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Aristotle – How to live a good life

ralphammer.com

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Re: Aristotle – How to live a good life

#141

Post by Asymo »

giraffe_lady wrote: post #120
Asymo wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank modern philosophy, which unfortunately discarded all previous philosophical knowledge

It absolutely did not come on lol. Where do you get this stuff.

Nietzsche, in his book Beyond Good and Evil, says that Plato is the beginning of a great decline, responding with his tragic view: 'And who said that man is capable of knowing the truth? [...a long waste of time follows...]'. I recommend looking into the discussion of universals, as I understand that much of the disagreement stems from this point.

Re: Aristotle – How to live a good life

#142

Post by andsoitis »

seneca wrote: post #124
harimau777 wrote: post #101

It seems to me that this either underemphasizes the importance of happiness or assumes that happiness will be an inevitable byproduct of virtue; even if we define happiness very broadly to include things like "satisfaction" or a "sense of purpose". Part of me suspects that may be because Aristotle was likely upper class and therefore already had success and/or wealth. I'm not sure that I think his arguments work for…

Epictetus, a Stoic philosopher and proponent of Aristotelian virtue ethics, was literally a slave. Some ideas, particularly the best ones, aren't subject to class politics.

> Epictetus, a Stoic philosopher and proponent of Aristotelian virtue ethics, was literally a slave. Some ideas, particularly the best ones, aren't subject to class politics.

While correct, it should be noted that he was only a slave during his youth (freed around the age of 18 when Nero died) and was a slave to the secretary of Nero, in other words had a personal connection to Imperial power.

Re: Aristotle – How to live a good life

#144

Post by borski »

tbirdny wrote: post #140

Just looking at the page and all the animation is fun. It looks nice, but trying to read it with all the distraction is very difficult for me.

Fascinating. I have ADHD and the “distraction” meant I could read it super fast and understand it with no issues. This sounds fun to try side by side.

Re: Aristotle – How to live a good life

#147

Post by iammrpayments »

quonn wrote: post #5

> First of all, what makes a thing a good thing? A good thing fulfils its unique function. Like a nuclear weapon?

The ultimate goal of a nuclear a weapon (as of any weapon) is to keep peace.

As it is said in the art of war, the good general is the one who wins without having to draw his sword.

So a good nuclear weapon is one that you will never need to use.

Re: Aristotle – How to live a good life

#148

Post by atmosx »

stryan wrote: post #115
resource_waste wrote: post #102

I read nicomachean ethics, can I skip the article? My criticism of Aristotle: Living the golden mean, like a happy person isnt going to help when your country is invaded. This is my number 1 criticism of Temperance as a virtue. There is a reason we grind in college so hard, there is a reason why at some points in our career we work absurd hours and gain weight/become unhealthy. Aristotle's golden mean (or Temperance)…

> My criticism of Aristotle: Living the golden mean, like a happy person isnt going to help when your country is invaded. An interesting criticism considering Aristotle elevated soldiers at war as a prime example. Greek philosophy was generally done by and for noble men, who were expected to deal with war on a regular basis and often actively participate in it. > Aristotle's golden mean (or Temperance) does not accou…

My guess is that their interpretation of word "temperance" (e.g. inaction) derives from Christianity, not from ancient Greece.

The 5th century BC Greece is a place where dying for your city-state is by all means, the highest honour one can achieve.

Re: Aristotle – How to live a good life

#149

Post by atmosx »

guerrilla wrote: post #46
BoingBoomTschak wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being noble, wise and virtuous didn't mean that much alienation from the general population in his era, methinks. Of course, some will try to argue by twisting these concepts into some modern hedonistic feelsgood version not even fit as a parody.

> Being noble, wise and virtuous didn't mean that much alienation from the general population in his era, methinks. Ever heard of how Socrates died? haha

One interpretation was that he choose his death wisely. He was old and tired and wanted to go a with a splash. In his society, legacy mattered a lot. If that's the case, he did fine.

Re: Aristotle – How to live a good life

#150

Post by nathan_compton »

iammrpayments wrote: post #147
quonn wrote: post #5

> First of all, what makes a thing a good thing? A good thing fulfils its unique function. Like a nuclear weapon?

The ultimate goal of a nuclear a weapon (as of any weapon) is to keep peace. As it is said in the art of war, the good general is the one who wins without having to draw his sword. So a good nuclear weapon is one that you will never need to use.

"The ultimate goal of a nuclear a weapon (as of any weapon) is to keep peace."

This certainly does not seem obvious to me. It seems eminently arguable that the ultimate goal of a weapon is to make someone else do what you want or eliminate them or punish them if they do not. Or the ultimate goal of a weapon is to kill something to eat it. Or other stuff. When the first ape-map picked up the first jaw bone with the intent of bashing in another person's head, I doubt he was thinking "I'm looking forward to keeping this peace with this."

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