...The Nicomachaen Ethics The Nicomachean Ethics are philosophical analysis of the nature of the good life for a human. Aristotle starts off his work by stating that there exists an ultimate good in which ultimately all human actions aim for. The characteristics of the ultimate good are that they are complete, final, self-sufficient, and continuous. The good which all humans aim for is happiness in Greek, “eudaimonia,” which can also be translated as living well, and is not a state of being but rather a type of activity. “Every art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and pursuit, is thought to aim at some good; and for this reason the good has rightly been declared to be that at which all things aim.”(Ch. 1) To discover the nature of human happiness one must determine what the function of a human being is. The function must be specific to human beings, which is essential to being a human. A person is mainly his intellect. Although the spirit and desire of people is also important, the rational part of the soul is what can most closely be considered a person’s identity. Human happiness consists of the activity of the soul according to reason. “Far best is he who knows all things himself; Good, he that hearkens when men counsel right; But he who neither knows, nor lays to heart Another's wisdom, is a useless Wight.”(Ch. 4) Every action that is taken must be done deliberately. Knowing what he/she is doing, and doing it because it is ethically correct is the meaning...
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...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...
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...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...
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...Unlike utilitarianism, which focuses on the consequences of an action, and deontological ethics, which focuses on moral rules; virtue ethics focuses on doing something simply because it’s the right thing to do based on established virtues. Aristotle (Irbe, 2000) listed several virtues and vices that correspond to different “actions” or “feelings”. Each virtue has two corresponding vices that accompany it, one of the vices occurs when there is an excess of the virtue, and the other occurs when the virtue is deficient. The feeling associated with modesty is shame. If there is too much shame, it would be shyness; however not enough shame would be shamelessness. Virtue ethics focuses on choices that an individual should make based on morals that hold true regardless of the laws and customs of a person’s specific culture. Essentially everyone should be held accountable to the same virtues even if local laws and customs allow the behavior. One should apply virtue ethics to both their personal lives as well as their professional lives. In the 1990’s major concerns were exposed in the manufacturing community about working conditions in factories located in third-world countries (Sethi, Veral, Shapiro, & Emelianova, 2010). Major pressure was then placed on numerous manufacturing companies in an attempt to force them to change their practices and improve working conditions in their factories. While it is the goal of every company to continually increase profits, a company should...
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...Ethics in Aristotle’s Philosophy Ruth Geter AC 504 Ethical Issues in Business and Accounting Unit 2 Assignment July 19, 2016 Aristotle Philosophy Introduction I have chosen Aristotle as my philosopher. “He was the first to argue that equals should be treated equally, and unequal’s should be treated unequally in proportion to their relevant differences” (Brooks and Dunn, 2014). In today’s society people sometimes lose sight of being ethical and often know what is right but chooses to not do the right thing. Most of the time it is out of greed or selfish reasons. His ethical theory is about being happy. “Of all the classical theories considered here, his is the farthest from an ethics of self-interest” (P.I.E,2006). Included in this paper will be philosophy, history of Aristotle, his theories, ethical practices in accounting and business in general and the connection between me and Aristotle. Philosophy “Philosophy is the fundamental study of ideas about knowledge, truth, reality, and the meaning of life” (free dictionary, 2015). According to the dictionary a philosopher is someone who offers theories or opinions in relation to profound questions in terms of ethics, logic, metaphysics, and other related fields” (free dictionary, 2015). Ethics help society in everyday situation whether personal or business related. Ethics help guide us to solutions where the answer is not right or wrong. It is important to weigh the decision based on who may benefit from the outcome...
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...Pleasure resides in the activity which is perfected by that pleasure. A pleasure which is proper to an activity makes the activity more accurate, more enduring, and better, while an alien pleasure impairs the activity. The pleasure proper to a good activity is good, while the pleasure proper to a bad activity is evil. Just as each animal is thought to have a proper function, it also has a proper pleasure which corresponds to the activity of that function. The pleasures proper to human beings are those which correspond to the activity of a perfect and blessed man. Section 6: Let us review what has already been said about happiness. Happiness is an activity of some sort which is chosen for its own sake and is self-sufficient. Actions according to virtue are chosen for their own sake. Happiness is not found in amusement, for it would be absurd to argue that the goal of a person's life and work is amusement. Rather, amusement is chosen for the purpose of relaxation, which is necessary to enable a person to engage in serious work. Everything is thought to be chosen for the sake of something else except for happiness. A happy life is a life according to virtue. Section 7: Since it has already been established [in Book One] that happiness is an activity according to virtue, it is reasonable to posit that it is an activity according to the highest virtue, which would be an activity corresponding to the best part of man. The activity of the intellect is the best human activity...
