display all the ideas for this combination of philosophers
4 ideas
| 5856 | Self-interest is a relative good, but nobility an absolute good [Aristotle] |
| Full Idea: One's own interest is a relative good, nobility a good absolutely. | |
| From: Aristotle (The Art of Rhetoric [c.350 BCE], 1389b37) | |
| A reaction: The key idea in the whole of Greek moral theory is the concept of what we can call a 'beautiful' action. Such things, or course, tend to be visible in great actions, such as sparing an enemy, rather than the minutiae of well-mannered daily life. |
| 91 | A man is his own best friend; therefore he ought to love himself best [Aristotle] |
| Full Idea: A man is his own best friend; therefore he ought to love himself best. | |
| From: Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1168b09) | |
| A reaction: Both halves of this sound odd. Being your own best friend has all the oddness of self-identity. Maybe this sort of self-love should be resisted. Altruistic people are lovely. |
| 88 | Nobody would choose all the good things in world, if the price was loss of identity [Aristotle] |
| Full Idea: Nobody would choose to have all the good things in the world at the price of becoming somebody else. | |
| From: Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1166a23) | |
| A reaction: This now looks like a particularly good objection to utilitarianism, which aims to promote pleasure, no matter what the cost. |
| 71 | Licentiousness concerns the animal-like pleasures of touch and taste [Aristotle] |
| Full Idea: Licentiousness is concerned with such pleasures as are shared with animals (hence thought low and brutish). These are touch and taste. | |
| From: Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1118a25) | |
| A reaction: Nietzsche is the best opponent of this view, when elevates purely physical pleasures such as dancing to a supreme status. It must be possible to give a justified account of 'high' and 'low' activities, perhaps related to increased generality + universals. |