The ethical tepries of Plato and Aristotle and the state that would produce a more moral society
"The Ethical Theories of Plato and Aristotle and State which would Produce a More Moral Society." Moral organized societies do no simply happen. They are products of principle beliefs and strict codes on ethics based on the knowledge of leaders and philosophers. Both Aristotle and Plato had their views on what would make a moral and just society. Aristotle was a Greek philosopher who was born at Stagira in 384 BC and he died in 322 BC. He planed and organized projects of empirical research that were supported by Alexander the Great. The projects led to discoveries in the fields of natural research. Plato was also a Greek philosopher and educator. He was born in Athens in 427 BC and died at the age of 80 in 347 BC. Plato devoted most of his time to teaching and lecturing at his academy. He contradicts most of the theories of the sophist. Plato was a functionalist in that he believed that everything of importance in a society was determined by its practicality and usefulness. He also recognized the importance of things in a society are dependent on each other in order to maintain cultural and social unity. Plato was bounded by certain principles unlike those of the sophist, who believed that happiness and
This concept was shared by the Basis for a Moral Life and Aristotle. When doing an action one must weight the consequences on how it would affect others. Aristotle was a strong advocate of this belief. It does not matter what social class an individual comes from, all of us must consider the human rights of others. An individual may enforce his own personal judgement on others. While doing so he may not take into consideration the belief or feelings of others because he himself feels what he is doing is right or good. But in doing this deed he may cause pain for the other individual. Before carrying out decisions one must decide which one should produce the greatest good. He must ask himself if doing what is right at someone else's expense is truly the greater good even if he believes he is doing the right thing. This is only shown by ones academic achievements. But what would happen to those individuals who believe that love is the foundation in which a moral society will grow. If one has knowledge and he does not share what he knows with others how can one classify this as doing good if he is not considerate of others? Without sharing such knowledge how can future generations be moral if they do not have the knowledge of the good life? In order for a person to be taught the good life another individual would have to sacrifice some of his time in pursuing the knowledge of good life in order to do so. Plato is convinced that the knowledge of the good is not opinionated. He viewed opinion as being fallible, it can either be true or false. Although opinions may be true it does not mean it is knowledge. Knowledge is not subjected but absolute. What Plato believes is that if a deed is wrong it is wrong, and that this principle applies to the good also. Thus making the living of a good life an absolute one. He viewed people as immoral if they do not have the knowledge. Plato believed that God would only be taken into consideration if he acts in accordance to the knowledge of good. He felt that such knowledge is more superior to God. Upon examining the various lives of people, Aristotle discovered that the chief good is that of eudaimonia which means happiness. He believed that happiness is not a static activity or it is not a goal. What happiness entails is the events which accompanies one in achieving this goal. In order for individuals to do this they must operate on their own power of reasoning. They must also train their own appetites also. Man can do this
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Approximate Word count = 1692
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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