Premium Essay

Aristotle Philosophy

In:

Submitted By shalonda32
Words 1521
Pages 7
Aristotle Philosophy
Shalonda Floyd
Ethical Issues in Business and Accounting
Professor Gates
February 12, 2013

In this paper, I am going to discuss the philosopher Aristotle. This paper will discuss how Aristotle perspective of distributive justice is applicable to ethics. Also, I will discuss Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics philosophy, why it is valuable and how it potentially connects to accounting and business. There have been many excellent philosophers and thinkers through past time. There are three main ones that I liked and truly had an accountant and business ethics philosophy. They are Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle. I decided to choose Aristotle as the greatest of them all on this subject. Aristotle was a student of Plato, and he possessed extraordinarily strong ethics. Aristotle born in northern Greece. He was a notable product of an educational program devised by Plato. He studied at an academy for twenty years. His view on individual human beings is they invariably linked together in a social context. Aristotle disagreed with Plato’s view but defended his own vision of ultimate reality. According to Britannica.com, he was an ancient Greek philosopher and scientist, one of the greatest intellectual figures of Western history. He had a wide and a vast range of intellectual pieces. He was the founder of formal logic and the most outstanding as a philosopher among many. This paper will discuss how Aristotle philosopher’s perspective of virtue ethics is applicable to ethical practices in business and accounting. I will give a brief synopsis on Aristotle’s history. I will discuss his view on distributive justice and how it applies to ethics. Finally, I will discuss how Aristotle Nichomachean Ethics philosophy, why it is valuable and how it potentially connects to accounting and business. Aristotle vision for a “good life” can be

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Aristotle

...Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, together with Socrates and Plato, laid much of the groundwork for western philosophy. IN THESE GROUPS * FAMOUS PHILOSOPHERS * FAMOUS PEOPLE WHO MADE DISCOVERIES * FAMOUS GREEKS * FAMOUS PEOPLE WHO DIED IN GREECE Show All Groups 1 of 3  « » QUOTES “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” —Aristotle Synopsis Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle was born circa 384 B.C. in Stagira, Greece. When he turned 17, he enrolled in Plato’s Academy. In 338, he began tutoring Alexander the Great. In 335, Aristotle founded his own school, the Lyceum, in Athens, where he spent most of the rest of his life studying, teaching and writing. Aristotle died in 322 B.C., after he left Athens and fled to Chalcis. Aristotle - Mini Biography (TV-14; 03:02) Learn more about the life of Greek philosopher Aristotle, whose work profoundly influenced the modern scientific method, in this mini biography. Early Life Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle was born circa 384 B.C. in Stagira, a small town on the northern coast of Greece that was once a seaport. Aristotle’s father, Nicomachus, was court physician to the Macedonian king Amyntas II. Although Nicomachus died when Aristotle was just a young boy, Aristotle remained closely affiliated with and influenced by the Macedonian court for the rest of his life. Little is known about his mother, Phaestis; she is also believed to have died when Aristotle was young. After Aristotle’s father died...

Words: 1769 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Aristotle

...Aristotle As an important figure head in the field of philosophy, Aristotle and his numerous influences will be detailed. Identification and evaluation of key concepts and analyses that comprised his theories will be discussed along with identification and description of his contributions to the field of philosophy will also be offered. Lastly, further discussion will focus on how the culture and the time period influenced his ideology. Metaphysics Metaphysics is a branch philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being. It is considered to be one of the greatest philosophical works. It kind of piggy backs off of Plato’s theory of forms. Plato believed that the nature of things is eternal and doesn’t change, but we know from just living in this world that things are always changing daily. Aristotle wanted to reconcile these contradictory statements of the views of the world. Aristotle used the influence of both Heraclitus and Parmenides. One believed that things appear to be permanent but they are really gradually changing all the time. Parmenides, argued certain conclusions could be reached by using reason alone and making no use of senses. After studying at the Academy, Aristotle would turn against his teaching and felt that there was a connection between the abstraction of existence and the science of nature. Aristotle described substance as material reality and formal and discusses the connection between actuality and potentiality. According to...

Words: 1865 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Aristotle

...writers from Paper Masters have researched and found that Aristotle takes much of his notion on friendship from politics. Research papers on Aristotle's view of friendship looks at the philosophy of Aristotle and explicates how this philosophy boils down to politics and virtue in a man. Aristotle's treatment of friendship, including his definitions of friendship, is found within his work on ethics, the "Nicomachean Ethics." Friendship is included within his discussion of his general ethical theory. Aristotle bases his ethical theory on two constructs: Politics Virtue In most of the "Nicomachean Ethics," Aristotle discusses these two major subjects as separate subjects; or when they are discussed in relation to each other, they are discussed mostly with respect to what proportion of each is found in political activities or the conditions or state of a person's life. For instance, the more political an action is, the less virtuous it may be. And the more virtuous is an individual, the less he may be involved in the practical ends of politics. As mentioned earlier, friendship is a blending of politics and virtue; it can be looked at as an ideal blending. The Philosophy of Friendship According to Aristotle Friendship is included as a subject in term papers about Aristotle as a part of his general ethical theory because friendship has to do with the good which is the fundamental of the general ethical theory. As Aristotle begins the "Nicomachean Ethics," "Every art and every...

