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What ethical character is

What ethical character is

What ethical character is

 

That ethical virtue, then, has to do with pleasures and pains is evident. And since ethical character, as its name implies, has its growth from habit, and what is conducted by a conduct not innate is habituated by moving many times in a certain way — this is how it stands what can operate, a case we do not see in inanimate things (for not even if you throw a stone upwards a thousand times will it ever rise upward unless by constraint) — let ethical character be  a quality of soul in accordance with governing reason, a quality belonging to the irrational part of the soul that is capable of following the reason. Continue reading “What ethical character is”

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What is the difference between understanding and practical wisdom?

What is the difference between understanding and practical wisdom

What is the difference between understanding and practical wisdom

 

Understanding or lack of understanding in virtue of which we call men “men of understanding” or “men void of understanding”, are neither entirely the same as scientific knowledge or opinion (for in this case all men would have been men of understanding), nor are they one of the particular sciences, such as medicine concerning the objects of health, or geometry concerning magnitudes; for understanding is concerned neither with what is eternal and unchangeable nor with whatever comes to be, but with things about which one may be puzzled and deliberate. Continue reading “What is the difference between understanding and practical wisdom?”

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Is courage teachable or natural?

Is courage teachable or natural

Is courage teachable or natural

 

Again, Socrates being asked whether courage is something teachable or natural, “I think,” said he, “just as a body is by nature more resistant to pain than another body, so, too, one soul to another soul comes by nature stronger with regard to misfortune; for I see that there is too much difference among those who are brought up by the same law and under the same customs. Continue reading “Is courage teachable or natural?”