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Single Idea 8006

[filed under theme 15. Nature of Minds / A. Nature of Mind / 2. Psuche ]

Full Idea

When Aristotle speaks of the soul we could very often retain his meaning by speaking of personality.

Gist of Idea

When Aristotle speaks of soul he means something like personality

Source

Alasdair MacIntyre (A Short History of Ethics [1967], Ch. 7)

Book Ref

MacIntyre,Alasdair: 'A Short History of Ethics' [Routledge 1967], p.64


A Reaction

MacIntyre contrasts this strongly with Plato's dualist view. Famously Aristotle thinks the soul is the 'form' of the body, but this implies that he also includes the higher-level functions of the body. Soul is character?


The 11 ideas from 'A Short History of Ethics'

'Dikaiosune' is justice, but also fairness and personal integrity [MacIntyre]
Sophists don't distinguish a person outside one social order from someone outside all order [MacIntyre]
When Aristotle speaks of soul he means something like personality [MacIntyre]
'Happiness' is a bad translation of 'eudaimonia', which includes both behaving and faring well [MacIntyre]
The Bible is a story about God in which humans are incidental characters [MacIntyre]
The value/fact logical gulf is misleading, because social facts involve values [MacIntyre]
In the Reformation, morality became unconditional but irrational, individually autonomous, and secular [MacIntyre]
The Levellers and the Diggers mark a turning point in the history of morality [MacIntyre]
I am naturally free if I am not tied to anyone by a contract [MacIntyre]
My duties depend on my identity, which depends on my social relations [MacIntyre]
Fans of natural rights or laws can't agree on what the actual rights or laws are [MacIntyre]