I noted this sentence at the beginning of Book One, Chapter 8:
“For with the truth, all the given facts harmonize; but with what is false, the truth soon hits a wrong note”.
He didn’t seem to unfold the second half of this sentence, at least as far as I am in the text. But it is swirling all around us today… the truth is abused by a raging sea of falsehoods, behaving toward the truth like cornered rats.
For me the idea that Aristotle’s morality is objective is one reason it doesn’t seem he fully rejects Plato’s ‘objective’ Form of the Good, but rather is directing us to begin examining The Good at the level of particulars and also the inner world of soul in relation to action. You might say he’s putting ‘training wheels’ on Plato - suggesting we spend some time acknowledging our own desires and weaknesses before declaring ourselves ‘Philosopher Kings’. There are many instances where he finds the Good in moderation between to extremes - maybe we can’t determine the exact good for everyone in every circumstance, but we can at least get closer with the sense of Eudaimonia (or disharmony) as a guide.
Yes! This is perhaps the most difficult thing to implement in the NE, "spending some time acknowledging our own desires and weaknesses," and I would add "knowing our strengths as well."
This chapter brings to mind Socrates, as he reminds me that "the unexamined life is not worth living, in Plato's Apology.
I hope that the discussion will turn to a sort of high level overview of the history of the ideas contained in the NE, because that is both a fascinating subject in itself, and it sheds additional light on how and why Aristotle uses the terms he does in NE.
And we do not, even can not think like the Medievals.
A much more fruitful and potentially enlightening exercise would be to take into account and consider the all-encompassing cultural significance of Quantum Reality as signalled by the now famous equation E=MC2 or the Miracle of Conscious Light
I noted this sentence at the beginning of Book One, Chapter 8:
“For with the truth, all the given facts harmonize; but with what is false, the truth soon hits a wrong note”.
He didn’t seem to unfold the second half of this sentence, at least as far as I am in the text. But it is swirling all around us today… the truth is abused by a raging sea of falsehoods, behaving toward the truth like cornered rats.
For me the idea that Aristotle’s morality is objective is one reason it doesn’t seem he fully rejects Plato’s ‘objective’ Form of the Good, but rather is directing us to begin examining The Good at the level of particulars and also the inner world of soul in relation to action. You might say he’s putting ‘training wheels’ on Plato - suggesting we spend some time acknowledging our own desires and weaknesses before declaring ourselves ‘Philosopher Kings’. There are many instances where he finds the Good in moderation between to extremes - maybe we can’t determine the exact good for everyone in every circumstance, but we can at least get closer with the sense of Eudaimonia (or disharmony) as a guide.
Yes! This is perhaps the most difficult thing to implement in the NE, "spending some time acknowledging our own desires and weaknesses," and I would add "knowing our strengths as well."
This chapter brings to mind Socrates, as he reminds me that "the unexamined life is not worth living, in Plato's Apology.
I hope that the discussion will turn to a sort of high level overview of the history of the ideas contained in the NE, because that is both a fascinating subject in itself, and it sheds additional light on how and why Aristotle uses the terms he does in NE.
The pursuit of truth, the good, and virtue as a path to flourishing cannot be underestimated
Aristotle's ethics are distinctly real; there's no idealism, just practical effort to live a meaningful life.
Me thinks that resurrecting the poetry/music of Orpheus is potentially a much more worthy exercise http://beezone.com/frank_marrero/orpheus.html
And we do not, even can not think like the Medievals.
A much more fruitful and potentially enlightening exercise would be to take into account and consider the all-encompassing cultural significance of Quantum Reality as signalled by the now famous equation E=MC2 or the Miracle of Conscious Light
http://www.kneeoflistening.com/chapter-1/6 The Incarnation of Conscious Light
http://beezone.com/ewb_pp436-459.html The Enlightenment of the Whole Body
http://beezone.com/current/whenbodyfulllight.html When the Body Is Full of Light
http://www.integralworld.net/reynolds17.html
http://spiralledlight.wordpress.com