Virtue Ethics and the Good Life in Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics

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Virtue Ethics and the Good Life in Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics

Introduction

Scholars agree that the name comes from the Nicomachean Ethics. Both father and son Aristotle's Nicomachean were appointed, and it is possible that the book is devoted to any of them. Other scholars suggest that the son of Aristotle could have edited the book after Aristotle died, so that the title "Nicomachean" can refer to this special edition of Aristotle's ethical works.

Discussion and Analysis

The Nicomachean Ethics advances an understanding of ethics known as virtue ethics, because of its heavy reliance on the concept of virtue. The word we translate as virtue is arete, and could also be translated as "excellence." Something earring if performed its function well. A good rider, for example, has the jewelry to be good in horses, handling and a good knife is the piercing sharpness. For the Greeks, moral virtue is not essentially different from these other types of excellence. The Greeks have a different concept of morality as we do, which leads to holiness associations or obligation. Moral virtue is simply a matter of good performance in the role of human beings. For the Greeks, the motivation to be good is not based on a divine lawgiver or a set of two moral and don'ts, but rather in the same kind of effort after excellence that can make an athlete train harder. The Greek word ethos, which is derived the word ethics, which literally means "character", and Aristotle's objective is to describe the qualities that make an excellent character.

The important lesson to draw from Aristotle's doctrine of the mean is that virtue consists in finding an appropriate compromise between the two extremes. As such, each Virtue is not one but two opposites. The opposite of courage is both cowardice and rashness, for example. This idea that there are two opposites of the virtues goes against much of the time received wisdom of Aristotle, Plato's writings on virtue. It also emphasizes the importance of moderation, virtue is achieved by finding a middle ground, not an end goal. Where exactly is this middle ground, however, is less obvious. Aristotle repeats several times that his table shows an approximation and that the virtues are closer to a defect other in different degrees for different people. The Bureau of the virtues we have just presented is not intended as a set of precise rules. By contrast, Aristotle argues that a truly virtuous person, naturally inclined to behave properly and have no need of rules.

Aristotle is clear that the moral virtue comes primarily through practice and that the value of studying ethical texts, as he has written is limited. This view makes sense if we consider that moral virtue is not essentially different from other forms of excellence as the Greeks are concerned. If we want to achieve excellence in rock climbing, for example, helps to study the texts that show us how to improve our technique, but we can ...