According to Merriam-Webster.com, a citizen defines as “a native or naturalized person who owes allegiance to a government and is entitled to protection from it,” but what defines a good citizen? It is difficult to determine if a citizen is good or bad for one’s community. Each individual has a unique role. Through Aristotle’s four causes in Physics, one is able to determine what qualities are required to be considered a good citizen, while through Plato’s Five Dialogues and Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, one questions as to whether or not a quality can be defined. The great philosopher, Aristotle, stated that there are four questions to be answered in order to understand why something is as it is in his literary work: Physics. Without
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As Aristotle stated, “This is what something is for” (Physics 39). The purpose of the object is extremely important. Without a function, the item is more likely to become extinct. The purposes of a good citizen are highly important and have lead civilization to great things. Good citizens exist to profit or progress the community through a numerous amount of ways. Having children allows a community to continue through future generations and creates new citizens that have the possibility to be great. Also, good citizens need to work to help the community thrive. This includes businesses, farmers, and people in law. Aristotle stated in Nicomachean Ethics, “What happens in cities gives evidence of this, for lawmakers make the citizens good by habituating them” (22; …show more content…
Plato writes of a similar situation within his Five Dialogues involving a conversation between Socrates and Euthyphro. Having decided to prosecute his father, Euthyphro’s family tells him that his decision is impious, but he believes their ideas of what is pious and impious are wrong. Socrates then asks Euthyphro, “Tell me then, what is the pious, and what the impious, do you say?” (Plato 6). Euthyphro replied that prosecuting his father is pious, but Socrates was not satisfied with this answer. He continued to ask in different ways but found that Euthyphro could not give a direct answer. “But Socrates, I have no way of telling you what I have in mind, for whatever proposition we put forward goes around and refuses to stay put where we establish it,” he replies to Socrates. Euthyphro finds himself in a situation where it is difficult to define a quality. Piety, like good, can be used in many different ways depending on the
As Aristotle stated, “This is what something is for” (Physics 39). The purpose of the object is extremely important. Without a function, the item is more likely to become extinct. The purposes of a good citizen are highly important and have lead civilization to great things. Good citizens exist to profit or progress the community through a numerous amount of ways. Having children allows a community to continue through future generations and creates new citizens that have the possibility to be great. Also, good citizens need to work to help the community thrive. This includes businesses, farmers, and people in law. Aristotle stated in Nicomachean Ethics, “What happens in cities gives evidence of this, for lawmakers make the citizens good by habituating them” (22; …show more content…
Plato writes of a similar situation within his Five Dialogues involving a conversation between Socrates and Euthyphro. Having decided to prosecute his father, Euthyphro’s family tells him that his decision is impious, but he believes their ideas of what is pious and impious are wrong. Socrates then asks Euthyphro, “Tell me then, what is the pious, and what the impious, do you say?” (Plato 6). Euthyphro replied that prosecuting his father is pious, but Socrates was not satisfied with this answer. He continued to ask in different ways but found that Euthyphro could not give a direct answer. “But Socrates, I have no way of telling you what I have in mind, for whatever proposition we put forward goes around and refuses to stay put where we establish it,” he replies to Socrates. Euthyphro finds himself in a situation where it is difficult to define a quality. Piety, like good, can be used in many different ways depending on the