Quiz #1

Question 1

What is the supreme good in life according to Aristotle?

Answer 1

Happiness is the ultimate goal that all rational beings desire and aim to accomplish.

Question 2

How does Aristotle answer the question: “What does happiness consist of?”

Answer 2

He employs the Function Argument which states that the characteristic of a certain object or activity can be good or bad; we apply this same logic to human beings.

Question 3

What is the function or characteristic activity of humans according to Aristotle?

Answer 3

Reason because other functions such as life, growth/nutrition and sensation we share with others, while humans alone have reason.

Question 4

How then does the Function of Human beings apply to ethics?

Answer 4

Aristotle views the Good Life consisting of using reason to develop moral virtue and make prudent decisions

Question 5

What are the Three Parts of the Rational Soul?

Answer 5

1. The Nutritive Part - the lowest and one we share with plants, responsible for the functions of growth and reproduction.
2. The Sensitive Part - one we share with animals, allows us to perceive individual objects and desire them.
3. The Rational Part - the highest and one that is unique to us, responsible for apprehending abstract objects and concepts such as happiness and reasoning.

Question 6

What is the difference between Internal and External Virtues according to Aristotle?

Answer 6

1. Internal virtues: such as courage, prudence, temperance, etc.
2. External Goods: family, good looks, friends, money, health, etc.
   Both are subjected to luck in some way.

Question 7

Does Aristotle think that moral virtues are natural or are they nurtured?

Answer 7

Aristotle thinks that moral virtues are not given to us from birth, but we are given the natural capacity to acquire them. As such, he thinks that we can acquire moral virtues through habit.

Question 8

What two types of Virtue does Aristotle think we can acquire?

Answer 8

1. Intellectual virtues: Acquired through instruction (productive wisdom, practical wisdom, science, etc.)
2. Moral virtues: Acquired through practice in youth, i.e., habituation until the moral quality becomes a tendency in the soul.

Question 9

What is the Unity of Virtues?

Answer 9

Aristotle believes that once you have mastered one virtue, you can obtain all of the rest because you have the mindset and knowledge required to do so. Becoming virtuous is much like a practical skill in this regard.

Question 10

How does Aristotle define a virtuous act? How does this differ from Plato’s thoughts on virtuous acts?

Answer 10

Aristotle thinks that you must enjoy performing a virtuous act in order for it to be truly virtuous. There must be no internal friction nor deliberation in doing the virtuous act, it must be done effortlessly and the agent must enjoy it. Plato thinks that knowledge is a virtue, but Aristotle argues that the action must be done in a habitual manner in order to be truly virtuous. Therefore, the agent must have the knowledge AND perform the action.

Question 11

How do vices develop according to Aristotle?

Answer 11

Vices develop much in the same way as virtues do.

Question 12

What three things are required for virtue according to Aristotle?

Answer 12

1. He or she must have knowledge of what is right and what is wrong.
2. He or she must deliberately or voluntarily choose to do the right thing because it is right.
3. His or her virtuous act must come from a fixed disposition.

Question 13

What are the three properties of the soul according to Aristotle?

Answer 13

1. Emotions: feelings like desire, fear, anger, etc.
2. Faculties: capacities of the soul (e.g., rational,sensitive, vegetative)
3. Moral States: dispositions which are well or ill-disposed with respect to our emotions.

Question 14

What are the three properties of the soul according to Aristotle?

Answer 14

1. Emotions: feelings like desire, fear, anger, etc.
2. Faculties: capacities of the soul (e.g., rational, sensitive, vegetative)
3. Moral States: dispositions which are well or ill-disposed with respect to our emotions.

Question 15

How does virtue fit into Aristotle’s properties of the soul?

Answer 15

We are not praised or blamed for having emotions, but we are liable for how we express those emotions. Likewise, virtue and vice follow the same path, making them moral states.

Question 16

What are the 4 Moral States/States of Character according to Aristotle?

Answer 16

1. Virtue: the settled disposition of a person who knows whats right, wants to act on it and does so without an internal struggle.
2. Strength of Will: the settled disposition of someone who knows what is right, wants to act in contrast to this knowledge out of passion, but forces themselves to act correctly.
3. Weakness of Will: the sort of person who knows what is right, wants to act contrary to this knowledge out of passion, but ends up acting wrongly.
4. Vicious: the settled disposition of someone that has the wrong principles, wants to act on them, and does.

Question 17

What is the Doctrine of the Mean?

Answer 17

Aristotle thinks that the most virtuous moral state is in which someone exhibits the right amount of action or emotion depending on the situation. For example, they will employ the right amount of anger in a situation, not too much but also not too little.

