Monday, April 19, 2010

Aristotle's Ethics.

What is the good life? Some say this, some say that, some say something completely different. The point is, they're all a bit right and they're all a bit wrong. It's hard to be more precise than this because ethics isn't precise and wise people know this, so never, ever, ask me to be less vague or ambiguous.

A good life is lived accordingly to one's nature. Vegetables grow, so a good vegetable life is one in which it moves in an anomaly way. Fox News lobotomises, so a good Fox News program is one which lobotomises in a foxy way. Humans think, so a good human life is one in which it thinks in a humanly way. We also kill, act with prejudice, lust, look after number one and so on, but that doesn't define our nature, because I don't want it too.

What is virtue? It is finding the mean. For example, generosity isn't the opposite of greed, it's the in between virtue between the opposite vices of greed and profligacy. Courage is the mean between rashness and cowardliness. Writing well is the mean between writing badly and writing in a way that is so good, it's bad. Having good judgement is the mean between being a bad judge and what might be called over judging, if you were foolish enough to take this mean idea to its logical conclusion. You may think this golden mean doesn't work all the time, but it's not precise and only stupid people expect too much precision.

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