Aristotle
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Means to an End Kayla Gross Philosophy 181 (Ethics) Prof. Miller Paper #1 Topic B
February 4th, 2019
Means to an End According to Aristotle, all living beings exist to fulfill some purpose, also known as telos. Humans are distinguished from plants and animals because humans have reason, which thus implies that human’s telos must be based upon rationality. This theme directly relates to voluntary action where Aristotle addresses rational deliberation. When presented with a difficult decision, it is up to humans to calculate the means to an end. When being confronted with the decision of whether or not a CEO should use illegal methods to advance their own companies interests, Aristotle’s ideas on virtue, decision and prudence show that his moral solution would be to not follow through with the political action committee. Aristotle defines virtue of character as a state of the soul that decides, in respect to what, a mean relative to us (II.7, p. 25). Aristotle says humans are not born with virtue but they are born with the capacity to be virtuous by either practicing or imitating someone who is good and uses correct reason. To hit a mean, humans need practice, to steer clear of the extreme whether that is one of excess or one of deficiency and to be aware of pleasure and its sources. Aristotle would tell the CEO of the large corporation to look at the mean of magnanimity between honor and dishonor as honor is one of the 3 main candidates for highest good. Honor is favored by the “cultivated people” such as those active in political life which would apply to the CEO and forming a political action committee. A legislature wants to make its citizens good by habituation and if one fails, they miss their goal (II.2, p. 19). If the CEO would support the political actions committee illegal activity, displaying bad habituation, the whole political system would become corrupted. A state of character is developed from repeating an activity so, Aristotle would discuss with the CEO that the habit of lying to the city would only cause her greater issues in the future. Political science understands and legislates what must be known and
1
done in a city so the CEO would have to look for the good of a city as it is higher and more complete than that of an individual, such as the CEO herself or the corporation. Decision is a deliberative desire to do an action that is up to us. According to Aristotle the CEO would have to calculate the means to an end starting from the end as humans do not deliberate about ends but rather about what promotes ends (III.3, p. 35). Aristotle addresses how decisions involve reason and thought as it occurs before other things. If the end for the CEO is to advance the interest of her company she would have to calculate a mean to that end legally. If she pursued the means to her end illegally, by secretly collecting large sums of money, she would be acting voluntary as she is not ignorant of any of the particulars, and therefore could receive fair punishment for her decision. Aristotle states how the “actions concerned with things that promote the end are in accord with decision and are voluntary” (III.5, p. 37). The CEO would have to deliberate due to the uncertainty of the outcome or if she believes the right way to act is under defined. Even if a number of other CEOs and board members have approached her and encouraged the formation of a political action committee they would just be an instrument as the action is still achieved through her agency since the principle is in her (III.3, p. 36). Aristotle would tell her that if there appears to be several possible means to reach an end she should search for the one that does not go against the law. Aristotle would expand on the idea that legislators themselves impose corrective treatments and penalties on anyone who does vicious actions even if one tried to claim ignorance or inattention to the Supreme Courts law. According to Aristotle, for how the end appears laid down, if other corporations or individuals saw the spike in advancement of her corporation they would trace all other things back to the end and what voluntary actions led her to get there, thus discovering the cheating and corruption. While, according to Aristotle, virtue of character is as a prudent person would define it, prudence itself “is a state grasping the truth, involving reason, concerned with action about
2
things that are good or bad for a human being” (VI.5, p. 89). Aristotle would express that since legislative and political are of higher importance when referring to kinds of prudence the CEO would have to understand the real true end. She would have to ask herself “what would a prudent person do?” as she searches for the virtuous mean towards her end. Since legislative prudence makes laws to keep the base in line, if the CEOs followed through with the political action committee and its illegal activity, her hypocritical actions would ruin the happiness of the state. Since a CEO of any company is often required to have a high level of experience she should have the ability to stop vice from corrupting the overall principle. Yet Aristotle states that if she is too corrupted by the idea of pleasure or pain, then no principle could appear to her. Since intellectual virtue is learned through instruction and practice, an experienced CEO should have prudence and be able to know what ends to pursue. Although political knowledge can start from common sense the way in which one learns comes only with experience and time. Every human activity aims for some end. Humans need meaning as if there is no final end we desire then life is essentially pointless. To Aristotle, reasoning is an activity of the soul that is linked to human end so the CEO has to use her rational and intellectual part of the soul to determine the best possible mean to her desired end. Aristotle using his concepts of virtue, decision and prudence would tell the CEO to not follow through with the political action committee as long as illegal activity remains involved as reason has to dominate the non-rational part of the soul. What humans decide to do is definite as a result of deliberation and desire, with that said, the things a decision is about and what we eventually decide is the mean that promotes an end.
