Aristotle's Golden Mean Theory

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A quote from Aristotle “…Too much or too little; and both extremes are wrong. The mean and good is feeling at the right time, about the right things, in relation to the right people, and for the right reason; and the mean and the good are the task of virtue” (NE 2.6). For Aristotle virtue is happiness, it is also human excellence and to become an excellent human one must achieve virtue. You’re probably thinking “who gives a flying hoot about this shit” and if you’re actually thinking some relative form of not caring, let me tell you that’s why I’m here to tell you why you should care. See, in recent events there has been an exponential amount of individuals diagnosed with depression. Why? Now, obviously there are different causes to an increase amount of depression but become more aware of what is going on around you and perhaps you’ll see that there has also been an increase in obesity. So, the question is, “Is there a correlation?” of course there is and telling you what to do is my duty. I’m going to tell you the contemporary problem of depression and obesity while giving you some insight on how a Greek philosopher predicted such a situation.
Obesity is a growing public health subject. However, what is obesity? Well, for the ignorant it’s defined as having a body mass index (BMI) higher than the number 30. Additionally, body mass index is “A measure of weight relative to height” (Wood 292). The body mass index is normally measured as [Weight in pounds ÷ (Height in inches x Height in inches)] x 703; just if anyone is curious. So, basically in an ill-mannered way, obesity is just being really fat. We all know that there is a good amount of obese people around but how much is there exactly. Well, according to one study there was ...

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...seem very obvious, you have to remember that he pretty much predicted this predicament a long time ago. If Aristotle was alive and he was with us in this world, he would say “If you want to be happy you have to be in the moderate balance of your body weight”. He would likely tell us not to moderately aim to be in the healthy mean. Instead, he would probably suggest aiming to the other extreme of the diet and exercise. In order for the pull of being in one extreme (obese) to cause us to not fall onto the other extreme (skinny) but the mean of both extremes.
From examining Aristotle’s theory of the Golden Mean and reading up on statistics and so forth about obesity and depression. Then, applying Aristotle’s theory onto the real life situation, I would, as I said before not only think that Aristotle’s theory can fix our predicament but that it had foreseen it as well.

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