Words: 615 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Aristotle

...Jennifer Canon PHI - 2010-15850 T 7PM Aristotle the Great Philosopher The Greek philosopher Aristotle made significant and lasting contributions to nearly every aspect of human knowledge, from logic to biology to ethics and aesthetics. In Arabic philosophy, he was known simply as “The First Teacher”; in the West, he was “The Philosopher.” Aristotle was born in 384 B.C. northern Greece in a town called Stagria . Both of his parents were members of traditional medical families, and his father, Nicomachus, served as court physician to King Amyntus III of Macedonia. Some believe it to be his father's influence that gave Aristotle his interest in anatomy and the structure of living things in general. At age 17 he went to Athens to enroll in Plato's Academy. He spent the next 20 years first as a student and then as a teacher at the school. When he left the school he emerged as a great teacher and had many opinions about his teacher Plato. For the next five years, Aristotle went to the coast of Asia Minor as a guest of former students at Assos and Lesbos. It was here that he began his research into marine biology and married his wife Pythias, with whom he had his only daughter, also named Pythias. In 342 Aristotle was summoned to Macedonia by King Philip II to tutor his son, the future Alexander the Great. Although speculation concerning Aristotle's influence upon the developing Alexander has proven irresistible to historians, in fact little concrete is known about...

Words: 1004 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

History

...I. THE THEORY OF THE IDEAS AND PLATO’S ONTOLOGY I. 1. The ontological dualism The theory of the Ideas is the base of Plato’s philosophy: the Ideas are not only the real objects ontologically speaking, but they are the authentically objects of knowledge epistemologically speaking. From the point of view of ethics and politics, they are the foundation of the right behaviour, and anthropologically speaking they are the base of Plato’s dualism and they even allow him demonstrate the immortality of the soul. Plato defends a clear ontological dualism in which there are two types of realities or worlds: the sensible world and the intelligible world or, as he calls it, the world of the Ideas. The Sensible World is the world of individual realities, and so is multiple and constantly changing, is the world of generation and destruction; is the realm of the sensible, material, temporal and space things. On the contrary, the Intelligible World is the world of the universal, eternal and invisible realities called Ideas (or "Forms"), which are immutable and do not change because they are not material, temporal or space. Ideas can be understood and known; they are the authentic reality. The Ideas or Forms are not just concepts or psychic events of our minds; they do exist as objective and independent beings out of our consciences. They are also the origin of sensible things, but although they are the authentic beings, Plato, unlike Parmenides of Elea, do not completely...

Words: 11604 - Pages: 47

Free Essay

Aristotle

...Aristotle (Ancient Greek: Ἀριστοτέλης, Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology. Together with Plato and Socrates (Plato's teacher), Aristotle is one of the most important founding figures in Western philosophy. Aristotle's writings were the first to create a comprehensive system of Western philosophy, encompassing morality, aesthetics, logic, science, politics, and metaphysics. Aristotle's views on the physical sciences profoundly shaped medieval scholarship, and their influence extended well into the Renaissance, although they were ultimately replaced by Newtonian physics. In the zoological sciences, some of his observations were confirmed to be accurate only in the 19th century. His works contain the earliest known formal study of logic, which was incorporated in the late 19th century into modern formal logic. In metaphysics, Aristotelianism had a profound influence on philosophical and theological thinking in the Islamic and Jewish traditions in the Middle Ages, and it continues to influence Christian theology, especially the scholastic tradition of the Catholic Church. Aristotle was well known among medieval Muslim intellectuals and revered as المعلم الأول - "The First Teacher". His ethics, though always influential, gained...

Words: 275 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Aristotle’s Philosophy and the Social Issue of Poverty

...Dagayah D. Edillo ARISTOTLE Background Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle was born circa 384 B.C. in Stagira, a small town on the northern coast of Greece that was once a seaport. When he turned 17, he enrolled in Plato’s Academy. In 338, he began tutoring Alexander the Great. In 335, Aristotle founded his own school, the Lyceum, in Athens, where he spent most of the rest of his life studying, teaching and writing. Aristotle died in 322 B.C., after he left Athens and fled to Chalcis. Aristotle’s father, Nicomachus, was court physician to the Macedonian king Amyntas II. Although Nicomachus died when Aristotle was just a young boy, Aristotle remained closely affiliated with and influenced by the Macedonian court for the rest of his life. Little is known about his mother, Phaestis; she is also believed to have died when Aristotle was young. Philosophy: Social Issue: ARISTOTLE’S PHILOSOPHY AND THE SOCIAL ISSUE OF POVERTY “Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.” -Aristotle “The rich man’s wealth is his strong city; the destruction of the poor is their poverty.” Poverbs 10:15 KJV. This verse connotes that rich people have their riches to rely on by that means denying the Glory of God in their lives. And the poor have no such reliance but if they don’t trust God through their hardship, these rich and poor people will be destroyed through criminality. Being without things, having little money, not many material possessions and...

