Being Good discussion

Use this thread to discuss Book 1.

Speaking of the difficulty of "the young" to learn, it's interesting that he clarified who he was talking about by saying: "It makes no difference whether he is young in years or youthful in character; the defect does not depend on time but on his living, and pursuing each successive object, as passion directs."

He seems to be saying that maturity depends on character, and that one's character depends on the accumulation of actions one takes. Therefore, it seems that a person lacking in character can improve their self through acting as if they had good character (i.e. fake it 'till you make it).

Aristotle seems to be like a Stoic, dismissing externals as unnecessary, by saying: "Apart from these many goods [ - such as pleasure, wealth, and honor - ] there is another which is self-subsistent and causes the goodness of all these as well."


But soon after he clarifies that there is a need for some essential externals apart from oneself, such as friends.

After giving what I've read so far in Book 1 some consideration, it seems that Aristotle is mainly Stoic in his focusing on one's internal character, but diverges from looking at the Stoic's "preferred (but ultimately unnecessary) externals" as necessary in the end. It reminds me of how the Stoics diverge from the Cynics in their contention that externals can be preferred at all. Thus, it seems that Aristotle's point lies on a spectrum of placing importance on externals, with the Cynics being at the far side, Stoics next to them, Aristotle next to the Stoics, and the hedonists being further down the line away from Aristotle.

Interesting quote on the need to be a person of action:

"As in the Olympic Games it is not the most beautiful and the strongest that are crowned but those who compete (for it is some of those that are victorious), so those who act win, and rightly win, the noble and good things in life."