Comparing Aristotle And Sermon On The Mount

When comparing Aristotle and Jesus in The Nicomachean Ethics and

The Sermon on the Mount, we should look at the different beliefs the two have about life, and virtue by asking questions such as; what are we all pursing in this life? Or, what exactly is virtue, and how does Aristotle’s and Jesus’s view compare to each other? Another question that presents its self when reading about these two is, what exactly makes somebody 's character truly virtuous or moral? Although there is no one for sure answer to these questions, both Aristotle and Jesus devoted their lives to study and teach about what they believed were the right answers. Both stories bring two very different but very interesting points of views on how Greek and Christian viewed

He believes that someone can 't just decide whether they were happy or not, but rather that there were certain virtues that if preformed would enable somebody to be happy. Virtues acts such as courage, temperance, wittiness, modesty, patience and friendliness are a few of these virtues. In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle defines virtue as “a characteristic involving choice, and that it consists in observing the mean relative to us, a mean which is defined by a rational principle, such as a man of practical wisdom would use to determine

However, you could learn moral goodness, but, that it is a result of habit. The only way to improve is with time, practice, and encouragement. Also if somebody is not virtuous or does not have good morals, they just need a better teacher or need to practice it more.

Keep in mind that, Aristotle also believes that you also cannot be virtuous if you are ugly, poor, or a woman. Because how could you give advice and communicate with others if you were ugly, and how could you give to the poor or be generous if you were too poor? Women on the other hand, according to what Aristotle thought, were just not capable of being a virtuous person.

Jesus, however, has many different beliefs. He believes there is a certain way to live in order to achieve the greater things in the afterlife. For doing the right thing for god is the way we all need to live. At times it can seem very radical. For example, Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount "Whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery," and "If you say, 'You fool, ' you will be liable to the hell of