Words: 498 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics

...Nicomachean Ethics is a famous book, where Aristotle follows Socrates and Plato in discussing the virtues of a central to a well-lived life. In this specific passage, Aristotle regards the ethical virtue of Friendliness to be a central part of social intercourse. Aristotle describes how different people act differently in different situations because of the social situation and kind of person they are. The passage builds the case to show how people are different, and how we should be able to better identify who a true friend truly is. There are different types of friendship, friendship based on greed, and friendship based on goodness of character. This assignment will discuss and better interpret these different characteristics which Aristotle...

Words: 846 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Aristole

...November 13, 2009 Aristotle “All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsion, habit, reason, passion, and desire.” (Aristotle), this quote has great meaning to me because this is the true reasoning behind human actions. This quote helps show that Aristotle was one of the most important founding figures in Western philosophy. It was Aristotle who was the first to create a comprehensive system of Western philosophy and in this philosophy he encompassed morality and aesthetics, logic and science, politics and metaphysics. Aristotle accomplished much throughout his life Aristotle was born 384 BC in Stagira in northern Greece, about 34 miles east of modern-day Thessaloniki. Aristotle father, Nicomachus and he was a court physician to the king of Macedon. Aristotle was trained and educated as a aristocracy. When Aristotle was at the young age of 18, he traveled to Athens to study under his future teacher, Plato at Plato’s academy. There is much information about Aristotle while he was working with Plato even though Aristotle stayed and studied with Plato for a full 20 years. But shortly after Plato’s death Aristotle left Athens to conduct philosophical and biological research with Xenocrates and to court of his friend Mermias of Atarneus. While in Asia, Aristotle traveled with Theophrastus to the island of Lesbos, where together they researched the botany and zoology of the island. Soon after their exhibition Aristotle married Hermias's...

Words: 775 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

The Idealization of Society

...Plato was one of the first to develop the concept of a political utopia. In The Republic, he attempted to outline the guidelines for a just society. Plato's Utopia appears, at first to be an excellent idea. However, his perfect society is less than the ideal, even from the contemporary perspective. Aristotle, through "The Politic” attempted to understand the nature of man in a "realistic" view. What Plato called ideal, Aristotle called unfeasible. He tries to make rationale judgment in the management of his ideal of a society, through understanding human behavior and logic, making it what he would deem a more realistic society. As humans we tend to care more about our individual needs prior to the needs of others. The values that we express reflect our own self-interest, where the good of the individual was the main concern and was not the same as that of the State. Plato saw this to be determinate to society based on the awareness that Guardians, such as civil leaders and assistants would care more about their individual desires, and their needs; disregarding anything else to fulfill their pleasures. "On this basis they will then be free from faction, to the extent tat any rate that human beings divide into factions over the possession of money, children, and relatives" (Stephanos 464e). Plato recognized this to create factions among individuals, where these divisions' main concerns were to themselves, their family, and to others that were close to them. Families create that...

Words: 4475 - Pages: 18

Premium Essay

Aristotle Research Paper

...I. Outline of Aristotle personal achievements and misdeeds A. Aristotle was born in Stagira Greece 384 B.C.E his father was a court physician this gave him a close association with Macedonian Court. After his father died Aristotle at age 17 was sent to an intellectual center where he studied for 20 years. He also began to study under Plato. When Plato died Aristotle diverged from his teachings which made him no longer eligible to take Plato’s place. He then got married and soon after travel to Mytilene under the invitation of Philip of Macedonia to tutor his 13 year old son Alexander who would become Alexander the great. This gave Aristotle a high honor in the court. When alexander took over the throne due to his father death and Aristotle...

