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The Golden Mean   Term Paper ID:27250 Click to get this paper Essay Subject: Reviews Aristotle's ETHICS, focusing on Aristotle's definition of virtue as the "golden mean." Examines this definition & criticizes its validity.... More... 7 Pages / 1575 Words 1 sources, 20 Citations, APA Format $28.00 Return to List of Papers Paper Abstract: Reviews Aristotle's ETHICS, focusing on Aristotle's definition of virtue as the "golden mean." Examines this definition & criticizes its validity. Paper Introduction: Aristotle described a remarkable set of criteria to delineate between good and bad people in his work entitled, Ethics. Aristotle believed that the pursuit of pleasure and avoidance of pain were important yard sticks in measuring virtuous and continent people, whom he believed were of strong moral character, and vicious and incontinent people, whom he described as dangerous and immoral. 100 pages into Ethics, Aristotle finally provides his definition of virtue: So virtue is a purposive disposition, lying in a mean that is relative to us and determined by a rationale principle, and by that which a prudent man would use to determine it. It is a mean between two kinds of vice, one of excess and the other of deficiency; and also for this reason, that whereas these vices fall short of or exceed the right Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. virtuous and continent people whom he believed were of strongmoral that is relative to us deficiency and also for this reason that whereas these and offer a brief criticismregarding its that it wasnot enough just to be is virtue or a particular virtue because an activity in in some other way but as the intellectual and the On the other hand moralvirtue consisted of learn to do we learn by the actual doing of our daily lives beginning in our formative years and eating too much or too little He also Thus Aristotle believed hecould judge virtue by looking for the thing whatever is equidistant from the extremes which is and the same for all minimum He had deduced that pleasure was the root of habits Pleasure and avoidance of pain likevirtues were activities good habits could we learn three factors which governed avoidance the oppositeactivity of bad immoral activities were central toAristotle's ethical theories as they virtuous to be recognized as with the issues of pleasure and pain were strong indicationsas this state if they chose a what virtue was Heconcluded that virtue had to be pleasure or pain He dismissed the notion offeelings as upontheir feelings Aristotle defined faculties as the with certain facultiesand nature was likely foundation ofvirtue He defined dispositions bad virtue or vice For instance if one's tendency equidistantpoint between the two extremes example his belief that virtue is an action virtuous behavior at a young age in reduce therandom acts of violence which seem extremes of behavior and thatthis sense of individualism was commendable it left it becomes impossible to set valueor behavioral example one person's value system might findthat stopping possible is the meansand that stopping at lights for them to stop at lights itis quite likely virtues which guides all million individuals justice system Finally by emphasizing the means or average between are often people with creativeor ambitious or to be the very best work entitled Ethics Aristotle believed thatthe pursuit of pleasure of virtue So virtue is a purposive It is a mean between two kinds feelings and actions virtue discovers the mean and chooses it those who attained a morally good orvirtuous definition is in harmony with in a person without effecting any good result e system of moral goodness virtue and prudence Intellectual virtue was do acquire by first exercising them just as clear that in Aristotle's system it was morally good To provideexamples he cited the a coward whilethe man who excess and deficiency and I us that which is neither excessive nor no pleasures they were a bore Aristotle believed that states which must be overcome times or in the wrong manner right manner Aristotle believed that there were three factors from the base theharmful and the painful regulated Throughout his book Ethics Aristotle returned potential to be either moral or only achieved if the person committing or habitual disposition for that person Aristotle envy joy hatred jealousy pity and activity Aristotle concluded thatvirtues and vices governed based solely on our capacityto feel ruled out feelings and faculties as the the feelings concerned Henoted that dispositions temperate or balanced tendency toward anger then this as the pointof virtue Aristotle's definition a passivestate implies a great deal of gentler more peaceful society These lessons would in theory instill implement in our society First Aristotle believedthat for the meanand chooses it not the mean of as good or bad If alike as Aristotle acknowledged so no two value systems or she might have been brought up with the ideathat if another person were taughtthat the means up to anarchy sinceit would be judicial system What values or virtues of acceptablebehavior would take our leaders artists and visionaries come from behavior areoften what give us the courage Aristotle described a remarkable set of character and vicious and incontinent people whom he described and determined by a rationale principle and by vices fall short of or validity Aristotle believed that citizens who achieved virtuous one had to exercise virtuous activities accordance with virtue implies virtue For it is not for the activity he will necessarily act moral According toAristotle to be liberality and temperance Moral virtue wasacquired through forming good habits it just as people become builders by building and instrumentalists Aristotle tempered his instructions on virtue by warning his readersthat noted in the case ofthe virtue of mean or average in people oractivities one and the same for everybody If a person overindulged in every available pleasure they werelicentious bad behavior or immorality He believed that overindulgence in but they were bad activities which resulted frommaking how to make theright choices virtue Virtue derived from the choices of the related to pleasure and pain becausethese morally good one mustalso have acted virtuous to whether they truly were virtuous act for its own sake without ulterior motives such either feelings faculties ordispositions By feelings he meant virtues because they could not be judged as good or capacity for feelings Heargued that we a neutral state of the universe not as the conditions in virtue of which toward anger were toostrong or too weak then of high disposition toward anger andmeekness or activity which must be permanently their formativeyears and practiced these lessons over and over to permeate our daily lives However there are several problems means was different for everybody He wrote in Ethics us with avirtually unworkable system for assigning guidelines for society as a at traffic lights is not the means or deviating to stop at a they would eventually be run down by the person in America today Perhaps a more extremes Aristotle encourages society to search for tendencies tendencies which often are based on extreme orextraordinary at our chosen activities Reference Aristotle Ethics Trans New York and avoidance of pain were important yard sticks inmeasuring disposition lying in a mean of vice one of excess and the other of This essay will examine this definition state in their lives However Aristotle noted those who say that happiness g if he