Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics
In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle sets out to give an account of how to best attain happiness. According to Aristotle, happiness is the greatest good and is the motivating factor for all of our actions (1094a1-3). Even though we may feel motivated to act in order to gain honor and praise, these things are not good for their own sake. Happiness, however, does not have a further end and is thus the greatest good (1095a17-20). Attaining happiness requires that we act in a way that corresponds with moral excellences, i.e., moral virtues (1103a16-20). Aristotle believes that choice is a fundamental aspect of adhering to moral excellences and that we must consciously decide to act with control and moderation (1106b36-1107a4). In this paper, I
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Intellectual excellence is what we would normally consider to be knowledge that one learns from a teacher or instructor. Moral excellence, on the other hand, is not something that can be taught but rather something that comes about through habit (1103a14-18). Aristotle says that all of us have the potential for moral excellence; however, it is not something that simply grows within us naturally. He uses an example of a musician to make his point even clearer. Consider a guitar player: How would we determine whether someone was a guitar player? It would be quite simple, all we would have to do is see whether they have practiced and played the guitar for a certain amount of time. Moral excellence is similar to this because in order for a person to be considered morally excellent, they must habitually practice …show more content…
He says that when we participate in deliberation, we are thinking of the means to go about achieving a goal rather than the goal itself (1112b13-18). For example, when a car mechanic sees that a car’s tire is flat, he does not deliberate about the flat tire. Instead, he considers the best way that he can go about fixing the flat tire. Here, we see that the mechanic already begins with his goal in mind and retroactively assesses the situation and deliberates about the best way to go about achieving his goal. This discussion leads us to Aristotle’s definition of choice, which is the “deliberate desire of things in our own power”
Intellectual excellence is what we would normally consider to be knowledge that one learns from a teacher or instructor. Moral excellence, on the other hand, is not something that can be taught but rather something that comes about through habit (1103a14-18). Aristotle says that all of us have the potential for moral excellence; however, it is not something that simply grows within us naturally. He uses an example of a musician to make his point even clearer. Consider a guitar player: How would we determine whether someone was a guitar player? It would be quite simple, all we would have to do is see whether they have practiced and played the guitar for a certain amount of time. Moral excellence is similar to this because in order for a person to be considered morally excellent, they must habitually practice …show more content…
He says that when we participate in deliberation, we are thinking of the means to go about achieving a goal rather than the goal itself (1112b13-18). For example, when a car mechanic sees that a car’s tire is flat, he does not deliberate about the flat tire. Instead, he considers the best way that he can go about fixing the flat tire. Here, we see that the mechanic already begins with his goal in mind and retroactively assesses the situation and deliberates about the best way to go about achieving his goal. This discussion leads us to Aristotle’s definition of choice, which is the “deliberate desire of things in our own power”