...Plato and Aristotle have similar views on the achievement of the good life but also many important differences. While both Plato and Aristotle believe that the good life is one that attains happiness and that only a philosophical life will bring ultimate happiness which will therefore lead to the good life, the main difference between the two is the status or nature of the good and thus happiness. In this essay I shall explain both Plato’s and Aristotle’s views on the good life and how it should be attained. Plato’s good life is an idealist view, as he came up with the theory of ideas (ideas come first, then the world) The ‘good’ to Plato is somehow different to the actual object we see, as the good is outside the world (in the world of ideas) To ‘see’ the good of ideas we must use our rationality. He believed that the entities are corruptible as they change (they possess becoming) To live a good life one must know what the good life is as an idea. The ‘good’ ‘moral’ and ‘truth’ are all ideas and the ‘Good’ is the idea of ideas. The good is an absolute term; being self-evident, transcendental and consistent. Plato believed that the Good life equals truth which equals knowledge which equals morality. According to Plato, to lead a good life one must have internal self-control – one must know one’s self. Plato also believed that you must have a self-disciplined mind to have a good mind. One way Plato explained his idea of the good life was by using the ‘Leaky jar analogy’ He believed...
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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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...A&F has a very selective target market, which does not include anyone who is overweight or in Jeffries’s mind who is not “good-looking”. In my opinion, even though the company A&F believes it has a certain brand image to maintain, there is no reason why A&F should discriminate against the amount of people that they do. By considering Aristotelian virtue ethics, Mill’s utilitarianism, and Carr’s idea on business bluffing, it is easy to see why the tactics of A&F are unmoral, or in the case of Carr, unjustified. On the other side, Kantian deontology shows that the tactics of A&F can be considered moral, however Kant’s reasons are not stronger than the reasons of Aristotle, Mill, and Carr. Before getting into the analyses from the perspectives from the previously mentioned people, it would be ideal to give some background information on the unethical values of A&F. It was not until 1996 when Jeffries became fully in charge of A&F when the company started to become an unethical store. The main reason the company has become so unethical, was because of the new brand image Jeffries decided to create for the company. Instead of having a brand image that could be marketed towards a large amount of people, Jeffries wanted the company to only be marketed to a specific target market. In Jeffries’s mind, he only wanted attractive people to wear his clothing line; therefore he wanted to discriminate against anyone who did not fit his ideal description. According to Jeffries, his ideal A&F...
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...Justice has always been an interesting topic for philosophers and also for ordinary people. Justice can be defined briefly as “the fairness in the way that people are treated” (Collins Cobuild, p. 910). Plato and Aristotle, two leading figures of ancient Greek civilization, were earliest philosophers who thought about justice and developed theories about the sublime aspects of being just. This assignment is an attempt to prove that pursuing a life of justice would make living more worthwhile than being unjust or a combination of just and unjust life. In order to reach this point, I am going to explain the concept of justice and its superior aspects from the perspective of both Plato and Aristotle by taking help from their famous works “The Republic” and “The Nicomachean Ethics”. I will also give place to counter arguments and their rebuttals. I will make my own comments at the final part of the assignment. Plato (427 BC-347 BC) was one of the earlier and most important philosophers of the world and is also known as the founder of “The Academy”. Plato’s most famous work is “The Republic” in which he tries to draw the qualities of a just individual and a just state by explaining the sublime nature of justice. In the first two books of The Republic, dialogues between different characters focus on different meanings of justice. During the conversation two conventional definitions of justice (“giving a man’s due” and “doing good to your friends, harm to your enemies”) are refuted...
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...countries have one important factor in common that makes them ideal for studying euthanasia: aging populations who primarily die of degenerative diseases, rather than parasitic or infectious diseases (Battin 579). In the United States, outright euthanasia is illegal. Rather, the accepted form of ending a patient’s life is withholding or withdrawing any forms of treatment which were previously keeping said patient alive (Battin 580). In the Netherlands,...
