AGRS 36 Final

Aristotle: Definition of Happiness (Eudaimonia)

Not a fleeting feeling, but "activity of the soul in accordance with virtue" over a complete life. It is the agreed-upon end (telos) of human action.

Aristotle: The Doctrine of the Mean

The principle that moral virtue is a middle ground between two vices: one of excess and one of deficiency (e.g., Courage is the mean between Cowardice and Recklessness).

Aristotle: Habit vs. Intellect

• Moral virtues (character) are acquired through habituation and practice

• Intellectual virtues (wisdom/understanding) are acquired through teaching and time.

Aristotle: The Prime Mover

The Stoic/Aristotelian concept of God as "Thought thinking itself." It moves the universe not by physical force, but as an "object of desire" or ultimate final cause.

Aristotle: Three Types of Friendship

1. Utility (useful to each other)

2. Pleasure (enjoyable company)

3. Goodness (perfect friendship where you wish the other well for their own sake)

Aristotle: The Best Life (Book 10)

The life of contemplation (theoria). It is the highest human activity because it uses the "divine" element in us (the intellect) and is the most self-sufficient.

Epicurus: Ataraxia

The goal of life: "freedom from disturbance." A state of mental tranquillity achieved by removing the fear of death and the gods.

Epicurus: View of Death

"Death is nothing to us." Since we are made of atoms, when we exist, death is not present; when death is present, we no longer exist to feel pain.

Epicurus: Categorization of Desires

1. Natural and Necessary (food, safety)

2. Natural but Unnecessary (fancy food)

3. Vain/Empty (fame, power). Happiness requires only the first.

Lucretius: The Atomic Swerve (Clinamen)

A random, minimal movement of atoms that breaks the chain of fate. It provides the physical basis for free will in a materialist universe.

Lucretius: Critique of Religion

Argues that religion (religio) leads to "criminality" and terror, using the sacrifice of Iphigenia as proof that "religion has the power to prompt such holy crimes."

Epicurus: The Criterion of Truth

Sense-perception is the primary source of truth. We must use the visible world (senses) to make inferences about the invisible world (atoms).

Stoics: Living According to Nature

The goal of life: Living in agreement with the rational order of the universe. Virtue is the only true good; everything else (wealth, health) is "indifferent."

Stoics: Providence vs. Epicurean Chaos

The belief that the cosmos is a living, rational being organized by a divine intelligence (God/Reason) where everything happens for a purposeful end.

Stoics: The Cylinder Analogy

Explains fate/responsibility: An external push (fate) starts the cylinder rolling, but it rolls because of its own shape (our internal character/assent).

Stoics: The Dog and the Cart Analogy

A dog tied to a moving cart: It can either follow willingly (freedom through alignment with fate) or be dragged (suffering while still being fated).

Stoics: The Cosmopolis

The "World-City." The belief that all rational beings are part of one community, and we have a duty to act for the common good of this whole.

Comparison: Purpose of Physics

For Aristotle: To understand the "why" of nature. For Epicurus: To prove there are no gods to fear. For Stoics: To understand the divine plan we must follow.