m4 PHILOSOPHY - The Good Life: Aristotle

Eudaimonia

The highest-end and greatest good Aristotle called _______ (prosperity, happiness, well-being, vital well-being). ___________ ( = Happiness) is living the life one was made to live.

Aristotle

(384 BC – 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato, and teacher of Alexander the Great. His wrote on: physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, ethics, biology, and zoology.

plan for living

Without a ________ ________ ________, we don’t know what we are trying to do or why we’re trying to do it.

final end

For Aristotle, the _______ of human life is to flourish, to live well, to have a good life. All actions should aim at this end.

Acquired Desires

which differ between individuals. Acquired desires—say for caviar—correspond to our wants.

Natural Desires

which are the same for everyone. __________—say for food—correspond to our needs.

apparent goods

Acquired desires or wants correspond to __________ things that appear good because we want them.

real goods

Natural desires or needs correspond to ___________; things that are good for us whether we want them or not.

limited goods

we can have more of them than we need.

unlimited goods

we cannot have more of them than we need.

good moral character

Aristotle argued that the way to bridge the gap between knowledge of the good life and actually living it was through the development of a __________

Good habit

allows us to perform certain actions without effort.

Virtue

Aristotle calls good habits excellences or ______

intellectual virtues

Virtues of the mind are ________

moral virtues

while virtues exemplified by a regular disposition to choose correctly are __________

wisdom

For Aristotle, _______ is the most important intellectual virtue but moral virtue plays a special role in living well.

Moderation

keeps us from overindulging in pleasure or seeking too much of the limited goods

Courage

is having the disposition to do what it takes to live a good life

Justice

is the virtue that allows us to have friends and enjoy the benefits of cooperation.

State

purpose of the ______ is to provide the conditions under which all its citizens can flourish