Aristotle's ideas - Literature - Notes & articles

Aristotle's ideas

Here is how Aristotle expresses teleology:

Every art and every scientific inquiry, and similarly every action and purpose, may be said to aim at some good. Hence the good has been well defined as that at which all things aim.

As there are various actions, arts, and sciences, it follows the ends are also various. Thus health is the end of medicine, a vessel of shipbuilding, victory [is the goal] of strategy, and wealth [is the aim] of domestic economy.

If it is true that in the sphere of action there is an end which we wish for its own sake, and for the sake of which we wish everything else…it is clear that this will be the good or the supreme good. Does it not follow that the knowledge of this supreme good is of great importance for the conduct of life, and that, if we know it, we shall be like archers who have a mark at which to aim, we shall have a better chance of attaining what we want?

Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, bk. 1 1095A,

The Mean

First of all, it must be observed that the nature of moral qualities is such that they are destroyed by defect and by excess. We see the same thing happen in the case of strength and of health…excess as well as deficiency of physical exercise destroys our strength, and similarly, too much and too little food and drink destroys our health; the proportionate amount, however, produces, increases, and strengthens it.

The same applies to self-control, courage, and the other virtues: the [one] who
shuns and fears everything becomes a coward, whereas [an individual] who
knows no fear at all and goes to meet every danger becomes reckless. Similarly, [one] who revels in every pleasure and abstains from none becomes self-indulgent, while [the person] who avoids every pleasure like a boor becomes what might be called insensitive. Thus we see that self control and courage are destroyed by excess and deficiency and are preserved by the mean.

Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, 1104A13-25

Category: Literature | Added by: Lillian (23.11.2012)

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The Mean