Phil Final- Aristotle

Front 1

I. A. 1. What is the end (goal) that all things seek?

Back 1

All goals seek "the good"

Front 2

I. A. 2. When an end is pursued for the sake of some further end, which end is more desirable?

Back 2

The further end is more desirable
You want to come to class because you want to pass the exam, because you want to graduate, etc.

Front 3

I. B. 1. If there were no chief (highest) good, why would our desires be “empty and vain”?

Back 3

There would be no point
Ultimately, there would be nothing you want
Without the chief good, life wouldn't make sense (happiness/a good life=chief)

Front 4

I. B. 2. Why is knowledge of the chief good important?

Back 4

If you don't think about it, you might not achieve it.
An archer with a blindfold could hit the target by getting lucky...it's better to see the target

Front 5

I. B. 3. Why is the inquiry into the chief good a political inquiry?

Back 5

Ethics is individual, Politics is community
Political is includes community and social aspects
You m ust include your good and the good of other people

Front 6

I. C. 1. Why cannot political expertise attain the same kind of precision as mathematics?

Back 6

Math- ideas can have total precision
Precision cannot exist in ethics/politics, for there are many viewpoints on different topics

Front 7

I. D. 1. With regard to the highest achievable good, what do people generally agree on? What do they dispute?

Back 7

Agree: The chief good is happiness (a good life)
Dispute: What it consists of (definitions)
(Aristotle says it means living/doing well)

Front 8

I. E. 1. What do most people consider happiness to be? Why does Aristotle reject this view?

Back 8

Most people consider happiness to be pleasure (sensual).
Aristotle argues that a good life is higher than pleasure, and that pleasure is just a part of a good life.

Front 9

I. E. 2. For what two reasons cannot honor be the highest good?

Back 9

1. It appears to be superficial, and located in those doing the honoring.
2. One wants to be honored because of excellence/virtue, qualities higher than honor

Front 10

I. E. 3. For what two reasons cannot excellence be the highest good?

Back 10

Excellence is a potential ability.
1. You need to put the ability into action.
2. Jesus showed excellence (good inside), but suffered.

Front 11

I. F. 1. Why is happiness complete without qualification?

Back 11

Something can be good...
1. As a means to an end only (dentist)
2. As a means to an end and an end in itself (playing tennis/gives exercise)
***3. As an end in itself only (happiness, there is no other end, making it highest good without qualification. it is never because of something else, and there is no other end)***

Front 12

I. F. 2. In what sense is happiness self-sufficient?

Back 12

It is so complete that it contains all goods in itself, and lacks no-thing.

Front 13

I. F. 3. Why is it reasonable to assume that a human being has a function?

Back 13

Everything has a distinctive, special job (knife to cut). If there is no function, how can it be performed well (to achieve happiness)?
There are social functions (professor teaches, student learns)
Each body part has a function...if the whole body did not, wouldn't that be odd?

Front 14

I. F. 4. What is the human function?

Back 14

Assuming we have one, it is rational activity (acting using reason...we can think, but animals can't)
If you cannot think, you are not a good human being

Front 15

I. F. 5. What kind of activity constitutes the human good?

Back 15

rational activity in accordance with excellence (a quality that enables a thing to function well)

Front 16

I. G. 1. Which part of the soul does not share in reason in any way?

Back 16

Nutrition and growth

Front 17

I. G. 2. In what way does the appetitive and desiring part of the soul share in reason?

Back 17

Humans think about it.
We have instincts to fight back if we are punched...but we can choose whether or not we want to.
Animals are slaves to instincts, humans are not.

Front 18

I. G. 3. Which part of the soul has reason in the proper sense?

Back 18

Thinking uses reason.

Front 19

I. G. 4. Which part of the soul possesses intellectual excellences? Which part possesses excellences of character?

Back 19

Level 3 (thinking) possesses intellectual excellences (help you to think well)
Level 2 (appetite, desire, and emotion) possesses excellence of character (help you act reasonably)

Front 20

II. A. 1. How do intellectual excellences originate and increase?

Back 20

They originate and increase by teaching and learning.

Front 21

II. A. 2. How does one acquire excellences of character? bad traits of character?

Back 21

The only way to gain both traits is experience (do something enough for it to become engrained in you...repetition)

Front 22

II. B. 1. What apparent problem does Aristotle point out with his claim that in order to become just or moderate, a person must do what is just or moderate?

Back 22

If you need to act virtuously to become virtuous, how can you do it if you're not virtuous to start off with?

Front 23

II. B. 2. For an action to be done in accordance with excellence of character, what three conditions must the agent fulfill? (Know 2)

Back 23

1. Know what you're doing
2. Do the action for its own sake
3. Must be done from a firm disposition

Front 24

II. C. 1. What two qualities does excellence impart to the thing that has the excellence?

Back 24

1. It makes the thing good
2. It enables the thing to function well

Front 25

II. C. 2. What is the difference between an intermediate “with reference to an object” and an intermediate “relative to us”?

Back 25

Reference to object- there's one specific answer; a numeric average (of 10 and 2, 6)
Reference to us- you need to take into account the situation and the person (Bill Gates can give more money than a college student to charity)

Front 26

II. C. 3. Which kind of intermediate is the goal of excellences of character?

Back 26

The intermediate relative to us

Front 27

II. C. 4. What are the two bad states between which the intermediate of excellence lies?

Back 27

Excess and deficiency

Front 28

II. C. 5. Why do some actions and affections not admit of intermediacy?

Back 28

For some actions, deficiency is virtuous (adultery) and intermediacy, which is moderation (several adulteries) is not virtuous.

Front 29

II. D. 1. What are the excellence and the two bad states of character with regard to boldness? with regard to pleasures? with regard to giving money? (explain 1)

Back 29

Boldness: Deficiency (coward), Excess (arrogant), Intermediacy (courageous)
Pleasures: Deficiency (anesthetic), Excess (hedonist), Intermediacy (self control)
Giving Money: Deficiency (greedy), Excess (gullible), Intermediacy (generous)