Term
| What does Aristotle mean when he talks about the “highest good”? |
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Definition
"The god" or best good is that which is desired for its own sake and for the sake which we desire all other ends or goods. For human beings, eudaemonia is activity of the soul in accordance with arete (excellence, virtue, or what something is good for"). Eudaemonia is characterized by living well and doing well in the affairs of the world.
The good of human beings cannot be answered with the exactitude of a mathematical problem since mathematics starts with general principles and argues to conclusions. |
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Term
| Why does he think that happiness—and not something else—is the highest good? |
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Definition
| That good is desired for its own sake. The good involves a teleological system that involves actions. The final good for human beings is happiness; it is good-in-itself, the end of action, and hence self-sufficient. |
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Term
| How does he ultimately define happiness, and how is it related to moral virtue? |
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Definition
| Moral virtue is not the end of life for it can go with inactivity, misery, and unhappiness. Happiness, the end of life, that to which all things aim, is activity in accordance with reason (the arete or peculiar excellence of a person). Happiness is an activity involving both moral and intellectual arete. Some external goods are necessary in order to exercise that activity. But happiness cannot be identified with pleasure, wealth, or honor—unlike what most people think. |
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Term
| What is virtue, and how is it related to his view of the soul? |
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Definition
Disposition! Virtue, arete, or excellence is defined as a mean between two extremes of excess and defect in regard to a feeling or action as the practically wise person would determine it. The mean cannot be calculated a priori. The mean is relative to the individual and circumstances.
We can divide the soul into an irrational and a rational part. The irrational soul has two aspects: the vegetative aspect, which deals with nutrition and growth and has little connection to virtue; and the appetitive aspect, which governs our impulses. The rational part of the soul controls these impulses, so a virtuous person with greater rationality is better able to control his or her impulses. |
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Term
| What does it mean to say that virtue is a “state”? |
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Definition
| virtue is a disposition as opposed to a feeling or an action. |
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Term
| Why does Aristotle think that virtue consists in a mean? |
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Definition
| Because practical circumstances vary a great deal, there are no absolute rules of conduct to follow. Instead, we can only observe that right conduct consists of some sort of mean between the extremes of deficiency and excess. For instance, courage consists in finding a mean between the extremes of cowardice and rashness, though the appropriate amount of courage varies from one situation to another. |
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Term
| How do we become virtuous? |
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Definition
| We learn intellectual virtues by instruction, and we learn moral virtues by habit and constant practice. We are all born with the potential to be morally virtuous, but it is only by behaving in the right way that we train ourselves to be virtuous. As a musician learns to play an instrument, we learn virtue by practicing, not by thinking about it. |
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Term
| How is this related to feelings, pleasures, and pains |
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Definition
| An appropriate attitude toward pleasure and pain is one of the most important habits to develop for moral virtue. While a glutton might feel inappropriate pleasure when presented with food and inappropriate pain when deprived of food, a temperate person will gain pleasure from abstaining from such indulgence. |
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Term
| the importance of reason (or logos) in human existence? |
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Definition
for aristotle, reason allows one to be a good human. rational part of the soul. The distinct human function that separates us from other beings is reason. Thus our highest good (happiness) must involve reason.
The harpist's function is to play the harp and to play it well, and the heart's function is to pump blood and to pump it well. So also our function is to use reason and to use it well. As we do this, we fulfill the natural end to which we are oriented.
Our happiness consists in the excellent use of reason -- in virtue.
Socrates is all about reason. Socrates presupposed reason was the way to the good life.
The logos for heraclitus is the governing force of everything. |
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