According to Aristotle‚ the highest virtue of man is reason. He believes reason is what separates us from other living beings. Without reason‚ we would be no different than animals living on instinct. To understand exactly what he means‚ we must understand how Aristotle defines virtue. Virtue‚ according to Aristotle‚ is the excellence of function. Everything has a specific function and performing that function with excellence leads to having virtue. He believes the unique human function is
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Aristotle has defined three types of friendships for us to evaluate: utility‚ pleasure‚ and true friendship. A utility friendships are better described as alliances. These friendships are beneficial to both parties and the duration of the friendship lasts until they prove to not be useful anymore. This type of friendship is very common. An example of a utility friendship is a political alliance or business alliance. The next type of friendship is of pleasure. These friendships are based on mutual
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alive and not just existing. Aristotle believes that a person should work hard doing what they love‚ they also shouldn’t devote their lives to acquiring riches since riches don’t provide happiness. One should also reject fame and public success to become happy as self sufficiency is believed to provide happiness. Happiness is a process starting from infancy. A happy life is a life where spiritual‚ physical and social needs are met under reason and moderation. I think Aristotle recipe of happiness involves
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Aristotle on Friendship We are social creatures. We surround ourselves with other human beings‚ our friends. It is in our nature. We are constantly trying to broaden the circumference of our circle of friends. Aristotle understood the importance of friendship‚ books VIII and IX of the Nicomachean Ethics deal solely with this topic. A modern day definition of a friend can be defined as �one joined to another in intimacy and mutual benevolence independently of sexual or family love�. (Oxford
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Poetics by Aristotle Aristotle’s Poetics is the earliest-surviving work of dramatic theory and the first extant philosophical treatise to focus on literary theory 6 Constituent Parts * plot (mythos) Refers to the "structure of incidents" (actions). Key elements of the plot are reversals‚ recognitions‚ and suffering. The best plot should be "complex" (i.e. involve a change of fortune). It should imitate actions arousing fear and pity. Thus it should proceed from good fortune to bad
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ARISTOTLE AS A CRITIC. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E.)‚ the son of a physician‚ was the student of Plato from approximately 367 B.C. until his mentor’s death in 348/347. After carrying on philosophical and scientific investigations elsewhere in the Greek world and serving as the tutor to Alexander the Great‚ he returned to Athens in 335 B.C.E. to found the Lyceum‚ a major philosophical center‚ which he used as his base for prolific investigations into many areas of philosophy. Aristotle is a towering
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Aristotle On Friendship Philosophical Ethics December 6‚ 1995 Friendship is undoubtedly one of the most important elements in the books of Aristotle’s ethical principles. Aristotle takes the idea of friendship to a serious degree. He categorizes them into three groups or types of friendships. This report will attempt to define each type of friendship as well as identify the role of friendship in a society. Aristotle considers friendship to be a necessity to live. He
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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
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The virtuous life is the best life. Humans continuously work to achieve happiness because it is the highest end and the chief good that is desired by all. Both Aristotle and Pieper agree with the notion that happiness is the final goal in life. Aristotle believes that in order to obtain happiness one must habituate virtuous actions all throughout his/her life. On the other hand‚ many people believe that a life in which happiness is generated by pleasures that provide temporary joy or relief from
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Aristotle defines virtue in terms of a mean or median. On one end is the excess and on the other the deficiency with the median found somewhere between the two. A sizeable portion of the book is dedicated to discussing these virtues and their excess and deficiency as well as the sphere the virtue falls under. While a majority of the virtues have vices on either side and are found through trial and error somewhere between them‚ the virtue of temperance does not have this quality and is therefore more
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