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The Nicomachean ethics

Written by Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics is a comprehensive treatise on ethics that delves into the nature of virtue, the role of habituation, and the importance of practical wisdom. It is considered one of the most significant texts in the history of philosophy, offering insights into moral character and the pursuit of eudaimonia, or human flourishing. more

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Aristotle
Aristotle

Aristotle, a renowned Greek philosopher, is one of the founders of Western philosophy. His thoughts covered a wide range of fields, including ethics, logic, politics, and had a profound impact on the world. more

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“If then, as we say, good craftsmen look to the mean as they work, and if virtue, like nature, is more accurate and better than any form of art, it will follow that virtue has the quality of hitting the mean. I refer to moral virtue [not intellectual], for this is concerned with emotions and actions, in which one can have excess or deficiency or a due mean.”

IfsLooksMeanArtActionFormEmotionQualityMoralVirtueIntellectualConcernedDuesExcessAccurateHittingDeficiencyCraftsmanMoral VirtuesIf Then
Book:The Nicomachean ethics
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“Not every action or emotion however admits of the observance of a due mean. Indeed the very names of some directly imply evil, for instance malice, shamelessness, envy, and, of actions, adultery, theft, murder. All these and similar actions and feelings are blamed as being bad in themselves; it is not the excess or deficiency of them that we blame. It is impossible therefore ever to go right in regard to them - one must always be wrong.”

MeanFeelingsActionEvilNamesEmotionMoralVirtueImpossibleMurderRegardBlameDuesEnvyInstanceExcessAdulteryTheftMaliceDeficiencyObservanceBeing Bad
Author:Aristotle
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“Virtue also depends on ourselves. And so also does vice. For where we are free to act we are also free to refrain from acting, and where we are able to say No we are also able to say Yes; if therefore we are responsible for doing a thing when to do it right, we are also responsible for not doing it when not to do it is wrong, and if we are responsible for rightly not doing a thing, we are also responsible for wrongly doing it.”

IfsDoeAbleActingMoralVirtueDependsResponsibleVicesRefrain
Book:The Nicomachean ethics
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“Of cases where a man is truthful both in speech and conduct when no considerations of honesty come in, from an habitual sincerity of disposition. Such sincerity may be esteemed a moral excellence; for the lover of truth, who is truthful even when nothing depends on it, will a fortiori be truthful when some interest is at stake, since having all along avoided falsehood for its own sake, he will assuredly avoid it when it is morally base; and this is a disposition that we praise.”

MenMayInterestMoralCasesVirtueHonestyDependsLoversSpeechPraiseExcellenceSakeConsiderationSincerityStakesTruthfulFalsehoodDispositionAvoidedHabitualBeing TruthfulMoral Excellence
Author:Aristotle
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