Combining Texts

Ideas for 'Metaphysics', 'What is the Basis of Moral Obligation?' and 'The Discourses'

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5 ideas

23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 1. Virtue Theory / a. Nature of virtue
Excellence is a sort of completion [Aristotle]
     Full Idea: Excellence is a sort of completion.
     From: Aristotle (Metaphysics [c.324 BCE], 1021b19)
23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 1. Virtue Theory / b. Basis of virtue
Is excellence separate from things, or part of them, or both? [Aristotle]
     Full Idea: Does the universe possess goodness and excellence as something separated and by itself, or because of its arrangement? But why should it not be both ways?
     From: Aristotle (Metaphysics [c.324 BCE], 1075a14)
23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 1. Virtue Theory / c. Particularism
I see the need to pay a debt in a particular instance, and any instance will do [Prichard]
     Full Idea: How can I be brought to see the truth of the principle of paying a debt except in connection with a particular instance? For this purpose any instance will do. If I cannot see that I ought to pay this debt, I shall not see that I ought to a debt.
     From: H.A. Prichard (What is the Basis of Moral Obligation? [1925])
     A reaction: This isn't quite particularism, which would (I think) say that the degree of obligation will never be quite the same in any two situations, and so one instance will not suffice to understand the duty.
The complexities of life make it almost impossible to assess morality from a universal viewpoint [Prichard]
     Full Idea: Owing to the complication of human relations, the problem of what one ought to do from the point of view of life as a whole is one of intense difficulty.
     From: H.A. Prichard (What is the Basis of Moral Obligation? [1925])
     A reaction: I suspect that the difficulty is not the problems engendered by complexity, but that there is no answer available from the most objective point of view. Morality simply is a matter of how daily life is conducted, with medium-term goals only.
23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 3. Virtues / g. Contemplation
Contemplation is a supreme pleasure and excellence [Aristotle]
     Full Idea: Contemplation is a supreme pleasure and excellence.
     From: Aristotle (Metaphysics [c.324 BCE], 1072b22)