Virtue

goodness was always a general and vague quality. In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle defines virtue and virtuous behavior and how to develop virtue at full length. In particular, however, is his insistence that “[W]e are just, and capable of temperance, and brace, and possessed of the other virtues from the moment of our birth. But nevertheless we expect to find that true goodness is something different and that the virtues in the true sense come to belong to us in another way” (1144a13-b8). The…

Aristotle was an ancient philosopher who had a very careful and well thought out definition of virtue. He believed that virtue is both intellectual and moral. On the intellectual aspect, he believed that virtue takes time and experience. However, on the moral aspect, he believed that virtue came from making it a habit (Nicomachean Ethics p. 71). For example, “men become builders by building houses” (p. 73). The question that arises from this definition is how does one act virtuously? To become…

should be highly valued. In Book VIII of Nicomachean Ethics, he clearly distinguishes three different kinds of friendships that people encounter in life: friendships of utility, pleasure, and virtue. The first two types that he explains, utility and pleasure, are not true friendships. Only a friendship of virtue…

someone, yet we have to. Maybe, our feeling of love isn’t strong for our spouse even though we experience love and forgiveness. We may experience them, and those behaviors turn into a habit.  Aristotle believed that doing the right thing could lead to virtue habits. Those habits could lead to virtuous character when you make virtuous things by your own choice.  Also, for him happiness was the summum bonum, or known as the highest good. Other desires, he said, you desired because you…

dialectic discussing the question of virtue between the philosopher Socrates and a young Thessalian aristocrat Meno. Meno asks the following question to be analyzed at length throughout the dialogue: Can virtue be taught? Using the Socratic process, Meno attempts to understand the various complexities associated with that question. In addition, another player, Anytus, an Athenian statesman, serves to not only offer a varying perspective on the matter of virtue, but also to act as a rhetorical…

1. What do we mean when we say the word ethics? What are some sensitive ethical issues nurses are faced with today? According to Butts & Rich (2016), “Ethics is a branch of philosophy used to study ideal human behavior and ideal ways of being” (p. 4). Ethics is concerned with distinguishing between good and evil, and between right and wrong human actions. Some of sensitive ethical issues nurses are faced with today are breaking of bad news in a hospital setting, particularly to patients in…

In this essay I argue that living a just life is better than living an unjust life. I am arguing it by presenting the nature of these challenges and Plato’s response to these challenges. Plato is fair in his judgement regarding living a just life is better than an unjust life given the period of his time as some of his sayings are still valid in this modern era. In the end of this essay, I am hoping to prove that he has convinced his readers that living a just life is the go to route in life.…

In order to attain virtue, I must put my feelings aside and choose to act as a servant to my emotion, which is the mean. To be successful, I must deviate from the extremes of deficiency and excess, in order to achieve the mean. Aristotle states that in cases where “feelings…

considered to be a good quality for a man to have. Socrates believes wisdom and virtue to be connected because through wisdom one can learn virtue, and he defined virtue as the knowledge of knowing what is good and evil (Dimas). Plato, a Greek philosopher who started off as a student of Socrates, wrote a dialogue based on Socrates’s teaching called Meno. In Meno, Socrates claims that wisdom consists with virtue and that virtue is the only quality of the soul that is useful. Panos Dimas, a…

pivotal role of virtue in the concept of happiness and without virtue one cannot obtain happiness. In Book 1 of Nicomachean Ethics, Virtue is nearly described as possible but not desirable, as Aristotle states, “For it seems to be possible for someone to possess virtue even while asleep or while being inactive throughout life and, in addition to these, while…