Appendix I Table of Virtues and Vices
fear and confidence excess
rashness
fear and confidence mean
courage
fear and confidence deficiency
coward
pleasure and pain excess
licentiousness
pleasure and pain mean
temperance
pleasure and pain deficiency
insensibility
getting and spending excess
vulgarity
getting and spending mean
magnificence
getting and spending deficiency
pettiness
honour and dishonour (major) excess
vanity
honour and dishonor (major) mean
magnanimity
honor and dishonor (major) deficiency
pusillanimity
honor and dishonor (minor) excess
ambition
honor and dishonor (minor) mean
proper ambition
anger excess
irascibility
anger mean
patience
anger deficiency
lack of spirit
self expression excess
boastfulness
self expression mean
truthfulness
self expression deficiency
understatement
conversation excess
buffoonery
conversation mean
wittiness
conversation deficiency
boorishness
social conduct excess
obsequiousness
social conduct mean
friendliness
social conduct deficiency
cantankerousness
shame excess
shyness
shame mean
modesty
shame deficiency
shamelessness
indignation excess
envy
indignation mean
righteous indignation
indignation deficiency
malicious enjoyment
eudaimonia
happiness
arete
goodness, human excellence
ousia
realm of absolute pure being, eternal, ideal form
being
immaterial, immutable, pure, eternal
elenchus
a mode of argument that takes a logical step-by-step approach to refute and to counter a position in a cross-examination effect
exoteric
designed for the public
eg. Plato’s laches
dialektike
the art of dispute, discussion and exploration and questioning of different views with an aim to find the truth in them
techne
craftsmanship, art, a skill in making something that includes an implied sense of principles
courage
one of the cardinal virtues
1st socratic paradox
virtue is knowledge
2nd socratic paradox
no one does wrong knowingly
rule of law
all citizens in a community or a state or nation treated equally under that state’s or nation’s or community’s laws - the same laws for everyone
you have to obey all the laws you cant just pick and choose
what is the good life?
the good life is a life of happiness
normative or regulative
“just because this situation has arise, I cant abandon all morals I have” must look at a situation in black and white
deliberative
Don’t think about just justice; think about compassion and mercy. We must take everything into account. Shades of grey.
daemon
a voice in your ear that points you to good
“know thyself”
a life not examining is not a life worth living
you must know yourself
temperance
if we do not know and practice self-control, we fall into the traps of greed and ambition and lust and so forth
three aspects of the soul according to plato
reason (rational)
spirit
appetite (irrational)
plato’s belief
Plato believed that a just and well-balanced individual would have reason ruling over both spirit and appetite
what did plato think was the good life?
a life lived according to virtue
what is true about people?
we are social creatures
we are not self-sufficient
we need human activities
we have different aptitudes and strengths
what did plato think about politics?
he thought that the solution to sovereignty was true philosophy
acropolis
highest city
kallipolis
beautiful city
plato’s ideal government
timarchy - a system of government that relied on strict discipline and ruled by a very small aristocratic military caste that prized honor first and love of honor over the private and the individual
private and personal luxury are forbidden; individual is subordinate to community
timarchy features
childbirth is controlled
education is controlled
girls were trained in gymnastics
first wave
blow up the traditional nuclear family - plato is suspicious of love, passion because reason and thought are better
the noble lie
everyone has the same place of origin
creates unity
nationalism
forges cultural identity
foundation myth / myth of the metals
gold - those qualified to be rulers
silver - those qualified to be the auxiliries
bronze and iron - in all those qualified to be the producers/ artisans
why did plato want the foundation of myth/ myth of metals?
he wanted an aristocracy of talent
second wave
eliminate private property
so that there is a greater sense of unity
third wave
everyone needs to be a philosopher so that there is a just state
if you’re born into a class…
plato
you stay there … no mobility in this system
eg. artisans
plato vs aristotle views
plato - examining the great mysteries that transcend this world
aristotle - claims about good/bad and virtue/vice and human conduct and society come from this realm
plato vs. aristotle morality
plato - every one of us is responsible for our own moral conduct
aristotle- we are students of moral goodness, there is continual learning
plato vs aristotle “what is the good life”
plato - life lived according to reason
aristotle - empiricism: knowledge from the senses and from our experiences
the academy
platos school where aristotle studied
the lyceum
aristotle created his own school
“man is naturally a social being”
aristotle
plato vs. aristotle good
plato - idea of good exists seperately from experience and individual personality and action
aristotle - good is on our daily activities of our daily lives
“Every art and every investigation, and similarly every action and pursuit, may be said to aim at some good. Hence the good has been well defined as “that at which all things aim”.
aristotle
telos
greek word for “end” or “purpose” // all activities are teleological since there is a defined goal toward which the activity moves
“Opinion is that with which we are able to form an opinion”
plato
aristotle’s philosophy
to become our best versions of ourselves, we are in charge
“the function of a human being, then, is an activity of soul in accordance with reason, or not independent of reason”
aristotle
what is the nicomachean ethics book about
provides a guide to how to live well and pursues the point that the object of life is to find happiness.
we find happiness in right actions in choosing the right actions
what did aristotle think we were all capable of?
we are all capable of being virtuous
pleasure and pain
someone virtuous will gain pleasure in abstaining from gluttony
how to identify someone who is virtuous
virtuous people know they are behaving the right way
they choose to behave the right way for the sake of being virtuous
their behavior manifests itself as a part of a fixed, virtuous disposition
human virtue
a disposition to behave in the right manner and as a mean between extremes of deficiency and excess, which are vices.
function of man
activity of soul in accordance w virtue
what is friendship?
necessary and splendid, but people disagree on its precise nature
mutual feeling of goodwill between 2 people
3 kinds of friendship
utility
pleasure
goodness
utility friendship
accidental, short-lived
both people derive some benefit from each other
pleasure friendship
accidental, short-lived
both are drawn to the others’ wit, good looks, or other pleasant qualities
goodness friendship
enduring
both admire the other’s goodness and help one another strive for goodness
real friendship
loving > being loved
monarchy
father/son relationship
aristocracy
husband/wife relationship
timocracy
brother
aristotle on politics
politics are the highest of the arts
create the most good for the majority
“friendship is also dispensable to life”
aristotle on friendship
“friendship asks for what is possible, not for what is due”
aristotle
friendship should be about wihsing for each other’s goodness , not for selfish reasons or what you think you deserve
Omoregbe philosophy
philosophy is universal, part of human nature, subjective, and particular
thinks that every man is a philosopher
omoregbe’s thoughts on western philosophy
it is false to say that people cannot think logically or reason coherently unless they employ Aristotle’s or Russell’s form of logic
african philosphers
spread their knowledge through word of mouth, as writing is not the only way to preserve knowledge
omoregbe’s parts of the soul
nipadu - a body
okra - a soul
sunsum - that part of a man which accounts for his character
ntoro - that part of man which is passed from father and which is the basis of inherited characteristics
mogya - that aspect of man which becomes a ghost after death