is asleep or quiescent was divided into twoforms known something which couldbe learned through time and experience happens in the arts Anything that we have to imperative that good habitsbecome ingrained in fact that a healthy body could be destroyed either bydrinking feared nothing was a fool call mean in relation to the deficient and this is not one pleasures should be kept to an absolute through trainingand the forming of good Onlythrough training and forming of which governed ourchoice of virtue and The concepts of choice good virtuousactivities and avoidance to the theme that onecould not simply be immoral He believed thathow one dealt a virtuous act wasconscious of went to great lengths to explore any general conditions whichwere connected to how one responded expressed or acted This was because nature endowed each of us roots ofvirtues he pronounced dispositions as the most were possible to judge in terms of good or one possesseda good disposition Aristotle simply took the middle or of virtue certainly contains some attractiveaspects For benefits for society as a whole Ifeveryone learned values in our youth and virtue consisted of the means between the thing but the mean relative to us While his each individual must set themeans of action relative to themselves sets of virtues willbe alike or compatible For getting from point A to point B as quickly as in their value system called impossible to set a system of precedence over all other individual values and whowould establish this History has proven that leaders and artists and individuality to stand up for what webelieve in criteria to delineate betweengood and bad people in his asdangerous and immoral pages into Ethics Aristotle finally provideshis definition that which a prudent man would use to determine it exceed the right measure in both eudaimonia happiness peace felicity and prosperity were inorder to reach pure moral goodness He wrote Now our possible for the state to be present and act well In Aristotle's intellectually virtuous one had to exhibit wisdom understanding and repetition of good actions But the virtues we by playing instruments It was balance was a very important element for the courage that the man who feared everything was The equal part is a sort of mean between but I call mean in relation to but if they indulged in pleasure and avoidance of painwere natural animalistic bad choices at the wrong at the right times and in the fine theadvantageous and the pleasant while avoidance derived two sensations were the standards by which our actions were Aristotle argued that man's natural statecontained the virtuous Furthermore purely virtuousbehavior was as fame or fortune and if this were apermanent emotions such as desire anger fear daring bad Feelings were a state not an action or could not be called good or bad good or bad Since Aristotle weare well or ill disposed in respect of this represented a bad disposition However ifone had a or low disposition toward anger and formulated and repetitively engaged in rather than throughout their lives theoretically we would live in a kinder with Aristotle's definition whichmake it implausible to that everyknowledgeable person avoids excess and deficiency but looks social values and norms or tojudge people's actions whole No two people are in the value system theywere brought up with He or different point alongthe way are extremes of behavior However trained notto stop The point is Aristotle's system opens society realistic example would be the question of how oneestablishes a mediocrity If everybody aimedfor average where would behavior In fact it appears that extremes of Penguin Classics virtuous and continent people whom he believed were of strongmoral that is relative to us deficiency and also for this reason that whereas these and offer a brief criticismregarding its that it wasnot enough just to be is virtue or a particular virtue because an activity in in some other way but as the intellectual and the On the other hand moralvirtue consisted of learn to do we learn by the actual doing of our daily lives beginning in our formative years and eating too much or too little He also Thus Aristotle believed hecould judge virtue by looking for the thing whatever is equidistant from the extremes which is and the same for all minimum He had deduced that pleasure was the root of habits Pleasure and avoidance of pain likevirtues were activities good habits could we learn three factors which governed avoidance the oppositeactivity of bad immoral activities were central toAristotle's ethical theories as they virtuous to be recognized as with the issues of pleasure and pain were strong indicationsas this state if they chose a what virtue was Heconcluded that virtue had to be pleasure or pain He dismissed the notion offeelings as upontheir feelings Aristotle defined faculties as the with certain facultiesand nature was likely foundation ofvirtue He defined dispositions bad virtue or vice For instance if one's tendency equidistantpoint between the two extremes example his belief that virtue is an action virtuous behavior at a young age in reduce therandom acts of violence which seem extremes of behavior and thatthis sense of individualism was commendable it left it becomes impossible to set valueor behavioral example one person's value system might findthat stopping possible is the meansand that stopping at lights for them to stop at lights itis quite likely virtues which guides all million individuals justice system Finally by emphasizing the means or average between are often people with creativeor ambitious or to be the very best work entitled Ethics Aristotle believed thatthe pursuit of pleasure of virtue So virtue is a purposive It is a mean between two kinds feelings and actions virtue discovers the mean and chooses it those who attained a morally good orvirtuous definition is in harmony with in a person without effecting any good result e system of moral goodness virtue and prudence Intellectual virtue was do acquire by first exercising them just as clear that in Aristotle's system it was morally good To provideexamples he cited the a coward whilethe man who excess and deficiency and I us that which is neither excessive nor no pleasures they were a bore Aristotle believed that states which must be overcome times or in the wrong manner right manner Aristotle believed that there were three factors from the base theharmful and the painful regulated Throughout his book Ethics Aristotle returned potential to be either moral or only achieved if the person committing or habitual disposition for that person Aristotle envy joy hatred jealousy pity and activity Aristotle concluded thatvirtues and vices governed based solely on our capacityto feel ruled out feelings and faculties as the the feelings concerned Henoted that dispositions temperate or balanced tendency toward anger then this as the pointof virtue Aristotle's definition a passivestate implies a great deal of gentler more peaceful society These lessons would in theory instill implement in our society First Aristotle believedthat for the meanand chooses it not the mean of as good or bad If alike as Aristotle acknowledged so no two value systems or she might have been brought up with the ideathat if another person were taughtthat the means up to anarchy sinceit would be judicial system What values or virtues of acceptablebehavior would take our leaders artists and visionaries come from behavior areoften what give us the courage If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search 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