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...interpreted one aspect of the classical tradition from the standpoint of "~ibertarianY' political theory, in his essay "The State and the Community in Aristotle's Polieics. "' This curious attempt to defend the "libertarianism9' of Lykophron and Mippodamus3 against Aristotle's '6ppaternalism9'is a daring, if ill-conceived, enterprise. In Miller's presentation, Aristotle seems t o emerge as a villain who misunderstand the enlightened political thought of the Greek "libertarians" and, we are to infer, derails subsequent political thought in the name of "'paternalism." Fundamental to Miller's reading of the Politics is the idea t h a t there is a distinction between ""cmmunity" and "'state" that Aristotle confuses in his use of golis. He argues that in Book 1 Aristotle is using polis in the former sense, at the beginning of Book 3 in t h e latter, but that later in Book 3 he confuses the two. The pskis of Book 1, according to Miller, '%is understood as the community itselt a complex system of human relationships, voluntary as well as coercive, personal as well as public9' (p, 63). But, he maintains, in Book 3 Aristotle shifts his...
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...Virtue Ethics—Analysis of the Virtue Expected | Virtue ethics draws its inspiration from the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 B. C.). In Th e Nicomachean Ethics he explored the nature of a good life. He thought that the goal of life is happiness. Th is is not happiness in a hedonistic sense. Instead, happiness, for Aristotle, is an activity of the soul. We fulfi ll our goal of being happy by living a virtuous life, a life in accordance with reason. Now, virtue is a character of the soul that is demonstrated only in voluntary actions (i.e., in acts that are freely chosen after deliberation). So, we become virtuous by regularly performing virtues acts. But Aristotle also felt that there is a need for ethical education so that people will know what acts are virtuous. Aristotle thought that we can understand and identify virtues by arranging human characteristics in triads, with the two extremes being vices and the middle one being a virtue. For Aristotle, courage is the mean between cowardice and rashness; temperance is between self-indulgence and insensibility. Th e other virtues of pride, ambition, good temper, friendliness, truthfulness, ready wit, shame, and justice can similarly be seen as the middle way between two vices. Virtue is the golden mean. Th is is not an arithmetic mean, but rather a path between extremes positions that would vary depending upon the circumstances. You need to use your reasoning to identify the mean in each ethical situation, and you become better...
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...Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle Translated by W. D. Ross Batoche Books Kitchener 1999 Contents BOOK I ....................................................................... 3 BOOK II ................................................................... 20 BOOK III .................................................................. 33 BOOK IV .................................................................. 53 BOOK V ................................................................... 71 BOOK VI .................................................................. 91 BOOK VII............................................................... 105 BOOK VIII ............................................................. 127 BOOK IX ................................................................ 145 BOOK X ................................................................. 163 BOOK I 1 Every art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and pursuit, is thought to aim at some good; and for this reason the good has rightly been declared to be that at which all things aim. But a certain difference is found among ends; some are activities, others are products apart from the activities that produce them. Where there are ends apart from the actions, it is the nature of the products to be better than the activities. Now, as there are many actions, arts, and sciences, their ends also are many; the end of the medical art is health, that of shipbuilding a vessel, that of strategy victory, that of...
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...Ancient Philosophy 3rd November 2011 Epistemology - The theory of knowledge. Theory of Forms or Ideas... • Plato believed that what the senses show us/what we see/what we perceive is called world observation. • Things are not as how we see them • If you are trying to produce an unphysical cause you would use different vocabulary • A physicist can say that the only answer to give a theory about the existence of the world you have to study physics. • Plato brings abstract ideas for examples what is justice? • Plato would say in order to know what justice is you have to get a certain essence of justice. 10th November 2011 • If you want to grasp on reality what you really need to think of is not the world of sense but the world of Ideas that can only be grasped by the philosophers. • What you start with at the bottom are simply dreams... as you climb up the ladder you move from the world of dreams to the world of Doxa(opinion/ordinary common sense) until you reach the epistemei(the only kind of knowledge that gives you Truth) • Plato says that you can never find the perfect justice. You cannot find perfection since perfection is only found in the abstract form of justice. • The ideal of the early Greeks was the perfect male model like hipieus. • Socrates tells hipieus and asks him what beauty is? • Hipieus answers that beauty is a beautiful woman... he thinks that this is obvious • But Socrates continues to challenge him that beauty is not just related to...