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...Was Socrates the first coach? The ancient Greek philosophers and coaching Flourishing life (eudaimonia) Excellence (aristia) –Prudence (phronesis) – Morals (ethos) This original article (a shorter one) written by Barbara Asimakopoulou was first published in International Coaching Federation’s blog The ancient Greek philosophers, motivated by their love of knowledge (the actual word “philosopher” derives from the Greek words “filos” and “Sophia” which mean “friend” and “wisdom” respectively) have been preoccupied with the investigation of the reasons for human existence and the way men should live, so as to be consistent with their reason for being. Their views widely appealed to the western world and formed the foundation for western philosophy and psychology, influencing the philosophers who followed, from the oldest to the most contemporary ones and inspiring passionate support but not without also being questioned. Today, most of their views seem to have lost nothing of their lustre and stand out like shining beacons, especially now that the western world is desperately seeking answers in order to relight its fires!!! In the text below, I refer to Aristotle and Socrates, the principles and practices they bequeathed us, so as to prove that these have a lot in common with the principles and practices of coaching. In addition, I will attempt to prove that Socrates is the first ever coach!!! Aristotle, a student of Socrates and Plato, the most important philosopher...
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...Although there are some similarities to virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontological ethics the differences give a more precise explanation how each theory accost ethics and morality. Virtue theory expresses its views that an individual should strive for excellence in all that a person encounters and promote peer excellence. Virtue theory describes the confidence of being moral and non-moral (Boylan, 2009). Aristotle, Plato, and Aquinas founded the theories. According to Boylan (2009), Aristotle answers “every art and every methodological investigation and every action seems to aim at some good, for this reason the good is rightly said to be that to which all things aim” (pg. 135). Aristotle went on to proclaim that morality is doing the right thing even when no one is looking, but it also contributes to noble living (Boylan, 2009). Virtue ethics is described as being content or having a sense of well-being” (pg. 137). Utilitarianism is an ethical doctrine that says virtue is based on utility and personal conduct should be geared toward advocating extreme happiness in the highest amount of individuals. Utilitarianism Utilitarianism is a moral theory founded by Jeremy Bentham during the Victorian era. He considered the need for society to rely on reason rather than metaphysics. The...
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...Socrates • Socrates said that virtue is knowledge – to know what is right is to do what is right. • All wrongdoing is the result of ignorance – nobody chooses to do wrong deliberately. • Therefore, to be moral you must have true knowledge. The problem of the One and the Many Plato was trying to find a solution to the problem that although there is underlying stability in the world (sun comes up every morning), it is constantly changing (you never step into the same river twice). 1. An old theory about this problem is that we gain all knowledge from our senses – empirically. 2. Plato disagreed with this. He said that because the world is constantly changing, our senses cannot be trusted. Plato illustrated his idea in the dialogue, ‘Meno’: Socrates sets a slave boy a mathematical problem. The slave boy knows the answer, yet he has not been taught maths. Plato suggests that the slave boy remembers the answer to the problem, which has been in his mind all along. So, according to Plato, we don't learn new things, we remember them. In other words, knowledge is innate. Plato’s Theory of the Forms Plato believed that the world was divided into: 1. Reality and; 2. Appearance |REALITY |APPEARANCE | |An intelligible world |A visible world | |A world beyond the senses |A world of senses | |A world of...
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...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...
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...procedures that meet the needs of the community by promoting inclusion and addressing inequalities. Every student is treated as an individual and we strive to eliminate discrimination and overcome the disadvantages that exist in society these days that have treated some groups less favourably than others. My duty as an educator is to provide my learners with a positive learning environment and to support their wellbeing by providing challenging, interactive and good quality learning experiences. Wellbeing The psychology of wellbeing has been studied since the times of Aristotle, for two millennia, man has sought the highest good for himself, happiness. The notion of happiness remains vague and multifarious, yet every human being searches for it. However, how to define and obtain happiness has and continues to be a widely debated issue. In Nichomachean Ethics, Aristotle gives his view on happiness. According to Aristotle, various types of people pursue different outcomes; ordinary people seek pleasure, whereas others say that seeking glory is the greatest good. There must be a greater good than glory. Plato suggests that there is only one form of good and that all good things are viewed in the same way....
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...sacrifice the practice of being ethical in order to remain effective communicators. The idea behind ethics is developing an idea of what is “right” and what is “wrong” within a community and an individual. Ethics differ in different communities because they are based on the values of each community. This is why it is hard to have true Christian ethics in theatre. Because we were created by God, humans are called to be virtuous and tell the truth. By studying what is good, just and beautiful, one will become good, just and beautiful. Sometimes theatre focuses on themes that are far from what is just and good. Plato was worried that the idea of free imagination took us away from truth and reality (Dutton). It is important to remember that ideas have consequences, so this makes theatre responsible for the ideas that are portrayed to an audience through the show. However, those who call theatre immoral are missing the purpose (Dutton). Ethics are an important part of human life because they create standards that allow us to work towards success...