Words: 1335 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas Fact Files

...Aristotle Name: Aristotle Occupation: Philosopher Birth date: c. 384 BCE Death date: c. 322 BCE Education: Plato's Academy, Lyceum Place of birth: Stagira, Chalcidice, Greece Place of death: Chalcis, Euboea, Greece Synopsis Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle was born circa 384 B.C. in Stagira, Greece. When he turned 17, he enrolled in Plato’s Academy. In 338, he began tutoring Alexander the Great. In 335, Aristotle founded his own school, the Lyceum, in Athens, where he spent most of the rest of his life studying, teaching and writing. Aristotle died in 322 B.C., after he left Athens and fled to Chalcis. Early Life In Athens, Aristotle enrolled in Plato’s Academy, Greek’s premier learning institution, and proved an exemplary scholar. Aristotle maintained a relationship with Greek philosopher Plato, himself a student of Socrates, and his academy for two decades. Plato died in 347 B.C. Because Aristotle had disagreed with some of Plato’s philosophical treatises, Aristotle did not inherit the position of director of the academy, as many imagined he would. After Plato died, Aristotle’s friend Hermias, king of Atarneus and Assos in Mysia, invited Aristotle to court. During his three-year stay in Mysia, Aristotle met and married his first wife, Pythias, Hermias’ niece. Together, the couple had a daughter, Pythias, named after her mother. Teaching In 338 B.C., Aristotle went home to Macedonia to start tutoring King Phillip II’s son, the then 13-year-old...

Words: 1228 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

My Term Paper in Ancient Philosophy

...ARISTOTLE’S PRUDENCE IN UPHOLDING THE VANISHING FILIPINO VALUE; DELICADEZA A Termpaper Presented to Dr. Rodrigo Abenes,PH.D Rogationist Seminary College-Manila In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Course Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy Submitted by: Sem. Joseph Jeric C. Umangga ARISTOTLE’S PRUDENCE IN UPHOLDING THE VANISHING FILIPINO VALUE; DELICADEZA I. INTRODUCTION Ancestors during their times are known for being disciplined and decent citizens.[1]Ancient law makers had filled the Philippines through instituting laws, rules and regulations to provide the citizens a peaceful and orderly way of life. Through the obedience of the Filipinos, they had practiced to be always properly conducted every time in accordance with the place they dwell with. Later on, Filipinos have found the conclusion which is to include the value called Delicadeza as one of the Filipino values. II. DELICADEZA AS A VALUE Delicadeza is a Spanish word coined from “Delicado” which means fragile, irreplaceable and precious.[2] In Spanish it can mean many things – ‘delicacy’, ‘kindness’, ‘tact.’ The word implies a care for what others think and the accordant behavior this requires from the person in act. When one does not exhibit delicadeza then one does not care what others think and will behave despite what has been deemed ‘improper. ’ Delicadeza, in this sense, can be seen to underline a sense of community...

Words: 2975 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Aristotle

...ARISTOTLE Aristotle was born in Stagira, a “Grecian colony. His father was a court physician to the King Amyntas of Macedonia. It is believed that his purse of studies is due to his father’s influence of practicing medicine. He died at his country house at Chalcis, in Euboea at the age of sixty-two years old in the year of 322 B.C. He died to an illness he suffered from for a long period of time. There were legends that told his death to be because of hemlock poisoning, as well as another legend, it was said he couldn’t explain the tides so he threw himself into the sea. Aristotle was a high-minded, kind hearted man devoted to his family and his friends. He was a man who followed the ideals he outlined in his ethical treaties (“Aristotle”). During the time frame of thirteen years when Aristotle taught at his school, called Lyceum, he composed his writings into dialogues (“Aristotle”). His school was widely known as the walking school or the Peripatetic school because a lot of the discussion at the school took place while walking the grounds (“Encarta: Aristotle”). He taught the young conqueror Alexander, who became Alexander the Great, and thereafter his writings were lost and not recovered until the 1st century B.C. During the middle ages they were translated into Latin and Arabic and became a basis for Christian theology. In 2000 years no one has came close to his brilliance...

Words: 1314 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

Virtue Ethics

...Aristotle and David Hume developed accounts of ethics that remained true to their own empirical philosophies that are different from more traditional accounts with the overall theme of how a virtuous person would live their life. In contrast, David Hume developed his own account of sentimentalist virtue ethics that challenges, or pushes back on, the virtue ethics Aristotle. According to Aristotle, we should be virtuous people – and as virtuous people do virtuous things. Instead of talking about particular actions and the rules according to which they are undertaken, then, Aristotle requires us to look at virtues, or qualities of character. Within Aristotle, the emphasis is more on character traits than on rules or obligations. Moral agency is not merely a matter of which rules to follow, but a whole way of life, which requires a unity of thought and feeling, which is characteristic of what Aristotle called ‘virtue’. What is a virtue, and what is the virtuous life? Aristotle’s definition is cited by Boetzkes and Waluchow: virtue is “a state of character concerned with choice, lying in a mean, i.e., the mean relative to us, this being determined by rational principle, that principle by which the man of practical wisdom would determine it.” Virtue is a kind of disposition, but that’s not all – for virtue is a disposition to choose well. For Aristotle, virtuous action is action that emerges from one’s disposition to choose the middle point (or golden mean) between two vicious extremes;...

Words: 1667 - Pages: 7