6: Aristotle
Like Plato, Aristotle thought that the best route to knowledge was through reason alone, and that sensory experience was to be distrusted.
False
Aristotle concluded that happiness is the ultimate intrinsic good, and that happiness is that which makes a life good.
True
Aristotle was a philosopher in ancient Greece who established a highly influential, comprehensive system of philosophy.
True
According to the doctrine of the golden mean, there are different virtues for everyone.
False
According to the doctrine of the golden mean, we should seek a genuine mathematical average of our virtues.
False
Aristotle asserted that happiness can be achieved through the accumulation of accolades, wealth, and esteem.
False
Aristotle disagreed with Plato that there is one and only one good life for everyone to lead, but agreed that the nature of the good life could be discovered only by an intellectual superior to the common man.
False
For Aristotle, happiness is best understood as "eudaimonia:" an activity of the soul in accordance with perfect virtue.
True
For Aristotle, perfect virtue is virtue that is perfectly balanced according to the "doctrine of the golden mean."
True
When Aristotle says that happiness is an activity, he means that happiness is a way of doing things rather than a reward to be gained at the end of our actions.
True
Aristotilean ethics differs from Platonic ethics in that:
a. In Aristotelian ethics, experience is considered superior to pure reasoning in determining the nature of the good life b. In Aristotelian ethics, the opinions of all people matter when it comes to determining the nature of the good life, whereas in Platonic ethics the opinions of only a few intellectual elite are to be considered c. Plato stressed that knowledge is the key to leading the good life, while for Aristotle the good life can be attained only through attention to virtue d. According to Platonic notions of ethical absolutism there is one and only one good life to lead, while Aristotelian ethics rejects absolutism and asserts that there are as many good lives as there are different kinds of people
According to Aristotle, there are the following different kinds of goods:
a. Instrumental goods, which are good only because they lead to something else that is good b. Intrinsic goods, which are good in their own right
We can criticize Aristotle's ethics on the basis that:
a. Some virtues don't admit of degree; that is, they don't fall on a spectrum or scale b. Some goods in life result from excess or deficiency c. Aristotelian ethics does not give us a model for resolving ethical dilemmas
According to Aristotle's doctrine of the golden mean:
b. One can do things happily by balancing their virtues d. The virtues are the same for everyone, but we need them in different amounts to be happy
