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Single Idea 281

[filed under theme 23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 2. Elements of Virtue Theory / f. The Mean ]

Full Idea

It is by preserving the mean that arts produce everything that is good and beautiful.

Clarification

Here 'arts' is the Greek word 'techné', also translated as 'skill'

Gist of Idea

The arts produce good and beautiful things by preserving the mean

Source

Plato (The Statesman [c.356 BCE], 284b)

Book Ref

Plato: 'Statesman', ed/tr. Bernadete,Seth [University of Chicago 1986], p.35


The 9 ideas from 'The Statesman'

To reveal a nature, divide down, and strip away what it has in common with other things [Plato]
Only divine things can always stay the same, and bodies are not like that [Plato]
The soul gets its goodness from god, and its evil from previous existence. [Plato]
The arts produce good and beautiful things by preserving the mean [Plato]
Whenever you perceive a community of things, you should also hunt out differences in the group [Plato]
No one wants to define 'weaving' just for the sake of weaving [Plato]
Non-physical beauty can only be shown clearly by speech [Plato]
Democracy is the worst of good constitutions, but the best of bad constitutions [Plato, by Aristotle]
The question of whether or not to persuade comes before the science of persuasion [Plato]