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...Similarities and Differences in Virtue Theory, Utilitarianism, and Deontological Ethics This document will discuss the similarities and differences between virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontological ethics. A persons ethical and social responsibility is very important to their personal and business success. Unfortunately, it is difficult to identify and classify what is ethical and moral. I will also provide a personal example of one of the ethical behavior. The first question you must ask yourself is what are the meaning of Virtue Theory, utilitarianism, and Deontological. According to the Webster Dictionary; Virtue- normally good behavior or character, a good moral quality, or the good result that comes from somerthing. Now what does that mean in laymens term, After reviewing the technical and professional expernatiation When talking about ethics it is hard to distinguish between ethics and morality. It is also hard to distinguish exactly what realm of ethics contributes to my everyday decisions. Ethics can be defined as “well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues [and] ethics refers to the study and development of one's ethical standards” (Andre, Shanks, & Velasquez, 2010, para. 8-9). According to Psychology Today (2013) morality is, “ethics, evil, greed, sin, and conscience” (para. 1). “Morals can vary from person to person...
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...And as ideas are fast-changing in this dynamic world, based on observations, so does logical argument change accordingly. The earliest of philosophical dialogues consisted of Socrates’ interaction with his interlocutors, where he cross-examined them till they ended up in perplexity of their own thoughts or aporia. In the Meno, Plato ensures that following the concept of dialectic leads a person to recognizing the errors in their own thoughts and can also lead to new discoveries that are positive. In Phaeddrus dialectic is systemized to follow “division and generalization” so as to work for analysis of concepts in order find relations between...
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...potentially death? Then, adding even more confusion to the mix, do his patriotism and loyalty to his country override all other factors and persuade him to release the innocent stranger? Any sort of ethical approach, be it utilitarianism, Kantianism, or virtue theory, leaves a remarkable gray area from which the doctor and German each must construct what he believes to be the most ethical decision. Of all the theories, though, Aristotle’s virtue theory presents the most conflicting decision-making process of them all. Virtue theory deals more with the character of what it is to be human, than the difference between right and wrong, and furthermore, aims to answer the question “what sort of person should I be?” As with any approach to ethics, Aristotle’s theory has its critics who would say that this theory is a failure for not providing a clear solution to the conflict where other approaches would be able to more efficiently and concisely resolve the issue. Determining which action or decision will be the best or most virtuous is a much more delicate task...
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...many ways to define "ethics," almost as many as there are ethicists. For our purposes, let's use this definition: Ethics is the discipline and practice of applying value to human behavior (as well as to the constructs of human culture particularly to morality, customs and laws) resulting in meaningfulness. From the earliest moments of recorded human consciousness, the ethical discipline has exhibited four fundamental "approaches" These four approaches are often called "ethical decision-making frameworks:" Utilitarian Ethics (outcome based), Deontological Ethics (duty based), Virtue Ethics (virtue based) and Communitarian Ethics (community based). Each has a distinctive point of departure as well as distinctive ways of doing the fundamental ethical task of raising and answering questions of value. It is also important to understand that all four approaches have both overlaps and common elements. Some of the "common elements" of all four approaches are the following: · Impartiality: weighting interests equally · Rationality: backed by reasons a rational person would accept · Consistency: standards applied similarly to similar cases · Reversibility: standards that apply no matter who "makes" the rules These are, in a sense, the rules of the "ethics game", no matter which school or approach to ethics one feels the closest identity. The Utilitarian approach is perhaps the most familiar and easiest to understand of all the four approaches to ethics. Whether we think...
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...defined as enjoying, showing, or marked by pleasure, satisfaction, or joy. People generally associate happiness with simply having a good feeling inside whether it is from monetary or financial gain, finding a potential soul mate, getting a promotion at work, self employed, the birth of children, and so on. These are all different ways in which people generally associate the happy feeling with. Many people express their happiness in different ways; therefore, it can be said that happiness is something that you can't just buy or gain because it comes form deep within. It is also known that happiness changes as circumstances change around each individual's everyday life. This paper will discuss happiness based on scientific studies, how Aristotle relates happiness, and occasions associated with a happy person. Happiness related to Studies and Psychologist There are many scholars, specialist, neurologist, and more who study the brain. They often relate happiness to different levels of dopamine and and serotonin levels in the brain, which is a known transmitter in the brain that controls the nervous system causing the feelings of happiness and sadness (Inglehart, & Klingemann, 2000). According to other researchers, globally, people generally report being at the least somewhat happy, regardless of their age and gender. “As part of their scientific pursuit of happiness, researchers have examined possible associations between happiness and economic growth...
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