just for the individual. That is another aspect of all good characteristics. For example, when Aristotle discuses open-handedness, he contrasted it to wastefulness and avariciousness. He found the balance between the extremes.
(I found this chart off of SparkNotes...I hope this explains better what I was trying to say. It's at the end of the page. http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/ethics/characters.html)
Do you agree with Aristotle that the closer you come to having these characteristics, the closer you will come to having a fulfilling life? What evidence have you drawn upon?
I agree that the listed ideal characteristics create a fulfilling life. A life full of courage, boldness, open-handedness, reason, and truth (to name a few) leads to a happiness, which supports the existence of a fulfilling life. Through balance, a live of prosperity can be lived out day to day. A good example I can draw from comes from Book IX 9-11. This section talks about the balance of friends. Aristotle states the important of a balance of the number of friends you possess. Too many results in detached relationships, and too little do not allow for growth and full experience. He also makes it a point to determine what kind of people your friends are. He discusses the importance of the character of your company.
1 comment:
First off, I love the chart you put up there. I think the writer has a few things backwards ON the chart, but I love being able to look at it that way. (Why didn't Aristotle make it that simple?! ;) )
Second, the friendship thing was stunningly accurate for me. I've thought and talked about that before, but I guess I thought people would think differently back then. I don't know why, I guess I thought the customs would be different. It's kind of awesome to know that their minds worked like ours do, at least in that arena.
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