Ah, Aristotle.
I really like this guy. Wanna know why? I think it's because every person that's ever irritated me could benefit from reading Aristotle. It sounds kind of mean, but I think Aristotle has those insights into everyday concepts that really clear up the whole picture, if you think about it.
For example, his take on wisdom. Aristotle mentions that there are different ways in which we characterize knowledge. His seems to be a distinction based on practicality and doing things with knowledge, and that is precisely what intrigues me.
As a philosophy major, I've found the single most asked question regarding my major to be:
"What are you going to do with that?"
Most of the time, they haven't even missed a beat before asking. They haven't stopped to consider what a philosophy degree is. They've heard the name, now they want to see it do something. When I try explaining what philosophy is and how it is enriching regardless of what nails it teaches me to hammer, I can see peoples' eyes glazing over and their foreheads reading: "UNEMPLOYED."
This has been the hardest thing for my parents as well, and it's been up to me to really explain what Aristotle does in this chapter. There is a difference between knowledge and wisdom, seeing as there is the kind of knowledge one gets from the lab and that can be applied to a study, and there is the knowledge that one keeps inside oneself.
That kind of knowledge is, I think, analogous to wine while the other is more like a cheap beer. Yeah, it does the trick when you need it, but knowledge that comes from philosophy only gets better the more you cultivate it. It can come in handy for mixed drinks or a dinner, it can be part of a collection. The beer goes stale once you've found a newer, better one.
The rambling is the result of a topic that kind of hits close to home, but I hope I've expressed it somewhat coherently.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Thursday, April 11, 2013
The Virtues: Temperance
What I really like about Aristotle is that he seems to understand that the virtues are to be achieved by human beings, which means that he accounts for imperfection and a realistic process of working towards that virtue.
I particularly like his account of Temperance because I think it is what slips under the radar most often. Temperance is a discipline that regulates a person's craving for physical pleasure, and its extremes are licentiousness and insensibility. The former is a person who is completely obsessed with physical pleasure, to the point where being deprived of it causes the person pain. Insensibility is not all that common, but it could be a person who has become out of touch with their senses. Ideally, a person would feel appropriate amount of pleasure and direct it towards the correct things.
Some examples I could think of were:
Amber Sweets
Y'know, Paris Hilton from Repo: The Genetic Opera. She is completely obsessed with getting the physical high from zydrate, not to mention her only concern is what she looks like... Extreme #1? Check.
The second extreme was a bit harder to find... If anybody is familiar with the series Supernatural, you'll be familiar with this character. Castiel is an angel that is sent to guard the Winchesters. To do this, he must take on a human vessel. Because he is an angel, Castiel ends up forgetting about human needs and does not feed his vessel. This insensibility and disconnect with the body is evident in an episode where Famine (one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse) makes an appearance, and Castiel succumbs to the cravings in excess. This could've been avoided if he had been more in touch with the need to satisfy the body.
I particularly like his account of Temperance because I think it is what slips under the radar most often. Temperance is a discipline that regulates a person's craving for physical pleasure, and its extremes are licentiousness and insensibility. The former is a person who is completely obsessed with physical pleasure, to the point where being deprived of it causes the person pain. Insensibility is not all that common, but it could be a person who has become out of touch with their senses. Ideally, a person would feel appropriate amount of pleasure and direct it towards the correct things.
Some examples I could think of were:
Amber Sweets
Y'know, Paris Hilton from Repo: The Genetic Opera. She is completely obsessed with getting the physical high from zydrate, not to mention her only concern is what she looks like... Extreme #1? Check.
The second extreme was a bit harder to find... If anybody is familiar with the series Supernatural, you'll be familiar with this character. Castiel is an angel that is sent to guard the Winchesters. To do this, he must take on a human vessel. Because he is an angel, Castiel ends up forgetting about human needs and does not feed his vessel. This insensibility and disconnect with the body is evident in an episode where Famine (one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse) makes an appearance, and Castiel succumbs to the cravings in excess. This could've been avoided if he had been more in touch with the need to satisfy the body.
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| Nom nom, Cas. |
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Aristotle
To be honest, Aristotle is one of my favorite philosophers where virtue is concerned.
What I like most about his philosophy is the concept of habituation, that people become a certain way by means of practicing that action in the same way an athlete or a musician practices a certain activity. I think this is extremely accurate. When one does something that encourages a vice, it is very easy to maintain that habit and keep doing things like that.
However, the habit of doing virtuous things is much harder to start and maintain. This is why virtues are so highly valued in a person. If everyone could be virtuous, everyone would be. This habituation principle puts the responsibility where it should be: on the person. It is up to the person to begin doing virtuous things and to keep that habit over time.
What I like most about his philosophy is the concept of habituation, that people become a certain way by means of practicing that action in the same way an athlete or a musician practices a certain activity. I think this is extremely accurate. When one does something that encourages a vice, it is very easy to maintain that habit and keep doing things like that.
However, the habit of doing virtuous things is much harder to start and maintain. This is why virtues are so highly valued in a person. If everyone could be virtuous, everyone would be. This habituation principle puts the responsibility where it should be: on the person. It is up to the person to begin doing virtuous things and to keep that habit over time.
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