Virtue

when he met his fate his sword could not live up to its full potential and perform in battle. It could not hold up to the adversity. Beowulf still had not given up, showing the virtue of strength and dignity that he is not ready to stop fighting for his people yet. He still has a little fight left in him through his virtue of bravery and the willingness to continue the Germanic fate of victory, which Wiglaf is the only one who helps him pursue his fight with the dragon to receive the victory. If…

Both Aristotle and Nietzsche’s philosophies impacted the entire study of philosophy. Friedrich Nietzsche faced many criticisms during his time on earth and continues to be the face of unique and adverse ways of thinking. Starting off, Nietzsche and Aristotle “saw the ability of the Greek tragedy to transform human understand” (Mitchell 328). Moreover, Aristotle was often pegged as going off the track by not following and often challenging the lessons taught by his teacher, Plato. However,…

Machiavelli believes in civic virtue also known as virtù. Virtù refers to the strength and wisdom of a man, traditional virtues or characteristics such as courage, fortitude, audacity. The main objective of virtù for a prince is to maintain and strengthen the state through these virtues. However, Machiavelli interprets virtù to represent other such as being sly, cunning, manipulative and violent. These skills…

Sir Gawain’s Knightly Ordeals Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a romantic epic poem by the Pearl Poet that follows a knight through his quest to complete a challenge he accepted from the Green Knight. King Arthur was raised by Sir Ector , married to Gwenevere, and he rose to power at Camelot, the Utopia kingdom. King Arthur’s knights had many stages they had to go through in training to prepare to be the best. Sir Gawain, one of those knights, is King Arthur’s nephew. He was the only knight…

Reality vs. Myth Sir Thomas Malory was influenced by the knights in his time to write Arthur becomes King. Sir Malory was born in Warwickshire, England, sometime around 1405. As a young man, Malory was a fairly wealthy landowner. He became a knight in 1442 and served in Parliament in 1445. He became involved in crime and allied himself politically with people and groups who opposed the royal government. He spent several years in prison for his crimes and political alle-giances while in prison…

soul also an individual’s passion and energy. Wisdom is the rational part of the soul that include an individual’s intellect. Being wise over rules the spirited portion and the appetitive portion giving to what is most beneficial to each portion. The virtue of courage is featured in Glaucon’s depiction of the perfectly just person. To be perfectly unjust, Glaucon claims, is more enjoyable than living a perfectly just life. The perfectly just man in Glaucon’s eyes is deprecated, underprivileged…

bronze. It is, however, possible for them to move from one class to another. This is mentioned because Plato understands that it is possible, for example, for a craftsman’s son to have the abilities to become a soldier or vice versa. The last virtue is of course justice. Justice can be described as “minding your own business.” The state and the ruler is just when its three classes or parts execute its own duties and do not interfere with each other. Therefore, injustice must…

that contribute to its existence. In essence, the philosopher believes morality to be a noble human virtue, and a factor that can be used to eliminate social injustices. However, due to social beliefs that alter the perspectives of oppressors and the oppressed, it becomes difficult to champion for morality. In the case of Friedrich Nietzsche, he argues that morality is a questionable human virtue that has no objective place in reality. Friedrich Nietzsche considers morality to be a societal…

of eudaimonia. Do you agree with Aristotle’s list and his weighting? Why or why not? Furthermore, do you believe that it is possible for us, now, to achieve eudaimonia? In the Ethics, Aristotle contemplates four primary topics-the definitions of virtues and vices, humanity's unique ability to deliberate and choose, how ethics relates to human action, and the point of human striving. Arguably, his discussion about human striving is the most profound because of its implications for humanity as a…

Disinterestedness and virtuousness… the roots of a perfect politician according to Gordon Wood. In order to develop as a country, leaders need to demonstrate virtuousness and disinterestedness. Gordon Wood argues in his historical work, Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different, that the genuine founders of America employed the qualities of virtuousness and disinterestedness. Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams all entertain these qualities described by Wood. In his…