Virtue

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the idea of virtue and attempts to show that Aristotle was correct in his argument that virtue is a state of being. Intellectual virtue and moral virtue are described. The paper claims that, according to Aristotle, to be virtuous one must first behave in a virtuous way, finding the mean between extremes for his or her personal life.

From the Paper:

"Aristotle continues with the concept that virtue is simply the mean between extremes. He argues that everything is destroyed by either excess or shortcoming in nature, and so too are human virtues (Book II, Chapter 2). His point is well proven in nature. Take for example the flower. When given too much water, the flower will perish. Given too little, and the flower will also perish. It is only through careful proportion that the flower can survive. So too is the essence of human moral virtue. As Aristotle states, the man who runs from everything will remain a coward, and the man who meets every danger becomes irrational and unable to filter out situations that may cause extreme harm. However, by habitually exercising good judgment, one is able to find the mean for ones self, and thus, find virtue."

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