Aristotle And Aristotle: The Golden Mean By Aristotle

Exam 2

For Aristotle, he used the Golden Mean, in every situation which he found to be two vices with mean in the middle. For example, as discussed in class, two vices are cheap and wasteful, the mean being generosity, is the way to live by. “It should be said, then that every virtue causes its possessors to be in a good state and to perform their functions well”. (Aristotle II, 6) Aristotle wants people to live a life of balance and temperance to have a fulfilling and happy life, which he defines as, happiness is the activity of the soul in accordance with virtue. He does make it a point to say that we can’t just be taught in school how to be moral but rather it’s a choice that you have to practice on. Aristotle believes no one is born evil

Confucius on the other hand, was influenced highly by Aristotle, writing with many similarities, including the practice of virtue, of wisdom, courage, and the fact that virtues need to be practiced together. He states that a person can’t be wise without being courageous, and facing the dangers of the search for truth. A person can’t be wise without the danger and of true ideal humanity in self and worth interest. “The wise are active; the authoritative is still”. (Confucius 110) And lastly, a person can’t exercise the virtue of their true self without the understanding of self -truth and choice. Confucius is the balancing of personal and social interests of the values I mentioned earlier, which all results in The Golden Mean, stated by Aristotle. Confucius finds that multiple word throughout the text, add significance to his messages. Li which is the ritual, the manner, and civility, meaning that moral initiatives outweigh the knowledge, practicing the good manners and conducting oneself in moral fashion are considered a characteristic of a gentleman. A gentleman is one who follows the Way and morals of the system, but not the beliefs that are common with other people. The Ren is the exemplary action he talks about of the good feeling a virtuous human experience when being altruistic, a main expression of Confucian ideals, the

His views on friendship are very like mine, however I do believe some friendships can start as a utility or pleasure, and then can grow very much from there and turn into something genuine. I do agree that true friends are hard to come by and that it is reckless to allow too many people to know the most intimate parts about you. Virtues and ethics can be learned through practice and while outside influence may have some impact, it is ultimately to you. Once someone decides what they believe is morally right or not, that starts affecting their decision making Everyone decides for themselves the right kind of life to