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Single Idea 5858

[filed under theme 22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 2. Source of Ethics / e. Human nature ]

Full Idea

The body is in its prime from the ages of thirty to thirty-five, and the soul around the age of forty-nine.

Gist of Idea

Men are physically prime at thirty-five, and mentally prime at forty-nine

Source

Aristotle (The Art of Rhetoric [c.350 BCE], 1390b09)

Book Ref

Aristotle: 'The Art of Rhetoric', ed/tr. Lawson-Tancred,H.C. [Penguin 1991], p.177


A Reaction

Wonderfully specific! It is important that Aristotle is interested in these questions. The good for man follows the path laid out by nature, in which a man rises to his highest good in maturity, and then declines from it into old age.


The 17 ideas from 'The Art of Rhetoric'

It is the role of dialectic to survey syllogisms [Aristotle]
All good things can be misused, except virtue [Aristotle]
Rhetoric is a political offshoot of dialectic and ethics [Aristotle]
Happiness is composed of a catalogue of internal and external benefits [Aristotle]
Pentathletes look the most beautiful, because they combine speed and strength [Aristotle]
The four constitutions are democracy (freedom), oligarchy (wealth), aristocracy (custom), tyranny (security) [Aristotle]
The best virtues are the most useful to others [Aristotle]
It is noble to avenge oneself on one's enemies, and not come to terms with them [Aristotle]
Desired responsible actions result either from rational or from irrational desire [Aristotle]
Nobody fears a disease which nobody has yet caught [Aristotle]
We all feel universal right and wrong, independent of any community or contracts [Aristotle]
Self-interest is a relative good, but nobility an absolute good [Aristotle]
The young feel pity from philanthropy, but the old from self-concern [Aristotle]
Men are physically prime at thirty-five, and mentally prime at forty-nine [Aristotle]
Rich people are mindlessly happy [Aristotle]
People assume events cause what follows them [Aristotle]
A single counterexample is enough to prove that a truth is not necessary [Aristotle]