Question 18

When an individual possesses the mean, what will they feel and display with each emotion?

Answer 18

1. At the right times
2. With reference to the right matters
3. Towards the right people
4. In the right way

Question 19

What are the three principal features of Virtue according to Aristotle?

Answer 19

1. It is a state of character concerned with choice (virtues are acquired by choosing certain things and they will then affect our future choices)
2. It lies in a mean that is relative to us.
3. It is determined by the principle by which a prudent person would determine it.

Question 20

What is Augustine’s concept of “Original Sin”?

Answer 20

Humans have an innate tendency to do things that interfere with our relationship with God, a view that stands in contrast to Aristotle.

Question 21

What is Augustine’s “The City of God” a response to?

Answer 21

Some believed that the sack of Rome in 410 AD by Alaric was because the Romans had turned their backs on the old pagan gods, while others believed that the existence of those who believed in the pagan gods was punishment for not believing in Christianity. Augustine wanted to defend Christianity with this work.

Question 22

Why was Augustine’s book called “The City of God”?

Answer 22

It refers to the two types of people in the world:
1. City of God: people who love God to the point of contempt for themselves; they possess, piety, submission to the divine will, sociability, tranquillity, commitment to the truth, peace and justice.
2. Earthly City: people who love themselves to the point of contempt for God; they possess antisocial character traits, a libido dominandi, restlessness, an envious nature, and selfishness.

Question 23

What does “The Highest Good” argue for? How does it go about this?

Answer 23

Augustine wishes to find out what the Final End/Highest Good for humans beings is by using Varro as a representative to pagan ethics he wishes to refute.

Question 24

What defines a human according to Varro? What then is the supreme good?

Answer 24

Human nature has 2 components:
1. Soul
2. Body
Varro argues that a human is the composite of soul and body, a view that Aristotle agrees with. Therefore, the supreme good consists of goods found within both the soul and the body; virtue and friendship.

Question 25

What are the 4 things that constitute the Supreme Good according to Varro?

Answer 25

1. Mental goods: intelligence and sensation, e.g., sight, hearing, and the ability to reason. 2. Physical goods: good looks, health, stature, swiftness 3. Virtue: the art of living well, i.e., the habit of making good practical decisions with your natural attributes. 4. Friendship: other people too who one wishes well; family, neighbours, fellow citizens, etc.

Question 26

What does Augustine view as the Supreme Good?

Answer 26

Eternal life, with the Supreme Evil being death.

Question 27

How does one achieve the Supreme Good according to Augustine? Which two claims made by pagan philosophers does he refute?

Answer 27

By living rightly, having both hope and faith in God to live on in the next life. Augustine challenges the claims that the Supreme Good: 1. Can be had in this life 2. Can be achieved by human effort

Question 28

What is Augustine's theory about the good life?

Answer 28

The good life must be perfect and self-sufficient by definition. Therefore, it cannot be vulnerable to bad luck, which in turn can take happiness (and therefore the good life) away from us. Furthermore, we are tempted and anxious at all times in this life and we are not in serenity, which is the ultimate state of happiness.

Question 29

How does Augustine agree with Plato with his outline of the Theory of the Good Life?

Answer 29

Plato thinks that as long as your spirit is in a good place of reason, you are happy even if you are in a physically horrible state. This is opposed to Aristotle's view.

Question 30

How does Augustine view virtue?

Answer 30

There is nothing inherently good about virtues because they are merely tools in the war against perpetual vice and misfortune. They are just signs that life on Earth is troubled and that the virtues would not be needed if this war wasn't happening.

Question 31

What are the Cardinal Virtues? How does Augustine view each of them?

Answer 31

1. Temperance: the virtue that is associated with controlling pleasure 2. Prudence: the intellectual virtue that discerns right from wrong 3. Fortitude: the moral virtue associated with fear 4. Justice: the moral virtue whose function is to give every person their due Essentially, each of these virtues hinges on the existence of desires and temptations that cannot be overcome without divine help. They are merely used as a crutch of survival; how can one truly be happy if they are constantly battling these temptations towards vice?

Question 32

How does Augustine view friendship as being a part of the Good Life?

Answer 32

Friendship can be lost; either the person betrays us or dies. We have anxiety about them and even our romantic lives can be the source of frequent stress and unhappiness. Therefore, it cannot make up the Good Life.

Question 33

If Virtue and Friendship cannot make up the Good Life, what is it then according to Augustine?

Answer 33

The key virtue is hope toward a future existence, our happiness consists of the salvation of the next life in heaven. True happiness can only exist in the vision of God, in a world where there are truly no evils and we can live in serenity.