The Absolute Good and the Human Goods

In Nicomachean Ethics 1.6, Aristotle directs his criticism not only against the Platonic Idea of the Good but also against the notion of a universal Good. In this paper, I also examine some of the most interesting aspects of his criticism of the Platonic Good and the universal Good in Eudemian Ethics 1.8. In the EN, after using a series of disputable ontological arguments, Aristotle’s criticism culminates in a strong ethical or rather practical and, simultaneously, epistemological argument, from which a dialectical postulatum emerges. This argument aims to show that we have to discover the dialectical stages or grades which constitute the relation between the ultimate End, i.e., the Good simpliciter or the absolute Good, and the relational goods till the last prakton good in which each specific praxis ends. According to the present reading, Aristotle sets out to establish a kind of Dialectic of the ends (Dialektikē tōn telōn) or Dialectic of the goods (Dialektikē tōn agathōn), which puts emphasis on the descent to the specific good, which is appropriate to and cognate with each individual, be that a person, praxis, science or craft. It is also suggested that this might be relevant to Aristotle’s tendency to establish a separation of phronēsis, i.e., practical wisdom, from sophia, i.e., wisdom, in the Nicomachean Ethics.

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A METAFÍSICA DO BEM NA REPÚBLICA (LIVROS V-VII) DE PLATÃO

Síntese Revista de Filosofia ◽

10.20911/21769389v35n113p319-339/2008 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 35 (113) ◽

pp. 319

Author(s):

Bento Silva Santos

Keyword(s):

The State ◽

The Sun ◽

Ethical Reflection ◽

Intrinsic Properties ◽

Underlying Principle ◽

Absolute Good ◽

The Absolute ◽

The Republic ◽

The City

Nos livros centrais da República, a reflexão ética de Platão se fixa no Bem absoluto e nas condições do conhecimento deste Bem. Diferentemente dos diálogos “socráticos”, procura-se justificar a ética recorrendo aos últimos princípios transcendentes. A filosofia do Platão metafísico aqui é um imenso esforço especulativo e programático desenvolvido em sua obraprima, a saber: A República. Nesta se fará sentir a exigência de um Bem absoluto, ao mesmo tempo fim último e princípio primeiro das razões do agir. O conhecimento do Sumo Bem, do qual o Filósofo se serve para regular a própria vida e a vida do Estado, é a conditio sine qua non para a realização da felicidade na Cidade. Tendo Platão já esboçado a Idéia do Bem sob a forma de propriedades categoriais (Inteligibilidade, Imutabilidade, Incorporeidade e Perseidade) em conhecidas passagens do Fédon (65 d; 78 d-e; 79 a-b), examinamos neste artigo tão somente as célebres metáforas da República: o Sol [507 b-509 c], a linha segmentada [509 d-511e] e a caverna [514 a-519 b].Abstract: In the central books of the Republic, Plato’s ethical reflection is entirely directed to the absolute Good and its state of knowledge. Unlike the Socratic dialogues, it aims to justify ethics by appealing to the last transcendent principles. In his masterpiece, The Republic, Plato’s metaphysical philosophy is an immense speculative and pragmatic effort that establishes the demand for an absolute Good as the ultimate aim and underlying principle of the reasons for acting. The knowledge of the ultimate Good, that the Philosopher uses to regulate his own life and the life of the State, is conditio sine qua non for the achievement of happiness in the City. As Plato already sketched the Idea of the Good with its intrinsic properties (Intelligibility, Immutability, Incorporeity and Inherency) in known passages of Phedo (65 d; 78 d-e; 79 a-b), this article will only examine, the most famous metaphors of the Republic: the Sun [507 b-509 c], the segmented line [509 d-511e] and the cave [514a-519 b].

