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The Great Thinkers of Western Philosophy |
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Ethics, for Aristotle, has the purpose of establishing what is the end that man, according to his nature, must attain, and also from what source his happiness comes. The end of man, as for every being, according to the doctrine established in metaphysics, is the realization of the form, the attainment of the perfection due to his nature. Now man is a rational animal, and hence his end will be the attainment of wisdom. The actions which bring one to the realization of this perfection of living according to reason are called virtues. Virtue, for Aristotle, is not the end, but the means to attain perfection, and consists in a conscious action fulfilled according to reason. Aristotle distinguishes two types of virtue:
Dianoetical (dia-noetics) concerns the perfection of reason in itself and therefore pertains to such virtues as prudence and wisdom, which give us the absolute, metaphysical knowledge of nature and of the universe in which we must act. In the determination of ethical virtues, Aristotle is in conformity with the whole of Greek Socratic-Platonic thought in which science or knowledge is virtue. But Aristotle recognizes the fact that man is not pure reason, that he also has passions; that he is a rational animal. In this, Aristotle goes far beyond the simple Greek intellectualism of other philosophers. The passions imply a sentimental, affective element, an organic tendency of our body. At variance with Plato, Aristotle says that these tendencies should not be considered an evil, and hence should not be annulled. If they are regulated by reason they concur in the realization of the form and perfection which are due to man because of his nature. The ethical virtues concern the activity of the passions controlled by reason. The ethical virtues, according to Aristotle, consist in a just mean between two extremes. This just mean is not a sole and abstract rule, but is relative to circumstances. Thus between prodigality and avarice there is the just mean of generosity; between abstinence from and abuse of pleasures there is the mean of temperance. The rule of virtue is relative in so far as what for a poor man is generosity may for a rich man be avarice. The ethical virtues include another element, constancy. One swallow, says Aristotle, does not make spring. (One performance of an action does not make a habit.) Thus it is not enough to perform one act of generosity in order to be generous; it is necessary to act constantly according to the dictates of reason. Constancy induces what Aristotle calls habit, a constant right moral disposition. Habit is acquired by the repetition of acts. The ethical virtues are based on natural dispositions, and with assiduous repetition they become mechanical, so to speak; they become second nature. In this way a habit of virtue or vice may be contracted through repeated acts of virtue or vice. It is thus clear that Aristotelian morality is essentially rational, a system which tends to organize all human activity according to reason. Happiness consists in this rational activity. It can be lacking, and this absence can make a man poor, but not miserable.
Aristotle's politics is the coronation of his moral teaching. If the end of man is his moral perfection, he needs the aid of his fellow creatures in order to attain conservation and perfection. Hence the definition of man as a political animal, who is ordained by nature to the polis, the state. This natural tendency to live with his fellow men first brings about the organization of an imperfect society, the family, which chronologically and historically precedes the state as the parts precede the whole. According to Aristotle, and contrary to Plato, the family is natural to man, and private property is necessary for the family. The family is composed of four elements:
The head of the family, naturally, takes care of the direction of all. He must guide the children and women by reason of their imperfection. He must bring forth profit from his goods, and in order to make his property productive he needs inanimate and animate instruments. The latter would be his slaves. The low opinion in which Grecians held manual labor induced Aristotle to admit slavery. Thus Aristotle divides man into two classes: free and slave. The first are given to the liberal arts; and the second, to whom all liberal education is closed, take charge of manual labor. Aristotle, as well as Plato, considers the state an ethico-spiritual institution. The duty of the state is to provide citizens with such material goods as the individual and collective defense and security, the possibility of self-development, which would not be otherwise available. But above all it is to direct men to the attainment of happiness through virtue. The state must above all educate; Aristotle criticizes the Spartan state and the "Republic" of Plato which, instead of being concerned with the bettering of citizens through their peaceful and scientific education, were preoccupied with wars of conquest. Education, for Aristotle, is the harmonious development of all the activities of man -- first, his spiritual activities, and subordinately to them, the material and physical ones; first, knowledge, in which virtue consists, and then gymnastic exercises. With a greater historical sense than Plato, Aristotle does not describe an ideal form of the state in his "Politics." He distinguishes three principal types of state:
All these forms of government are good according to the ages, conditions, and needs of the people, provided the end of the state be attained, happiness through virtue. Aristotle's preference seems to be for a form of intellectual democratic government, which would be what in his moral teaching he calls the just mean.
Aristotle presents us with the religious cult of Pure Act and astral intelligences, which animate the celestial bodies. Pure Act, which is not a creator and which ignores terrestrial becoming and hence is not divine providence, can be the object only of a rational cult. Astral intelligences, which have a true influence upon cosmic becoming, would give place to a physical religion. Religious teaching in Aristotle is inferior to Plato. Popular religion is not justified by Aristotle's metaphysics and, with Plato, Aristotle opposes mythical polytheism. He is nevertheless induced to admit the traditional Grecian religion which, even though not justified metaphysically, is a means of educating the people. Art for Aristotle is imitation. But he proposes a different basis for this imitation than does Plato. Art does not tend to imitate the contingent element of nature, but the intelligible, that which in nature is rational and universal. The artist must look not at nature as it is presented, because this model is always imperfect, but he must look at what it ought to be. He must imitate this ideal type of reality. This concept established, art, for the Stagirite, contrary to Plato, has a high educative value. Even when the clash of violent contrast is presented in tragedy, art awakens in the soul the ideal type of reality, and hence, rather than stir up the passions, frees the soul from disturbances (catharsis) which have their origin in the passions.
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