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...Aristotle believed all human activities are aimed at “eudaimonia” or happiness. He believed that what makes human beings distinct from other living things is our capacity for rational behaviour, gaining knowledge and acting on reasons. He believed to live a good life is to live a life of practical knowledge and that this is similar to living a life of virtue. Aristotle concluded that a virtue is a learned disposition to reason and act in a certain way. Virtues are habits of mind that move us towards a good life. Virtue ethics, its most famous form from Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics, focus on what sort of people we should strive to be and not just that things we should do on individual occasions. Moral dilemmas are usually situations in which there are two choices to make, neither of which resolves the situation in an ethically acceptable fashion. Hence in business, virtue ethics requires leaders to act in a way that they will increase their contributions to the good life. All business leaders will inevitably face moral dilemmas. In navigating through these dilemmas, virtue ethics and reason tell the business leaders to follow the character traits that upon, contemplation and reflection, they view as consistent with virtue. An art director, with a team of designers and illustrators, overseeing the promotion efforts of their new toy is “strongly” persuaded by his boss to “borrow” copyrighted design material and schematics from another overseas toy firm. His boss...
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...profession[->0]]. The first component is, in a general sense, unarguable. Standing alone, the statement of keeping someone alive bears a right to which every human is morally obliged to uphold. They key here is standing alone....Of course society’s code of conduct says that we must preserve life, but this can only be true to a sense until the next issue is incorporated - what if their life is not good? What exactly is not good? If we take it from an Aristotelean point of view, we can see that Aristotle claimed that happiness or good living - being happy, healthy, prosperous, and flourishing - is the goal of human life[->1] and the basis of all ethical behavior[->2]. This eudaimonia that he begins to describe is an end, in a sense that that goal has been reached. If one can no longer reach this ultimate goal or end or is rendered unable to physically or mentally move oneself in that direction (after all, someone else can’t live your life for you to move you to happiness) their life is considered not good. A life rendered not good combined with our ethical obligation to keep someone alive, probably still not enough to grant the...
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...popularity, the use of celebrity as endorsement has been able to boost up their brand awareness and also their sales, consumer are more attracted towards coca cola as their favorite celebrity is also drinking the products, India is one country, which has always idolized the stars of the celluloid world. Therefore it makes tremendous sense for a brand to procure a celebrity for its endorsement. In India there is an exponential potential for a celebrity endorsement to be perceived as genuinely relevant, thereby motivating consumers to go in for the product. Among the celebrity that has been coca cola India endorser is Amir Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor. A quote from Aristotle said that, Beauty is a greater recommendation than any letter of recommendation. The quote from Aristotle said that the use of an image or a person is better attraction or recommendation than any other sort of advertisement. Coca cola India uses celebrity as their endorser will attract more customer as the celebrity itself is their idol and they look up on their on their idol itself. The benefit of using celebrity endorsement is the establishment of credibility, ensured attention, and higher degree of recall. When a brand uses a celebrity as their endorser credibility is established, normally when a celebrity is chosen, they must be an idol or a current idol towards the people, so when they promote a brand the brand credibility is establish. Secondly is ensured attention, people are more...
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...cultural moralities. The Reflections of Life’s Existence Introduction Why do we care about the meaning of life? Do we need to ponder questions about our existence in order to be happy? Scientists and philosophers have pondered these questions and tried to find answers to concerns about free will and do we have a soul. They also have deliberated about how reason effects our decisions and if ethics plays a role in how humans interact. Do people with higher morals make for happier people? Metaphysics: What is real and how do we know the correct reality? Metaphysics is the study of reality and how we understand the world around us explained using science and reason. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP) explains (n.d.) Aristotle believed that we perceive our world around us with our eyes. We are visual creatures. That is why sight is so important and the argument of materialism and spiritualism still exists. Humans use the material elements around us to explain and relate to each other. We consider physical attributes and their relationships to one another. Is the physical world more or less real than the spiritual or psychological world? That is the conflict amongst philosophers. There are two schools of thought. They are equal...
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