3
February 4th, 2019
Means to an End According to Aristotle, all living beings exist to fulfill some purpose, also known as telos. Humans are distinguished from plants and animals because humans have reason, which thus implies that human’s telos must be based upon rationality. This theme directly relates to voluntary action where Aristotle addresses rational deliberation. When presented with a difficult decision, it is up to humans to calculate the means to an end. When being confronted with the decision of whether or not a CEO should use illegal methods to advance their own companies interests, Aristotle’s ideas on virtue, decision and prudence show that his moral solution would be to not follow through with the political action committee. Aristotle defines virtue of character as a state of the soul that decides, in respect to what, a mean relative to us (II.7, p. 25). Aristotle says humans are not born with virtue but they are born with the capacity to be virtuous by either practicing or imitating someone who is good and uses correct reason. To hit a mean, humans need practice, to steer clear of the extreme whether that is one of excess or one of deficiency and to be aware of pleasure and its sources. Aristotle would tell the CEO of the large corporation to look at the mean of magnanimity between honor and dishonor as honor is one of the 3 main candidates for highest good. Honor is favored by the “cultivated people” such as those active in political life which would apply to the CEO and forming a political action committee. A legislature wants to make its citizens good by habituation and if one fails, they miss their goal (II.2, p. 19). If the CEO would support the political actions committee illegal activity, displaying bad habituation, the whole political system would become corrupted. A state of character is developed from repeating an activity so, Aristotle would discuss with the CEO that the habit of lying to the city would only cause her greater issues in the future. Political science understands and legislates what must be known and
1
done in a city so the CEO would have to look for the good of a city as it is higher and more complete than that of an individual, such as the CEO herself or the corporation. Decision is a deliberative desire to do an action that is up to us. According to Aristotle the CEO would have to calculate the means to an end starting from the end as humans do not deliberate about ends but rather about what promotes ends (III.3, p. 35). Aristotle addresses how decisions involve reason and thought as it occurs before other things. If the end for the CEO is to advance the interest of her company she would have to calculate a mean to that end legally. If she pursued the means to her end illegally, by secretly collecting large sums of money, she would be acting voluntary as she is not ignorant of any of the particulars, and therefore could receive fair punishment for her decision. Aristotle states how the “actions concerned with things that promote the end are in accord with decision and are voluntary” (III.5, p. 37). The CEO would have to deliberate due to the uncertainty of the outcome or if she believes the right way to act is under defined. Even if a number of other CEOs and board members have approached her and encouraged the formation of a political action committee they would just be an instrument as the action is still achieved through her agency since the principle is in her (III.3, p. 36). Aristotle would tell her that if there appears to be several possible means to reach an end she should search for the one that does not go against the law. Aristotle would expand on the idea that legislators themselves impose corrective treatments and penalties on anyone who does vicious actions even if one tried to claim ignorance or inattention to the Supreme Courts law. According to Aristotle, for how the end appears laid down, if other corporations or individuals saw the spike in advancement of her corporation they would trace all other things back to the end and what voluntary actions led her to get there, thus discovering the cheating and corruption. While, according to Aristotle, virtue of character is as a prudent person would define it, prudence itself “is a state grasping the truth, involving reason, concerned with action about
2
things that are good or bad for a human being” (VI.5, p. 89). Aristotle would express that since legislative and political are of higher importance when referring to kinds of prudence the CEO would have to understand the real true end. She would have to ask herself “what would a prudent person do?” as she searches for the virtuous mean towards her end. Since legislative prudence makes laws to keep the base in line, if the CEOs followed through with the political action committee and its illegal activity, her hypocritical actions would ruin the happiness of the state. Since a CEO of any company is often required to have a high level of experience she should have the ability to stop vice from corrupting the overall principle. Yet Aristotle states that if she is too corrupted by the idea of pleasure or pain, then no principle could appear to her. Since intellectual virtue is learned through instruction and practice, an experienced CEO should have prudence and be able to know what ends to pursue. Although political knowledge can start from common sense the way in which one learns comes only with experience and time. Every human activity aims for some end. Humans need meaning as if there is no final end we desire then life is essentially pointless. To Aristotle, reasoning is an activity of the soul that is linked to human end so the CEO has to use her rational and intellectual part of the soul to determine the best possible mean to her desired end. Aristotle using his concepts of virtue, decision and prudence would tell the CEO to not follow through with the political action committee as long as illegal activity remains involved as reason has to dominate the non-rational part of the soul. What humans decide to do is definite as a result of deliberation and desire, with that said, the things a decision is about and what we eventually decide is the mean that promotes an end.
3
