Colloquium 3 Aristotle on the Voluntariness of Vice

Author(s):  
Jay R. Elliott

Abstract In Nicomachean Ethics III.5, Aristotle argues that virtue and vice are “up to us and voluntary.” Readers have long struggled to make sense of Aristotle’s arguments in this chapter and to explain how they cohere with the rest of his ethical project. Among the most influential lines of complaint is that the argument of III.5 appears to contradict his emphasis elsewhere on the power of upbringing to shape character, beginning in childhood. Scholars have developed two main interpretive approaches to III.5, which I label “libertarian” and “compatibilist.” I argue that neither approach succeeds in removing the appearance of contradiction. I develop an alternative interpretation that reveals the coherence of Aristotle’s commitments, showing that for him the voluntariness of character and the power of upbringing are in reality two sides of the same philosophical coin. Both are grounded in his fundamental idea that virtue and vice are acquired by practice.

Author(s):  
Nuno Castanheira ◽  

The concept of eudaimonia put forward by Aristotle in the first Book of his Nicomachean Ethics reflects an attempt to synthesize and clarify a well known concept in the Greek society, in popular as well as in more restricted intellectual circles, giving it a new scope and conceptual consistency. Ordinarily translated as happiness, well-being or prosperity, this concept frequently had a subjective sense, describing the lives of those who lived well or were eudaimon; but it also had an objective sense, establishing a life conducting rule for everyone who wanted to be happy or eudaimon. In the present paper we give an account of the meaning and operative range of the concept of eudaimonia and show the eudaimonia's guiding role in the Aristotelian ethical project, namely as its founding principle and final horizon, its relations with the good and virtue, as well as with the nature of man and the generation of a new modality of being. Finally, we establish that the concept of eudaimonia is central to an ethics seen as a life project.


Author(s):  
Brian Martin ◽  
Chris Moore ◽  
Colin Salter

The sharing of music files has been the focus of a massive struggle between representatives of major record companies and artists in the music industry, on one side, and peer-to-peer (p2p) file-sharing services and their users, on the other. This struggle can be analysed in terms of tactics used by the two sides, which can be classified into five categories: cover-up versus exposure, devaluation versus validation, interpretation versus alternative interpretation, official channels versus mobilisation, and intimidation versus resistance. It is valuable to understand these tactics because similar ones are likely to be used in ongoing struggles between users of p2p services and representatives of the content industries.


Author(s):  
C. Goessens ◽  
D. Schryvers ◽  
J. Van Landuyt ◽  
A. Verbeeck ◽  
R. De Keyzer

Silver halide grains (AgX, X=Cl,Br,I) are commonly recognized as important entities in photographic applications. Depending on the preparation specifications one can grow cubic, octahedral, tabular a.o. morphologies, each with its own physical and chemical characteristics. In the present study crystallographic defects introduced by the mixing of 5-20% iodide in a growing AgBr tabular grain are investigated. X-ray diffractometry reveals the existence of a homogeneous Ag(Br1-xIx) region, expected to be formed around the AgBr kernel. In fig. 1 a two-beam BF image, taken at T≈100 K to diminish radiation damage, of a triangular tabular grain is presented, clearly showing defect contrast fringes along four of the six directions; the remaining two sides show similar contrast under relevant diffraction conditions. The width of the central defect free region corresponds with the pure AgBr kernel grown before the mixing with I. The thickness of a given grain lies between 0.15 and 0.3 μm: as indicated in fig. 2 triangular (resp. hexagonal) grains exhibit an uneven (resp. even) number of twin interfaces (i.e., between + and - twin variants) parallel with the (111) surfaces. The thickness of the grains and the existence of the twin variants was confirmed from CTEM images of perpendicular cuts.


2004 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 181-184
Author(s):  
Amy Garrigues

On September 15, 2003, the US. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that agreements between pharmaceutical and generic companies not to compete are not per se unlawful if these agreements do not expand the existing exclusionary right of a patent. The Valley DrugCo.v.Geneva Pharmaceuticals decision emphasizes that the nature of a patent gives the patent holder exclusive rights, and if an agreement merely confirms that exclusivity, then it is not per se unlawful. With this holding, the appeals court reversed the decision of the trial court, which held that agreements under which competitors are paid to stay out of the market are per se violations of the antitrust laws. An examination of the Valley Drugtrial and appeals court decisions sheds light on the two sides of an emerging legal debate concerning the validity of pay-not-to-compete agreements, and more broadly, on the appropriate balance between the seemingly competing interests of patent and antitrust laws.


Author(s):  
Ángel Correa ◽  
Paola Cappucci ◽  
Anna C. Nobre ◽  
Juan Lupiáñez

Would it be helpful to inform a driver about when a conflicting traffic situation is going to occur? We tested whether temporal orienting of attention could enhance executive control to select among conflicting stimuli and responses. Temporal orienting was induced by presenting explicit cues predicting the most probable interval for target onset, which could be short (400 ms) or long (1,300 ms). Executive control was measured both by flanker and Simon tasks involving conflict between incompatible responses and by the spatial Stroop task involving conflict between perceptual stimulus features. The results showed that temporal orienting facilitated the resolution of perceptual conflict by reducing the spatial Stroop effect, whereas it interfered with the resolution of response conflict by increasing flanker and Simon effects. Such opposite effects suggest that temporal orienting of attention modulates executive control through dissociable mechanisms, depending on whether the competition between conflicting representations is located at perceptual or response levels.


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