Philosophy Week 6
Describe the virtue and vices associated with pleasures in daily life (§13).
"In the other sources of pleasure, those in daily life, let us call the person who is pleasant in the right friendly, and the mean state friendliness. If someone goes to excess with no [ulterior] aim, he will be ingratiating; if he does it for his own advantage, a flatterer. The deficient person, unpleasant in everything, will be a sort of quarrelsome and ill-tempered person"
Explain the relationship between function, virtue and happiness (eudaimonia).
Aristotle argues that the function of all human beings is to engage in happiness (human flourishing). When a person fails to engage in human flourishing then Aristotle would say there is a dysfunction, much like a watch that fails to keep good time. And virtue plays a role here because Aristotle argues it is a necessary ingredient of happiness. So without virtue we cannot fulfill our function as human beings.
Explain Aristotle's view of the hierarchical nature of activities.
Aristotle views that everything we pursue or chase is good. A majority of things we pursue are activities and some are results of activities. With all these goods we desire, they can be hierarchically ordered according to "for-the-sake-of" relationships. Aristotle views one thing that is pursued entirely for itself, and not for the sake of anything else, happiness.
Describe the virtue and vices associated with feelings of fear (§2).
Having a moderate amount of fear is important. A Virtue of fear is courage and helpful in stressful situations to handle pressure. Defecient Vices of fear include cowardess, intimidatio, etc. Excessive vice wouldbe fearlessness which is also not good when too extreme.
Choose some object other than a human and explain the relationship between excellences and a thing's good.
I would choose a television screen as an example. Displaying of pictures of the highest quality is the ultimate good. In reference to human beings, when the TV functions well this can be life in accordance with reason, in connection to that the highest level of good will be man's life which is determined by a certain activity. Said to be appropriate to an operation depending on rational element. This means human thought is the ration
Describe the virtue and vices associated with honor (§7).
If the person feels honor in excess he is looked at as being vane, yet if he looks at honor deficiency, this deficiency is "pusillanimity". Both of these extremes are looked at as being more negative and therefore Aristotle states that most people generally want to be in the middle of these two extremes, or as he states magnanimous. It is important for a person not to desire honor too much or too less because either way he will be looked down upon and therefore a person needs to desire honor in the right way.
Describe the virtue and vices associated with pleasure and pain (§3).
Specifically Aristotle is specifically concerned with here the virtue of temperance and its corresponding vices. Temperance concerns the desire to consume a moderate amount of food, drink, and sex - things we normally associate with pleasure. He is not against any of these things. Aristotle is concerned with both sides of extreme. He would say that the desire for too much of these things can be vicious but this cuts both ways and Aristotle would say a person who lacks proper desire for these things also possesses a vice of a deficient sort.
Carefully explain Aristotle's view of "good" using examples.
The good of anything for Aristotle can always be traced back to how well the thing in question fulfills its function.
What is the highest human good? Why? Explain carefully.
The highest human good would be "happiness". To give happiness to others creates happiness for you
What is the relationship between the highest human good and pleasure?
The highest human pleasure has to be something that people desire for only itself, and all other goods are desirable for it's sake. According to Aristotle, the highest good is something that all other things are acted upon for this things sake
Describe the virtue and vices associated with feelings about feelings (§14).
The person who stands in the proper relation to his feelings has proper pride or proper shame, The deficient person exhibits the vice of not feeling enough shame when he ought to feel more. The excess person exhibits the vice of being disposed to feel more pride than he ought to.Virtues are not feelings according to Aristotle. Instead virtues will be mental dispositions or character traits. However, we can be virtuous with respect to how we treat our feelings.
Describe the virtue and vices associated with giving and taking money (§4).
The specific virtue expressing moderation that you correctly noted is generosity. The excessive vice would be wastefulness - the person that just gives money without much thought. The deficient vice would be stingy or miserly
Describe the virtue and vices associated with anger (§10).
The specific virtue here is that of mildness. The vice on the excessive side is the irascible person who is too quick to anger. And the vice on the deficient side is a type of passiveness displayed by a person who does not get angry when he or she ought to.
Describe the virtue and vices associated with pleasures in amusements (§13).
The specific virtue that Aristotle is concerned with here, as you note, is that of wit. The witty person has the proper moderate disposition as amusements are concerned. The excessive vice here is that of being a buffoon - the person who enjoys getting a laugh at the expense of others or just being offensive. The deficient vice is that of the boor - the person who just has no sense of humor.
Describe the virtue and vices associated with other conditions of money (§6).
The virtue here is magnificence (concerning the giving of large gifts). Stinginess would be a deficient vice and the excessive vice would be vulgarity. Aristotle seems to reserve magnificence for the rich as the poor or middle class could not afford to give large gifts. Anyone could be generous but only the rich could be magnificent. I think the difference here shows us important things about how cultural can greatly influence one's background ethical assumptions that drive theory.
Describe the virtue and vices associated with truth telling (§12).
The virtue is truthfulness. It is the mean between the vices of boastfulness and of self-deprecating which I call false modesty. Boastfulness would be the excess, exaggerating the truth and making more of something than it is. False modesty is the deficiency, playing down the truth or not saying all of it. the virtue is just telling the plain truth which requires understanding what that is. The excessive vice here is that of self-aggrandizement or the person that simply uses truth as a way to boast about him or her self. The deficient vice is the person who lacks the ability to tell truth when they ought to.
Explain what Aristotle means when he says that there must be an ultimate good or end at which all acts aim.
There must be some final end or good to which our action aim or else people would be no better than the hamster spinning around on his wheel with absolutely no end except to do more spinning.
Explain Aristotle's account of human virtue. Generally, what are virtues? How are they obtained?
They are the stuff that constitutes our moral character. As such you can never absolutely know if a person possess a virtue by observing his or her actions
