Plato and Aristotle Essay

Plato and Aristotle Essay What is happiness? Happiness is a way of engaging in the various activities of life. Can happiness allow people to live the good life? Aristotle believed that happiness can allow people to live the good life. This essay will be examining the ethics of Plato (428-347 BCE) and Aristotle (384-322 BCE) to analyse, justify and compare the major concepts of the two philosophers therein. I will argue that Aristotles solution to the problem of the good life is a better answer than Plato. It will summarise the fundamental concepts of Platos and Aristotles ethical theories, before providing my own opinion on their ethics. Plato: Plato was a philosopher who was both a rationalist and an absolutist in ethics. He was a rationalist because he believed that people can discover knowledge or justification by reason alone and for no circumstances that the knowledge can be wrong (http://philosophy.tamu.edu/~sdaniel/Notes/plato.html). Plato held the belief that human reasoning ability is the condition that allows people to approach the Forms (in Greek, idea). For Plato, human beings live in a world of visible and intelligible things. The visible world is what we see, hear and experience. This visible world is a world of change and uncertainty which means that we have to seek for it only in the realm of the mind in order to find any absolute certain knowledge. Platos rationalism dissimulates his absolutism. He was an absolutist, in that he believed that there is one and only one good life for all to lead since goodness is not dependent upon human inclinations (Popkin, Stroll, 1999, p.4). It is an absolute and exists in dependently of mankind. Thus this had made him believe that If a person knows what the good life is, he/she would not act immorally (Philosophy Made Simple, 1999, p.3). In order to live the good life people must be schooled to acquire certain kinds of knowledge. This training will give them the capacity to know the nature of the good life, since evil is due to lack of knowledge. However, Aristotle had a different perspective to Platos belief of what the good life is and how should people act. Aristotle: Aristotle was a philosopher who was both an empiricist and a relativist in ethics. Aristotle was an empiricist, in that he examined the behaviour and talk of various people in everyday life. He discovered that various lives, which people of common sense considered to be good, all contain one common characteristic: happiness. Aristotle concluded that the good life for people is a life of happiness. Aristotle defines happiness as an activity of the soul in accord with perfect virtue (Philosophy Made Simple, 1999, p.8). Aristotle considered that pleasure is essential for a person to live a happy life. Aristotle uses a formula called the Doctrine of the Mean or the preferred name Golden Mean to answer how people should behave in order to achieve happiness. Moderation in all things is the Doctrine of the Mean. This leads to the fact that Aristotle was a relativist, in that he believed that there was more than one good life for people. He stated that we must have virtues of moderation whic h are different for each individual. The virtues are the virtues of moderation as this was how Aristotle perceived it as. By definition, virtue is a means between two extremes, an excess and a defect, with respect to a particular action or emotion (The Purple Philosophy Book: Ethics, p.21). This demonstrates that the mean is not the mathematical definition, average. Knowing what the Golden Mean is, will allow an individual to develop self-control. People must strive for the mean between two extremes: courage is the mean between rashness and cowardice. Also people must act moderately in order to achieve happiness. (http://www.plosin.com/work/AristotleMean.html) Appraisal: I would now like to share my opinion and perspective on how I perceive the theories of Plato and Aristotle. In my view, the better solution to the problem of the good life is Aristotles relativism, rather than Hobbess absolutism. Firstly, Platos argument about the good life is flawed for a number of reasons. The first reason I will analyse is whether his inference If a person knows what the good life is, he/she would not act immorally (Philosophy Made Simple, 1999, p.3) is justified. I believe that Platos account must be rejected because a person could still act evilly even though they know and understand what the right course of action is. For example, if a person knows stealing is wrong but stills commit the crime, then this casts Platos argument in doubt. Aristotles view on the human nature, on contrary, is that what is right for one person is not necessarily right for another, since he believed that there was more than one good life for people (http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/rar/PvA .htm). An example for this is that a person can be more or less courageous than others. When interpreting the theories of both philosophers, it is clear to me that Aristotles view of human nature is far more superior to Plato. This is because Aristotle showed a more realistic view of human nature than Plato about the good life. Therefore, it is evident that Aristotles solution to the problem of the good life is a better answer than Plato. Secondly, Plato suggests that moral difficulties in many cases are theoretically solvable by the acquisition of further knowledge. There seems to be situations in which moral difficulties are not theoretically solvable by the acquisition of further knowledge. For example, a person knows all the relevant facts that inventing a nuclear bomb will be able to kill 1,000,000 people which will then end and shorten the war by years. On the other hand, if the person knows the effects of dropping a nuclear bomb, it will then make the area uninhabitable for numerous years. The situation seems analogous to many problems which soldiers face. Should we or should not drop the nuclear bomb? In this situation, the acquisition of further information will not be able to help the person to solve this moral difficulty. In this account, Platos theory cannot be accepted, since he has mistaken moral knowledge with scientific and mathematical knowledge. Therefore, it is evident that Platos argument about the good life and moral difficulties are like mathematical problems are flawed for a number of reasons. I believe that Aristotles argument about the Golden Mean is flawed for a number of reasons. For the first reason I will analyse whether his inference that everyone always ought to follow the middle course between certain kinds of activities (Philosophy Made Simple, 1999, p.11) is justified. There are some situations that do not have a middle course. (http://www.plosin.com/work/AristotleMean.html) For example, there is no middle for keeping a promise and breaking a promise. Furthermore, moderation is not always appropriate, since some situations require extreme behaviour. Some people have passionate and flamboyant personalities. For example, a person may find that moderation behaviour does not suit him/her as the person may be temporarily passionate about his/her occupation. Therefore, it is evident that Aristotles Golden Mean is flawed in this case. In conclusion, Aristotles argument about the good life demonstrates that the good life is a life of happiness. Platos however, does not; as he believed that people needs certain kinds of knowledge of the good life in order to live the good life. From the reasons above, Aristotles solution to the problem of the good life is a better answer than Plato. On the other hand, Aristotles Golden Mean would not work. However Platos absolutism will work in the situation in keeping a promise and breaking a promise. From the reasons stated above Platos absolutism will be a better answer than Aristotles relativism.

