(855) 4-ESSAYS

Type a new keyword(s) and press Enter to search

ARISTOTLE


             at Stagirus, a Greek colony and seaport on the coast of Thrace. His father Nichomachus was court physician to King Amyntas of Macedonian, and from this began Aristotle's long association with the Macedonian Court, which considerably influenced his life. While he was still a boy his father died. At age 17 his guardian, Proxenus, sent him to Athens, to complete his education. He joined the Academy and studied under Plato, attending his lectures for a period of twenty years. In the later years of his association with Plato and the Academy he began to lecture on his own account, especially on the subject of rhetoric. Although he studied under Plato. Aristotle fundamentally disagreed with his teacher on just about everything. He could not bring himself to think of the world in abstract terms the way Plato did; above all else, Aristotle believed that the world could be understood at a fundamental level through the detailed observation and cataloging of phenomenon. That is, knowledge. .
             The core of Aristotle's account of moral virtue is his doctrine of the mean. According to this doctrine, moral virtues are desire regulating character traits, which are at a mean between more extreme character traits. Also, he believes that morality requires a standard that will not only regulate the inadequacies of absolute justice but be also an idea of moral progress. Since absolute justice is abstract in nature, in the real world, it must be supplemented with equity, which corrects and modifies laws of justice where it falls short. .
             When it comes to the purpose or will of morality, Aristotle mentions two factors: reason stimulated to act by desire, or desire guided and controlled by understanding. These two factors according to Aristotle then motivate the willful moral action. Moral weakness of the will then results in someone doing wrong, knowing it is right, and yet follows his desire against his reason. So basically ones reason is what motivates a willful action, and ones desire motivates an action of moral weakness.


Essays Related to ARISTOTLE


Got a writing question? Ask our professional writer!
Submit My Question