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Aristotle’s Criticism of the Platonic Idea of the Good in Nicomachean Ethics 1.6

Peitho Examina Antiqua ◽

10.14746/peitho.2017.12234 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 309-342

Author(s):

Melina G. Mouzala

Keyword(s):

Practical Wisdom ◽

Nicomachean Ethics ◽

Relational Goods ◽

Absolute Good ◽

The Absolute ◽

Eudemian Ethics

In Nicomachean Ethics 1.6, Aristotle directs his criticism not only against the Platonic Idea of the Good but also against the notion of a universal Good. In this paper, I also examine some of the most interesting aspects of his criticism of the Platonic Good and the universal Good in Eudemian Ethics 1.8. In the EN, after using a series of disputable ontological arguments, Aristotle’s criticism culminates in a strong ethical or rather practical and, simultaneously, epistemological argument, from which a dialectical postulatum emerges. This argument aims to show that we have to discover the dialectical stages or grades which constitute the relation between the ultimate End, i.e., the Good simpliciter or the absolute Good, and the relational goods till the last prakton good in which each specific praxis ends. According to the present reading, Aristotle sets out to establish a kind of Dialectic of the ends (Dialektikē tōn telōn) or Dialectic of the goods (Dialektikē tōn agathōn), which puts emphasis on the descent to the specific good, which is appropriate to and cognate with each individual, be that a person, praxis, science or craft. It is also suggested that this might be relevant to Aristotle’s tendency to establish a separation of phronēsis, i.e., practical wisdom, from sophia, i.e., wisdom, in the Nicomachean Ethics.

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Użyteczność teorii Jonasa w rozstrzyganiu konkretnych problemów ekologicznych?

Studia Ecologiae et Bioethicae ◽

10.21697/seb.2007.5.1.09 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 125-141

Author(s):

Joanna Chudzik

Keyword(s):

Ethical Theory ◽

Human Being ◽

Moral Principles ◽

Organic Life ◽

Primary Object ◽

Absolute Good ◽

The Absolute ◽

Philosophical Project ◽

The One

The following article attempts to answer the question if it is possible to find criteria enabling to solve the ethical-political dilemmas such as the one of Rospudy Valley on the grounds of Jonas ethical theory, the answer to this question is reconsidered in the context of Jonas philosophical project which is the establishment of ethics for life in the ontology of organic being. On the grounds of metaphysics, Jonas justifies the constitutive link between consciousness with being and the absolute good in affirmation of the importance of existence over non-existence. Jonas shows both the continuity and special discontinuity of the human being within the domain of the livings However, he is not able to support his argument that the human being is the primary object of responsibility being ahead of other forms of organic life. Jonas ethical theory ought to include the specification of moral principles that will be useful for clarifying the matters that must be preserved and defended.

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Being and the Good: Maimonides on Ontological Beauty

Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy ◽

10.1163/147728511x591207 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

pp. 1-45

Author(s):

Diana Lobel

Keyword(s):

Aesthetic Appreciation ◽

Moral Language ◽

Absolute Good ◽

The Absolute ◽

Necessary Existence ◽

Ontological Sense ◽

Good And Evil

AbstractMaimonides expresses the view that being is goodness; evil is a deprivation of being and goodness. This view is prominent in Neoplatonism but has strong roots in Aristotle as well. While Maimonides problematizes moral language of good and evil, he makes use of an ontological sense of Necessary Existence as the absolute good. Plotinus wrote that beings are the beautiful. Avicenna adds that the pure good is Necessary Existence, which is free of deficiency, as it has no possibility of lacking existence. This notion has a strong Aristotelian core. Despite his strictures on language about the divine, Maimonides allows himself to express this vision—an affective-aesthetic appreciation as well as a purely cognitive one. Being is the absolute good, the source of ontological beauty and value.