Evaluation of the Free Market Economy

Evaluate the Free Market Economy It is essential for every society to have some type of economic system in order to utilize their scarce resources to satisfy people’s unlimited wants. One specific type of economic system is the free market economy; an economy that is based off the citizens choice and not directed by the government. In this economy people can buy and sell goods and services, and this is completely controlled by consumers and producers. Every economy has advantages and disadvantages but in this case the free market’s disadvantages outweigh its advantages.A free market has fewer disadvantages to list but the value of what is lost is much greater than the benefits. Limited government involvement, also described as laissez faire, means that the young and poor will not have any means of support or benefits. Sick people will be too ill to be able to take care of themselves leaving them alone and without public health care. The society will also be in harm due to no national defense or security. Citizens will also be deprived from benefiting from programs such as Social Security and financial aid.Another disadvantage also comes from little government involvement. With limited government involvement an unequal distribution of wealth will then be created. Some people will have much more money than they need and others will be in need of more economic support. Some workers might be paid too little and then they will not be able to consume as much as production calls for, therefore leaving the economy in a state of disarray. Another impact of little government involvement that affects everybody in all classes is the lack of national defense.No matter how much money someone has they would not pay for protection that could easily be provided for free. Without the benefits that government involvement can aid us with many people would be left struggling, that is why the disadvantages outweigh the rest. A free market economy has many advantages su ch as consumer sovereignty, specialization, and voluntary exchange. A free market economy allows people to have their own economic choice, essentially the consumers will decide on what they do and do not want to purchase, which is known as consumer sovereignty.If there is a product that consumers are buying less of, the company will stop producing it and focus on a new product or a product that is in high demand – this is an example of consumer sovereignty. Although this provides incentive it also leads to a cycle of people spending their money on unnecessary items; also known as wants. Another feature also seen as an advantage is specialization- individuals concentrate their efforts in the activities or careers that they do best. A teacher will specialize in teaching to make money in order to purchase a phone that someone else specialized in producing.Lastly, the third feature with an advantage is voluntary exchange. It is the trade in which both parties involved anticipate the benefits that will outweigh the cost. It motivates profit and provides an incentive for competition. An example is the motivation of self- interest; a consumer buys private property from another to fulfill his wants or needs and also creates a profit for the owner. Although a free market economy has these advantages, the disadvantages are of much more importance.All in all a free market economy has a great amount of freedoms that citizens appreciate, but they do not take into consideration the benefits that may be lost in a free market. Although a free market economy is composed of six features; consumer sovereignty, specialization, voluntary exchange and limited government involvement are the key ones. Those four features are the main advantages and disadvantages of the free market economy and they all make a huge difference. A free market has its advantages and disadvantages but the disadvantages override the advantages.

Find Out Whos Discussing Essay Music Topics and Why You Should Be Worried

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Annotated Bibliography On Digital Forensic Investigations

Digital Forensic methods have to be continuously updated in order to effectively combat trends that enable users with intentions of destroying, concealing, altering and deleting digital evidence that can either link them to serious felonies or various computer crimes. Means for tampering with evidence involve the use of techniques that are classified as anti-forensics. Anti-forensics presents digital forensic investigators with several challenges, the greatest being connecting the perpetrator to a crime by identifying evidence of their use of it. If a perpetrator can properly conceal his/her tracks using anti-forensics then even if a digital forensic investigator can identify the use of anti-forensic tools on a system, they’d still have a daunting task ahead of them; proving what user used the tools and how it can be admissible as evidence in the court of law. These challenges have existed in the past, and exist even today as the field of digital forensics has to constantly e volve to keep up with its enemy, anti-forensics. However, experts are currently researching future ways to identify the presence of anti-forensics and some of the perpetrators are getting caught. In this study, a criminal case involving the use of anti-forensics will be introduced that sheds light on the purpose for the need of digital forensics to proactively face the challenges that are presented through the use of these techniques, and establish a basis for the convictions of cyber-criminals, orShow MoreRelatedHbr When Your Core Business Is Dying74686 Words   |  299 Pagesprofessionals can transform your firm’s document processes to create revenue while driving up productivity. Result? Improved top and bottom lines. There’s a new way to look at it. Organizations waste millions on managing the flow of documents from digital to paper and back again. Xerox Global Services professionals create efficiencies by streamlining those processes, upgrading document technologies and finding better ways for people and their resources to work together. For example, our document assessments