Who Is The Best Thing - 1977 Words

If happiness is activity in accordance with virtue, it is reasonable that it should be in accordance with the highest virtue; and this will be that of the best thing in us.† (Aristotle, 633) Aristotle focuses on happiness, not just any kind of happiness but everlasting happiness, the true gold mean. Being in the golden mean means you want to do the right thing and your always doing your best at everything. Once you truly find everlasting happiness, the golden mean helps you become a better person, you’re always striving to be happy and you make others become better by being around them. â€Å"Virtue, then, is a state of character concerned with choice, lying in a mean relative to us, this being determined by rational principle.† (Aristotle,†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"But not every action nor every passion admits of a mean; for some have names that already imply badness, e.g., spite, shamelessness, envy and in the case of actions adultery, theft and murde r.† (Aristotle, 629) In the case of adultery, there is always one person that is in the wrong which would then not make you the perfect person. â€Å"Nor does goodness or badness with regard to such things depend on committing adultery with the right woman, at the right time, and in the right way, but simply to do any of them is to go wrong.† (Aristotle, 629) When trying the reach the golden means/virtue, which motivates you to become great; you try and become the perfect person. When trying to become the perfect person, you focus on making every aspect of yourself great. You’re always doing the right thing, you’re helping others on the way of becoming perfect and you get the chance of achieving everlasting happiness. Genuine happiness lies in action that leads to virtue, since this alone provides true value and not just amusement. In order to become the perfect person, you must allow yourself to be open with many different ideas. One way on the step to becoming the perfect person is having a strong friendship. The rule of relationships with other humans is a vital element in the key of having a good life. â€Å"For without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods.† (Aristotle) Aristotle talks about three different

The Divine Command Theory Free Essays

A. Statement- or claim is an assertion that something is or is not the case; it is either true or B. Argument- an argument is a group of statements, one of which is supposed to be supported by the rest. We will write a custom essay sample on The Divine Command Theory or any similar topic only for you Order Now In an argument the supporting statements are known as premises; the statement being supported is known as a conclusion. C. Indicator Words- are terms that often appear in arguments and signal that a premise or conclusion may be nearby. Arguments Good and Bad 1. Deductive arguments- are supposed to give logically conclusive support to their conclusions. 2. Inductive arguments- are supposed to offer only probable support for their conclusions. 3. Valid arguments- a deductive argument that does in fact provide logically conclusive support for its conclusion. 4. Invalid argument- a deductive argument that does not offer logically conclusive support for the conclusion. 5. Strong argument- an inductive argument that manages to actually give probable support to the conclusion. 6. Weak argument- an inductive argument that does not give probable support to the conclusion. 7. Sound argument- valid argument with true premises.  8. Cogent argument- strong argent with true premises. Moral Statements and Arguments A. Moral Statement- is a statement affirming that an action is right or wrong or that a person is good or bad. B. Nonmoral Statements- is a statement that does not affirm that an action is right or wrong or that a person is good or bad. Avoiding Bad Arguments 1. Begging the question- is the fallacy of arguing in a circle that is trying to use a statement as both a premise in an argument and the conclusion of that argument. 2. Equivocation- assigns two different meanings to the same term in an argument. 3. Appeal to authority- the fallacy of relying on the opinion of someone thought to be an expert who is not. 4. Slippery slope- the fallacy of using dubious premises to argue that doing a particular action will inevitably lead to other actions that will result in disaster, so you should not do that first action. 5. Faulty analogy- is arguing by an analogy that is weak. 6. Appeals to ignorance- fallacy consists of arguing that the absence of evidence entitles us to believe a claim. 7. Straw man- misrepresenting someone’s claim or argument so it can be more easily refuted. 8. Appeal to the person- is arguing that a claim should be rejected solely because of the characteristics of the person who makes it. 9. Hasty generalization- the fa llacy of drawing a conclusion about an entire group of people or things based on an undersized sample of the group. Summary This chapter was about the different types of evaluating moral arguments. The section that I thought was most interesting was the section when the author started to talk about moral statements and arguments. I agreed with what the author had to say when he said a moral statement affirming that an action is right or wrong or that a person is good or bad. Like when a person lies they know that they have done something wrong without someone telling them. That is basically what this whole chapter about. How to cite The Divine Command Theory, Essay examples

afaet Essay Example For Students

afaet Essay questions about what you want to understand better about the past. 1) Identify the broad historical topic that you want to write about. Dont be afraid to think big at first!You topic can be taken from any number of the themes, events, or concepts that we read about or discuss in-class. For example, you might explore an issue that is addressed in lecture in greater depth, such as racial segregation in the military during WWII, conservative responses to the New Deal, or the use and support of art and culture by the state during the 1930s. You might explore a specific angle on a particular historical event that we discuss, for example, the response of the U.S. communist party to the Nazi-Soviet Pact, the responses of particular trade unions to the Taft-Hartley legislation restricting the tactics of labor organization, the local responses in Seattle to the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, to Japanese internment, or the impact of the McCarthyism at the University of Washington. Finally, you might explore subjects that are only touched upon briefly, in greater depth, for example, the changing role of women during WWII, the persecution of homosexuals during the cold war, the intellectual origins of neo-conservatism in the 1950s, the F.B.I. investigations of the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements, or the role of music in 1960s protest culture. These are just a few examples, meant to give you ideas. The point is to develop your own!2) Using the library, find one or more than one primary source that you will use to develop your argument. As you will notice, class lectures use many primary sources. Primary sources are visual media, such as paintings, cartoons, films and advertisements. They can also be written documents, such as newspapers and magazines, as well as letters, memoirs, diaries, or government records. For example, the lectures and the web-links use clips from early war movies and propaganda films, protest cartoons from the black press, magazine covers advertising Roosevelts Four Freedoms, paintings of the black migration, and so on. We are also reading articles and speeches of government officials and notable intellectuals that do such things as defend U.S. entry into WWII, justify or challenge the use of the atomic bomb, warn of leftist subversion in the government, or criticize policies of the Cold War. What you must do is to find and choose the sources around which you can develop your historical argument. Ask yourself what kinds of sources might best illuminate your topic. Once youve found a source, or sources, ask yourself what they tell you. Why these particular sources? What makes them significant? What do they say to you?3) Write a short thesis statement that gets you started. The thesis statement is the argument that you want to make, using the primary source(s) you have found. Your thesis statement should not be a simple restatement of the broad topic you have chosen. Rather it should be a much narrower explanation of what you propose to say about a particular aspect of the topic youve chosen. What angle are you going to pursue? What hypothesis about the past will you attempt to prove or demonstrate? What is your tentative argument going to be?You thesis statement might need to be changed as you pursue your research. Think of it as a starting point.