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Single Idea 5157

[filed under theme 23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 1. Virtue Theory / b. Basis of virtue ]

Full Idea

Any kind of excellence renders that of which it is the excellence good, and makes it perform its function well; thus the excellence of the eye makes both the eye and its function good.

Gist of Idea

If a thing has excellence, this makes the thing good, and means it functions well

Source

Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1106a17)

Book Ref

Aristotle: 'Ethics (Nicomachean)', ed/tr. ThomsonJ A K/TredennickH [Penguin 1976], p.99

A Reaction

To say that a thing's excellence makes it good seems tautological to us, but Aristotle perceives a family of concepts (such as good, fine, excellent, and functioning well) which capture different psychological states. We need 'good', as well as 'right'.

Related Idea

Idea 2095 If something has a function then it has a state of being good [Plato]

The 22 ideas with the same theme [foundation and justification for belief in virtues]:

5149 The two main parts of the soul give rise to two groups of virtues - intellectual, and moral [Aristotle]
5156 How can good actions breed virtues, if you need to be virtuous to perform good actions? [Aristotle]
5157 If a thing has excellence, this makes the thing good, and means it functions well [Aristotle]
5872 Excellence is the best state of anything (like a cloak) which has an employment or function [Aristotle]
625 Is excellence separate from things, or part of them, or both? [Aristotle]
14060 Prudence is the greatest good, and more valuable than philosophy, because it produces virtue [Epicurus]
20855 Chrysippus says virtue can be lost (though Cleanthes says it is too secure for that) [Chrysippus, by Diog. Laertius]
5970 Chrysippus says nothing is blameworthy, as everything conforms with the best nature [Chrysippus, by Plutarch]
23181 All acts of virtue relate to justice, which is directed towards the common good [Aquinas]
21871 The more we strive for our own advantage, the more virtuous we are [Spinoza]
17210 All virtue is founded on self-preservation [Spinoza]
17214 To act virtuously is to act rationally [Spinoza]
12515 Actions are virtuous if they are judged praiseworthy [Locke]
6232 Every creature has a right and a wrong state which guide its actions, so there must be a natural end [Shaftesbury]
23672 To be virtuous, we must care about duty [Reid]
8097 Virtue is hard if we are scorned; we need support [Joubert]
14818 First morality is force, then custom, then acceptance, then instinct, then a pleasure - and finally 'virtue' [Nietzsche]
21742 Originally virtue was obedience, to gods, government, or custom [Russell]
22478 The essential thing is the 'needs' of plants and animals, and their operative parts [Foot]
22398 Virtues are corrective, to resist temptation or strengthen motivation [Foot]
5076 To Greeks it seemed obvious that the virtue of anything is the perfection of its function [Taylor,R]
20195 Eudaimonia first; virtue is a trait which promotes it; right acts are what virtues produce [Hursthouse, by Zagzebski]