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Single Idea 5234
[filed under theme 22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 2. Source of Ethics / f. Übermensch
]
Full Idea
For the magnanimous or great-souled man there are some circumstances in which it is not worth living.
Gist of Idea
For the great-souled man it is sometimes better to be dead
Source
Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1124b08)
Book Ref
Aristotle: 'Ethics (Nicomachean)', ed/tr. ThomsonJ A K/TredennickH [Penguin 1976], p.156
A Reaction
He is not talking of suicide here, but of risking one's life. This seems to be a hallmark of the normally virtuous person, as well as of someone exceptional. Most people would agree with this, but for Aristotle it is a central issue.
The
18 ideas
with the same theme
[moral visionaries as the source of ethical systems]:
4115
|
Plato found that he could only enforce rational moral justification by creating an authoritarian society
[Williams,B on Plato]
|
5234
|
For the great-souled man it is sometimes better to be dead
[Aristotle]
|
23358
|
Every species produces exceptional beings, and we must just accept their nature
[Epictetus]
|
20138
|
Christianity is at war with the higher type of man, and excommunicates his basic instincts
[Nietzsche]
|
23440
|
Nietzsche's judgement of actions by psychology instead of outcome was poisonous
[Foot on Nietzsche]
|
2883
|
Noble people see themselves as the determiners of values
[Nietzsche]
|
23208
|
Caesar and Napoleon point to the future, when they pursue their task regardless of human sacrifice
[Nietzsche]
|
23193
|
Napoleon was very focused, and rightly ignored compassion
[Nietzsche]
|
20141
|
Higher human beings see and hear far more than others, and do it more thoughtfully
[Nietzsche]
|
4408
|
The concept of 'good' was created by aristocrats to describe their own actions
[Nietzsche]
|
23716
|
A strong rounded person soon forgets enemies, misfortunes, and even misdeeds
[Nietzsche]
|
14810
|
Originally it was the rulers who requited good for good and evil for evil who were called 'good'
[Nietzsche]
|
20136
|
There is an extended logic to a great man's life, achieved by a sustained will
[Nietzsche]
|
20358
|
The highest man can endure and control the greatest combination of powerful drives
[Nietzsche]
|
20369
|
The highest man directs the values of the highest natures over millenia
[Nietzsche]
|
8041
|
The superman is a monstrous oddity, not a serious idea
[MacIntyre on Nietzsche]
|
20135
|
Nietzsche's higher type of man is much more important than the idealised 'superman'
[Nietzsche, by Leiter]
|
18293
|
The noble man wants new virtues; the good man preserves what is old
[Nietzsche]
|