Case study aristotle Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Aristotle - Case Study Example He does not have much patience for theory for its own sake and neither do I. In my own life I try to ask the question, â€Å"Will it work in practice?† or â€Å"How do I do this?† I am much less interested in what is theoretically good or bad, and when I read Aristotle I see that he was similarly interested in the practical side of ethics rather than the theoretical side of things. In the world we live in so much of ethical thinking and philosophy is incredibly theoretical. Doctrines are written by academics who seem to have never left their ivory towers. They talk about symbols and dreams—but almost never about real people and real world concerns. They always describe an ideal world or a person they call the â€Å"Rational man.† In my own experience the world is not ordered in such a way that it can be useful to study exclusively theory. When we think of ethics, such an important part of our day to day lives, we don’t have time for theory. We need to know how to be good. Learning why we should be good, or what goodness truly means, or if goodness actually exists independently from any of us is much less important. With those who identify happiness with virtue or some one virtue our account is in harmony; for to virtue belongs virtuous activity. But it makes, perhaps, no small difference whether we place the chief good in possession or in use, in state of mind or in activity. For the state of mind may exist without producing any good result, as in a man who is asleep or in some other way quite inactive, but the activity cannot; for one who has the activity will of necessity be acting, and acting well. And as in the Olympic Games it is not the most beautiful and the strongest that are crowned but those who compete (for it is some of these that are victorious), so those who act win, and rightly win, the noble and good things in life. It is possible to think deep thoughts about what is goodness and do nothing that is good.