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Bulk standards for low-temperature biological x-ray microanalysis

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100111525 ◽

1984 ◽

Vol 42 ◽

pp. 282-283

Author(s):

P. Echlin ◽

M. McKoon ◽

E.S. Taylor ◽

C.E. Thomas ◽

K.L. Maloney ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Phase Separation ◽

Low Temperature ◽

Analytical Method ◽

Salt Solutions ◽

Absolute Concentration ◽

Cooling Process ◽

X Ray ◽

The Absolute ◽

Analytical Procedures ◽

Electrical Conductors

Although sections of frozen salt solutions have been used as standards for x-ray microanalysis, such solutions are less useful when analysed in the bulk form. They are poor thermal and electrical conductors and severe phase separation occurs during the cooling process. Following a suggestion by Whitecross et al we have made up a series of salt solutions containing a small amount of graphite to improve the sample conductivity. In addition, we have incorporated a polymer to ensure the formation of microcrystalline ice and a consequent homogenity of salt dispersion within the frozen matrix. The mixtures have been used to standardize the analytical procedures applied to frozen hydrated bulk specimens based on the peak/background analytical method and to measure the absolute concentration of elements in developing roots.

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A Quantitative Ultrastructural Study of Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes Containing Parallel Tubular Arrays in Epstein-Barr Virus and Cytomegalo-Virus Mononucleosis

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100098769 ◽

1981 ◽

Vol 39 ◽

pp. 454-455

Author(s):

C. M. Payne ◽

P. M. Tennican

Keyword(s):

Peripheral Blood ◽

Lymphocyte Count ◽

Epstein Barr Virus ◽

Absolute Lymphocyte Count ◽

Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes ◽

Clinical State ◽

Barr Virus ◽

The Absolute ◽

Epstein Barr ◽

Tubular Arrays

In the normal peripheral circulation there exists a sub-population of lymphocytes which is ultrastructurally distinct. This lymphocyte is identified under the electron microscope by the presence of cytoplasmic microtubular-like inclusions called parallel tubular arrays (PTA) (Figure 1), and contains Fc-receptors for cytophilic antibody. In this study, lymphocytes containing PTA (PTA-lymphocytes) were quantitated from serial peripheral blood specimens obtained from two patients with Epstein -Barr Virus mononucleosis and two patients with cytomegalovirus mononucleosis. This data was then correlated with the clinical state of the patient.It was determined that both the percentage and absolute number of PTA- lymphocytes was highest during the acute phase of the illness. In follow-up specimens, three of the four patients' absolute lymphocyte count fell to within normal limits before the absolute PTA-lymphocyte count.In one patient who was followed for almost a year, the absolute PTA- lymphocyte count was consistently elevated (Figure 2). The estimation of absolute PTA-lymphocyte counts was determined to be valid after a morphometric analysis of the cellular areas occupied by PTA during the acute and convalescent phases of the disease revealed no statistical differences.

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Polarity Determination in Sphalerite and Wurtzite Structures

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100136106 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 48 (2) ◽

pp. 500-501

Author(s):

Stuart McKernan ◽

C. Barry Carter

Keyword(s):

Opposite Polarity ◽

Single Domain ◽

Polar Material ◽

Electron Microscopic ◽

Dynamical Interaction ◽

X Ray ◽

Polarity Determination ◽

The Absolute ◽

Microscopic Techniques

The determination of the absolute polarity of a polar material is often crucial to the understanding of the defects which occur in such materials. Several methods exist by which this determination may be performed. In bulk, single-domain specimens, macroscopic techniques may be used, such as the different etching behavior, using the appropriate etchant, of surfaces with opposite polarity. X-ray measurements under conditions where Friedel’s law (which means that the intensity of reflections from planes of opposite polarity are indistinguishable) breaks down can also be used to determine the absolute polarity of bulk, single-domain specimens. On the microscopic scale, and particularly where antiphase boundaries (APBs), which separate regions of opposite polarity exist, electron microscopic techniques must be employed. Two techniques are commonly practised; the first [1], involves the dynamical interaction of hoLz lines which interfere constructively or destructively with the zero order reflection, depending on the crystal polarity. The crystal polarity can therefore be directly deduced from the relative intensity of these interactions.

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