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Volume 3: A blow of destiny, the king appears Chapter 87: Arranged in the first level of hell

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    Aristotle believed that all ethical virtues come from achieving a balance between excess and poverty.

    However, this does not mean that Aristotle believes in moral relativism.  He classified several emotions (such as hatred, envy, jealousy, etc.) and several behaviors (such as adultery, theft, murder, etc.) as being on the wrong side, regardless of the circumstances in which these emotions and behaviors occurred.

    In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle usually focuses on finding the balance between two extremes in various areas; such as justice, courage, wealth, etc.  Courage, for example, is a balance between two feelings (fear and confidence) and an action based on this balance (an act of courage).

    Too much fear and too little confidence can lead to cowardice, while too little fear and too much confidence can lead to hasty and stupid decisions.  Aristotle said that finding the balance of things is the key to finding happiness, and happiness itself is the ultimate form of the highest good.  The balance between the two is also often called the golden mean.

    Aristotle also wrote about his concept of justice.  He defined justice as having two parts: justice in general and justice in particular.

    General justice is the form of justice proposed by Aristotle, which can only exist in a perfect society.

    ?Special justice is the imposition of punishment for specific crimes or injustices.

    It is also here that Aristotle advocates the need for trained judgment in order to judge whether a specific event is just or not.  Aristotle said that developing good habits can cultivate good humans, and practicing the golden mean can make a person live a healthier and happier life.

    Aristotle¡¯s ethics is based on early Greek ethics.  Especially from his teacher Plato and Plato's teacher Socrates.

    Socrates himself did not leave any writings, and the writings left by Plato were mainly written for the general public.  Aristotle left more academic works.

    Unlike Plato, Aristotle often had reservations about the overall theory he proposed, and he was less ethically insistent on the correctness of his theory.  However, the overall thoughts of these philosophers are still quite close.

    Socrates was the first Greek philosopher to devote himself to the study of ethics, an effort perhaps in response to the emergence of sophistry, which emphasized rhetoric, moral relativism, and sophistry techniques that defied the traditional Athenian gods.  They also used sophistical techniques to defy many other traditions).

    Sophists can ask a lot of questions about current society, but they don't provide answers.

    Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle all had clear ethical systems in which people could choose to pursue virtue in order to achieve happiness and prosperity.

    They both believe that virtuous behavior can be taught and practiced.  They also believe that ethics is based on reason, and there are rational reasons for pursuing virtue.

    This is in sharp contrast to the moral relativism emphasized by the Sophists, who believed that many different behaviors have different standards in different societies.  In fact, the same argument remains a controversial topic in modern ethics circles.

    Apart from these basic similarities, there are not many ethical differences between Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.

    The main difference is how Socrates and Plato believed that understanding virtuous behavior was enough for the average person to live a virtuous life. People who did not understand virtue would do evil things.

    Aristotle believed (and most later philosophers agreed) that many people know that what they are doing is bad, but still do it because of the weakness of their will.

    Plato lists only a few standard virtues: wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice.  Aristotle lists far more than this.

    In addition to his work on ethics devoted to individuals, Aristotle also devoted his work to the city-state in a work titled Politics.

    Aristotle¡¯s concept of the city-state was very organized, and he is considered the first person to conceive of the city-state in this way.  Aristotle believed that a city-state should be a natural community.

    In addition, he believed that the city-state should come before the family, and the family should come before the individual, that is to say, last in the order of generation.  And first in the order of existence.  He is also famous for his argument that man is essentially a political animal.

    Aristotle conceived of politics as a being more like a living thing than a machine, a collection of parts that cannot exist without other parts.

    Some people criticize Aristotle's political theory because thinkers such as Juanines de Sepulveda used his idea of ??natural slaves to justify European domination of the Indians.

    It should be notedThe modern understanding of political community is the state.  However, the state does not apply to Aristotle, and the political community he mentioned is the city-state.  Aristotle understood the city-state as a political partnership.  It is not under a social contract, nor is it a political community as understood by Niccol¨° and Machiavelli.

    ???????????????? Later.  The city-state was not founded to avoid injustice or for economic stability, but to live a good life: political partnership must be respected, it exists for noble conduct, not for living together.

    This can be distinguished from social contract theory, which claims that individuals abandon the state of nature due to fear of violent death or aversion to trouble.

    This also made Aristotle the first person to distinguish ethics from politics, and the founder of ancient politics.

    Aristotle left behind one of the most complete and influential philosophical systems, perhaps more so than any other thinker in history.

    He alone founded logic, biology, and psychology. He also predicted the advent of the industrial revolution in his book "Politics" two thousand years ago: If each machine can make its own parts, it will obey human orders.  Orders and Plans If the shuttle could fly back and forth on its own, and if the strings could play the harp on its own, without human control at all, the foreman would no longer need to lead the workers, and the slave master would no longer need to direct the slaves.

    Scholastic thinkers such as Thomas and Aquinas called Aristotle a philosopher. These thinkers mixed Aristotle's philosophy with Christian thought and brought the philosophy of ancient Greece into the Middle Ages.

    However, in the process of mixing, they also had to abandon some Aristotelian principles of science and art to prevent Christian ideas from conflicting with the laws of modern science and observation.

    The medieval English poet Chaucer once described his student: On his bed were twenty books with black or red covers, hiding Aristotle and his philosophy.

    The Italian poet Dante placed Aristotle in the first level of hell: I saw people skilled in various arts. In the circle of philosophers, with my admiration and reverence, I saw Plato, and also  When he saw Socrates, he stood closest to Plato.

    The later German philosopher Nietzsche once said that his philosophical thoughts came almost entirely from Aristotle.  Aristotle's ethical and moral principles have also been absorbed and carried forward by some modern philosophers such as Ayn and Rand.

    Although Aristotle wrote many classic treatises and dialogues (Cicero once praised Aristotle's works as a series of gold), most of his writings have been lost today, and the few that survive  The authenticity of the work is often questioned.  Aristotle's works have been lost and rediscovered several times throughout history.

    After the end of the Roman period, Aristotle's works suffered a second massive loss in the Western world.  However, this time many Eastern Muslim scholars and philosophers preserved his works, many of whom also conducted extensive research and commentary on his works.

    Aristotle¡¯s works became an important foundation for the Farsafa movement in Islamic philosophy, and also influenced the thoughts of Avicenna, Yavihou and others.

    When the influence of the Pharsafa movement spread to the Western world, the translator Gerard of Cremona began to translate the works of Aristotle.

    William of Mulbeek also translated some works into Latin.  When Thomas Aquinas was writing his theological thoughts, he began to read Mulbeck's translation, and then interest in and research on Aristotle's thought began to revive in the Western world, and the Aristotelian school was able to re-establish itself in Europe.  now.  (To be continued.)
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