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Single Idea 12281
[filed under theme 24. Political Theory / A. Basis of a State / 1. A People / a. Human distinctiveness
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Full Idea
It is an essential [kath' auto] property of man to be 'by nature a civilized animal'.
Clarification
'Kath' auto' really means 'intrinsic' or 'per se'
Gist of Idea
Man is intrinsically a civilized animal
Source
Aristotle (Topics [c.331 BCE], 128b17)
Book Ref
Aristotle: 'Posterior Analytics and Topica', ed/tr. Tredennick,H/Forster,ES [Harvard 1960], p.481
A Reaction
I take this, along with man being intrinsically rational, to be the foundation of Aristotelian ethics. Given that we are civilized, self-evident criteria emerge for how to be good at it. A good person is, above all, a good citizen.
The
34 ideas
from 'Topics'
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12259
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Reasoning is when some results follow necessarily from certain claims
[Aristotle]
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12260
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Dialectic starts from generally accepted opinions
[Aristotle]
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12261
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Differentia are generic, and belong with genus
[Aristotle]
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12262
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An 'idion' belongs uniquely to a thing, but is not part of its essence
[Aristotle]
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12263
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'Genus' is part of the essence shared among several things
[Aristotle]
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12264
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An 'accident' is something which may possibly either belong or not belong to a thing
[Aristotle]
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12265
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All water is the same, because of a certain similarity
[Aristotle]
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12266
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'Same' is mainly for names or definitions, but also for propria, and for accidents
[Aristotle]
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12267
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There are ten categories: essence, quantity, quality, relation, place, time, position, state, activity, passivity
[Aristotle]
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12271
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Induction is the progress from particulars to universals
[Aristotle]
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12272
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We describe the essence of a particular thing by means of its differentiae
[Aristotle]
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12273
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Unit is the starting point of number
[Aristotle]
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12274
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Begin examination with basics, and subdivide till you can go no further
[Aristotle]
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12275
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We value friendship just for its own sake
[Aristotle]
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12276
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Justice and self-control are better than courage, because they are always useful
[Aristotle]
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12277
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Friendship is preferable to money, since its excess is preferable
[Aristotle]
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12278
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'Being' and 'oneness' are predicated of everything which exists
[Aristotle]
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12279
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The differentia indicate the qualities, but not the essence
[Aristotle]
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12280
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Genus gives the essence better than the differentiae do
[Aristotle]
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12281
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Man is intrinsically a civilized animal
[Aristotle]
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12282
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An individual property has to exist (in past, present or future)
[Aristotle]
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12283
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In definitions the first term to be assigned ought to be the genus
[Aristotle]
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12284
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Everything that is has one single essence
[Aristotle]
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11261
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Puzzles arise when reasoning seems equal on both sides
[Aristotle]
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12285
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The definition is peculiar to one thing, not common to many
[Aristotle]
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13269
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In the case of a house the parts can exist without the whole, so parts are not the whole
[Aristotle]
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12286
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If two things are the same, they must have the same source and origin
[Aristotle]
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12287
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Two identical things have the same accidents, they are the same; if the accidents differ, they're different
[Aristotle]
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12288
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Numerical sameness and generic sameness are not the same
[Aristotle]
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12289
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The genera and the differentiae are part of the essence
[Aristotle]
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12290
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Destruction is dissolution of essence
[Aristotle]
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12291
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There can't be one definition of two things, or two definitions of the same thing
[Aristotle]
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12292
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Definitions are easily destroyed, since they can contain very many assertions
[Aristotle]
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12293
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We say 'so in cases of this kind', but how do you decide what is 'of this kind'?
[Aristotle]
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