Ethics in Action: Aristotle’s Golden Mean
The renownedly known Greek philosopher Aristotle once said that “virtue is the mean between two extremes”(Biagi 322), and the ethical way of living is finding moderation in the dichotomies of life that may be excessive or insufficient. Some of these dichotomies may consist of cowardliness and confidence, indignation and envy, and honor and dishonor, as a person should find the virtue in the intermediate of each vice in order to have excellent character. Therefore, there is not a partial way of thinking but rather a person considered the components of both vice and attempts to attribute parts of both in their actions. This statement has become known as the golden mean and has helped govern the ethics …show more content…
Aristotle established the moral compass with his golden mean because any individual should have the ability to decipher between what is right and wrong to find what is fair. Equally as important, a virtuous person’s character and living style will develop from following the golden mean, as stated in Jung Hyun’s interpretation of Aristotle’s philosophy, “It is by pursuing the mean and by avoiding the vices that one develops the habits, traits, perceptions, and skills of virtuous living”(103). One specific workforce in the media business the golden mean applies to is journalism, as it illustrates the moral compass’ importance in finding the fairness in a situation. Journalists face this moral dimension when they choose how to write about a topic because their work should be considered both reasonable and fair. For an example, the writer has the decision as to whether they should include every detail of an event, or leave out certain parts without knowing the effects of leaving this information out. Consequently, if the information is left out to shape the story in a certain bias light, that goes against the idea of the truth journalism because they are to report both sides. Therefore, the journalist article becomes an intermediary between two opposing views as to be established through the views of both sides may be …show more content…
Therefore, there is no arithmetic that could equate how much of each vice or extreme is enough to reach the middle ground because it varies depending on the person. Consequently, the mean relative to a person will then be individualized, and cannot be determined unless there is a close observation made of the person to such means are important and the circumstances the individual is placed in, as stated in Christians’ book, "Aristotle speaks of the 'mean relative to us, ' that is, to the individual 's status, particular situation, and strong and weak points"(11). Henceforth, Aristotle 's philosophy of the golden mean has the ability to meet the intermediate between two dichotomies, as it is individualized yet universal because of the ability to fit the virtue of any
The renownedly known Greek philosopher Aristotle once said that “virtue is the mean between two extremes”(Biagi 322), and the ethical way of living is finding moderation in the dichotomies of life that may be excessive or insufficient. Some of these dichotomies may consist of cowardliness and confidence, indignation and envy, and honor and dishonor, as a person should find the virtue in the intermediate of each vice in order to have excellent character. Therefore, there is not a partial way of thinking but rather a person considered the components of both vice and attempts to attribute parts of both in their actions. This statement has become known as the golden mean and has helped govern the ethics …show more content…
Aristotle established the moral compass with his golden mean because any individual should have the ability to decipher between what is right and wrong to find what is fair. Equally as important, a virtuous person’s character and living style will develop from following the golden mean, as stated in Jung Hyun’s interpretation of Aristotle’s philosophy, “It is by pursuing the mean and by avoiding the vices that one develops the habits, traits, perceptions, and skills of virtuous living”(103). One specific workforce in the media business the golden mean applies to is journalism, as it illustrates the moral compass’ importance in finding the fairness in a situation. Journalists face this moral dimension when they choose how to write about a topic because their work should be considered both reasonable and fair. For an example, the writer has the decision as to whether they should include every detail of an event, or leave out certain parts without knowing the effects of leaving this information out. Consequently, if the information is left out to shape the story in a certain bias light, that goes against the idea of the truth journalism because they are to report both sides. Therefore, the journalist article becomes an intermediary between two opposing views as to be established through the views of both sides may be …show more content…
Therefore, there is no arithmetic that could equate how much of each vice or extreme is enough to reach the middle ground because it varies depending on the person. Consequently, the mean relative to a person will then be individualized, and cannot be determined unless there is a close observation made of the person to such means are important and the circumstances the individual is placed in, as stated in Christians’ book, "Aristotle speaks of the 'mean relative to us, ' that is, to the individual 's status, particular situation, and strong and weak points"(11). Henceforth, Aristotle 's philosophy of the golden mean has the ability to meet the intermediate between two dichotomies, as it is individualized yet universal because of the ability to fit the virtue of any