Feb 11th class synopsis

In the last class, on Friday, we spoke of virtuous actions. They are two types of virtuous actions: those that are naturally virtuous and those that are truly virtuous. The naturally virtuous actions contain the right reason and desire but the action is not rationally chosen. In the natural virtue, one’s habit determines the outcome, not one’s rational thinking. It only appears to be truly virtuous, but it actuality it is not. The Truly virtuous person does so in combination of desire and reason while at the right time, in the right way, with the right feeling, and for the right ends. Another in our class discussion was that virtuosity may change over time, i.e., at the time, Martin Luther King Junior was not seen universally as being a truly virtuous man, but in today’s society he is seen as a paradigm of virtuosity. Another important topic that was in our class is that of the “mean”, in other words what is the middle ground. For example, a person may be very belligerent, he could be a pacifist, or he could be someone who is in the middle. The mean is a property that is looked highly upon. Aristotle said that “External goods” are a necessity to be completely virtuous. For example, a person with one leg can never be completely virtuous but only a little virtuous. The two virtues of courage and temperance were also discussed in the class as a way of exemplifying virtuous acts. For instance, if a soldier feels fear but runs into battle for the good of his country, the soldier knows that it is the right thing to do, at the right time, and for the right end then the soldier is truly courageous. Temperance was also discussed and the two main examples were food and sex. Both hunger and sex are apart of the human appetite but may also be virtuous if they are in congruency with the rational part of the soul. The example given in class dealt with a woman who has sex all the time, but not for pleasure, and who sees it as a way to help other people. Is that truly virtuous of a promiscuous woman? Finally we discussed the proper use of leisure time and what is or is not appropriate.