Single Idea 52

[catalogued under 21. Aesthetics / A. Aesthetic Experience / 4. Beauty]

Full Idea

(roughly) Three pairs of factors cause choice or avoidance: fine/base, advantageous/harmful, pleasant/painful.

Clarification

'Fine' is the Greek word 'kalon', which also translates as 'beautiful'

Gist of Idea

We choose things for their fineness, their advantage, or for pleasure

Source

Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1104b29)

Book Reference

Aristotle: 'Ethics (Nicomachean)', ed/tr. ThomsonJ A K/TredennickH [Penguin 1976], p.96


A Reaction

I love the Greek idea that we choose actions for their 'fineness' [kalos, nobility, beauty]. We sometimes celebrate fine deeds in the media, and even award honours for them, but we don't talk about them much.