Aristotle Good

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The Idea of the Good in Aristotle
Good and evil are the most basic concepts of value. The essential difference between humans and other animals is that people are rational, have value consciousness, and can distinguish between good and evil. This difference affects people's attitude towards things and influences people's behavior. Aristotle, a great ancient Greek philosopher, has a unique and comprehensive view of good.
Before Aristotle, many philosophers in ancient Greece had their thinking about good. Socrates believed every virtue has a form, and they are eternal. The universal form of these forms is the form of good, which ultimately determines the various types of virtue, and the form of good as the highest Form is consistent with truth …show more content…

In Plato's view, the forms are objective and constant ideals, which are aspatial and atemporal, of concrete things, and it results in the separation of the intelligible world from the sensible world. Aristotle thinks that forms are not things outside of concrete things but the essence of being in concrete things. At the same time, it is the internal purpose of matters and can also promote the movement of them. Aristotle thinks that good has multiple meanings. For example, the good of character is virtues, and the good of time is a good opportunity. Also, things belonging to the same form are objects of a discipline. If there is a common good form, then there is only one discipline about good. However, in reality, different kinds of good are to be studied in different sciences. For example, tactics are used to study wars, medicine is used to treat diseases, and moral is used to study the good of ethics. So, there cannot be a common form of good between these different …show more content…

However, the form of good is not more perfect because it is eternal, just as long-term white is not whiter than short-term white, so the meaning of the form of good is empty. Some people think that intrinsic good and instrumental good can be distinguished, only intrinsic good is truly good and is from the form of good, including wisdom, honor, and happiness. Aristotle believes that if these things are good only because of the form of good, then they will have the same principle of good. In fact, the principles of honor, wisdom, and happiness are all different, so good cannot be a single form. Even if there is an absolute good that can be separated from a specific thing, it is also a good that cannot be acquired and practiced by humans, and what ethics studies are feasible and available good. All disciplines pursue some good, but they do not explore the idea of the good. Understanding the idea of the good does not help a person to be a better doctor or general, so from a practical perspective, the form of good has no practical significance. All in all, Aristotle critiqued the form of good. He believes that there is no independent form of good, only the good that is to be used in different ways. The form of good is also meaningless for human practice because

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