(no subject)
Lorri Chau
11/11/06
Ethics 119
Alan Waters
In life, there comes a time when a person questions if his judgment is right or wrong. He will ask himself, if his current state of mind is fair or unfair. If a person had a chat with a friend and discussed each other’s aspect
“Virtue, then is not of two sorts, virtue of thought and virtue of character. Virtue of thought arises and grows mostly from teaching; that is why it needs experience and time. Virtue of character [i.e of ethos] results from habit [ethos]; hence its name ‘ethical’, slightly varied from ‘ethos’*” (Book II, Chapter 2, 3, page 18.)
Aristotle believes a person can attain “good” from a trial and error process. If a person is in the process of learning and makes a mistake, does it mean he is at fault? No, a person needs to be recognized with what he is doing wrong so in the future, he can prevent himself to not repeating the same mistake. However, if he repeats the same mistake, does it not mean he did not learn his lesson? Thus, this proves Aristotle statement, for someone to pertain “good” a person needs to learn one experience and continue with learning in order to prevent another mistake. In order to do so, it requires a lot of attention and effort to change his or her way. Keep in mind a person is not perfect, he or she is allowed to make mistakes. A person is only at fault when he or she continues to make the same mistake after acknowledging what he or she is doing wrong. By a person repeating the same mistake, this confuses another party causing him or her unable to understand where the person is coming from.
The definition of virtue varies on each person. For Aristotle, he believes a person can receive ‘good’ if he or she does the right thing. But who makes the decision as to what is right and wrong, what is just and unjust? Can a person travel around and question others of what he or she believes is right. Socrates is well-known for his constant philosophizing and causing others to question authority.