Excerpts from Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics – Book II W. D. Ross translation Book II 1 Virtue‚ then‚ being of two kinds‚ intellectual and moral‚ intellectual virtue in the main owes both its birth and its growth to teaching (for which reason it requires experience and time)‚ while moral virtue comes about as a result of habit‚ whence also its name (ethike) is one that is formed by a slight variation from the word ethos (habit). From this it is also plain that none of the moral virtues
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for people because typically without a leader there is confusion and disorganization. Yet‚ Aristotle and Plato believe that we shouldn’t have just any leader‚ but a leader who has reasoning‚ is ethical‚ and is intellectual. For example‚ in Nicomachean Ethics‚ Aristotle states‚ “And perhaps it is necessary also for someone who wishes to make others better through his care‚ whether these be many or few‚ to attempt to become a skilled legislator‚ if it should be through laws that we become good.”
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What is the aim of the human life? Are all the means good for attaining this goal? Aristotle considers these questions in his book of Nicomachean Ethics. He tries not to find out the “why” of the existence of the humanity on the Earth‚ but the ultimate goal a human being is supposed to strive to‚ in order to give sense to his life. He believes‚ this ultimate goal is Eudaimonia. This word can be translated as “happiness”‚ but also fulfillment‚ flourishing or living well. To prove that happiness
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In the reading Nicomachean Ethics‚ by Aristotle‚ a well-known philosopher‚ wrote about what it is to be a good person and how being a good person‚ reflects our happiness. Along with writing by Aristotle‚ there was another writing by Immanuel Kant‚ called The Foundations of the Metaphysics of morals‚ that’s rights about the fundamentals of the moral duty. These two philosophers were very good and can very well go well with each other. Aristotle and Immanuel Kant can agree that‚ to be a moral person
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Utilitarianism and Aristotelian Ethics John Stuart Mill and Aristotle are two of the most notable philosophers in history to date. Between Mill’s Utilitarianism and Aristotle’s virtue ethics you can see a large portion our cultures ethics today. Their philosophies are apparent in contemporary everyday life. Aristotle has written several pieces on virtue and friendship. The two most notable works being the Magna Moralia and the Eudemian Ethics. However‚ his Nicomachean Ethics were by far the
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The theory behind utilitarianism is that one’s actions are right if it promotes happiness or pleasure and wrong if it does not promote happiness or pleasure. The main point to this theory is the principle of utility that states “according to which actions should be chosen that bring about the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people.” (Palmer) Jeremy Bentham gave essentially utilitarianism its name and brought more attention to it than those before him. Bentham came up with
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society‚ are aware that cheating is morally wrong. But why? Through analyzing both Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle‚ and Utilitarianism by John Stewart Mill‚ this paper seeks to understand why these men would find cheating on an academic project morally wrong. Both of these men do‚ in fact‚ find academic dishonesty morally reprehensible‚ yet their reasons for thinking this vary significantly. Mill’s theory of Utilitarianism looks at how cheating affects the utility of all involved. Aristotle‚ on the other
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Galen O’Neill Perspectives Professor Donnelly October 7‚ 2014 Understanding The Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle’s advice on living an excellent life in college and beyond would focus on the path towards attaining happiness. As the best‚ self-sufficient end and the highest form of good‚ happiness accompanies the acquisition of virtue through action and promotes pure character. Under Aristotle’s terms‚ balance rules the process of obtaining a life of excellence as it curbs extreme behavior and allows
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not teaching them better. While one might have been raised to know the difference between the right and wrong‚ who the person begins to associate himself with could change his/ her moral character. In The Nicomachean Ethics without virtues one can not be happy so a life lived making morally wrong decisions is a life that will not see happiness according to Aristotle. An example that best proves Aristotle’s thinking is one of a man losing his dog at a local park. The man searches all over for his
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Utilitarianism is concerned about the results of an action‚ while Kantian ethics is focused about the moral duties‚ Virtue ethics on the other hand place an emphasis on the development of a good moral character. Unlike the first two ethical theories‚ virtue ethics is not a theory about what makes an action right. It answers the question‚ “What kind of individual should I be?” and “What kind of characters are necessary to live a virtuous life? Virtue ethics can be tracked back from the ancient Greek
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