(Payton Powers is having computer trouble, so here is his Author-post for this week.)
Thoughts about Aristotle
Thoughts about Aristotle
As
our class initiates our discussion on Aristotle, the concept of “Phronesis,” or
“practical wisdom” has really stood out among others. I find it interesting how
different Aristotle views and Morals differ from those of his teacher,
Plato. To explain the differences
between the two, it is best to look at quotes that are usually (mis)attributed
to them. Plato is known for the principles “To be good is to do good,” while Aristotle’s ideals more align with “To do good is to be
good.” In other words, according to Aristotle, it is your actions that help a
person to shape your idea of virtue and lead to the highest good, Eudomonia ("Happiness" or Living well/Doing
well). While Plato believes you cannot do virtuous actions with without
understanding what virtue is first which helps leads to the balance of the soul.
Personally, my views of virtue more align with those of Aristotle. I especially appreciate Aristotle’s three criteria
for virtue:
1)Must know s/he is acting virtuously
2)Agent must decide to act virtuously because the action is
virtuous
3)The agent must be acting from a firm and unchanging state.
Growing
up in the Catholic Church, when I heard the criteria it automatically reminded
me the three criteria for a person to commit a mortal sin found in the
Catechism:
“ For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must
together be met: "Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which
is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent."
In other words, the person
committing the sin must first know it is a sin (or morally wrong), act upon
that sin, and is fully consenting to the act in which they are doing. According to Google, Aristotle
was born 384 BCE, therefore it is entirely possible his ideals and teachings
had a tremendous influence on the writers of the bible and the Catholic Church.
It makes me question how much influence does Aristotelian ideals when it comes to religious/spiritual
beliefs? Or really just in peoples
everyday lives?
(Also, I found this and thought
that it was relevant for the week and pretty funny. Enjoy!)
I think that Plato and Aristotle's view are similar in the sense that Plato feels that you must know what virtue is, before you can do virtuous acts and Aristotle feels that you must know that you are acting virtuously, before you can consider that act virtuous. So both philosophers find it important to actually "consciously know" what you are doing.
ReplyDeleteLOL, the video was funny. Aristotle view also stuck out to me. It also shocked me that he had opposite views from his teacher. I would have thought that their views would have been similar.
ReplyDelete