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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 2.5 page paper which examines Aristotle’s concepts of voluntary, involuntary and non-voluntary as detailed in Book 3 of “Nicomachean Ethics;” the role the notion of the swerve place in the Epicurean concept of freedom; Epictetus’s view of what is up to us and what isn’t; and whether or not the Stoic belief in fate and living in accordance with nature is compatible with the belief you can be rationally praised or blamed regarding what is up to you. Bibliography lists 2 sources.
Page Count:
2 pages (~225 words per page)
File: TG15_TGariepi.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
"good" choice, virtue must always be the primary objective. In Book III of Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle describes virtue as being about "feelings and actions" (1.3.1109a30). He asserts, "These
receive praise or blame if they are voluntary, but pardon, sometimes even pity, if they are involuntary" (1.3.1109a31-32). He defines a voluntary act as something that involves a rational
choice between two alternatives; something only humans who possess the capacity for reason are capable of. If humans have received the proper moral education, these voluntary actions are always
entered into as ways of achieving a desirable end, but are ultimately dependent upon things that are within our human power to affect. As conceptualized by Aristotle, involuntary acts
are "things coming about by force or because of ignorance" (1.2.1110a1). He uses as an example a tyrant forcing you to do something against your will for fear of
death. These are choices that are influenced by external forces beyond ones immediate power or control. Then, there are those acts that seem to fall in the middle
of the two extremes, those that are the result of some type of unreasonable emotion, such as anger. It cannot necessarily be regarded as involuntary because it is not
externally rooted in another person; but it is irrational and therefore not representative of a rational or voluntary choice. If a person is intoxicated, for example, he or she
may commit acts that have been generated by the consumption of alcohol and would not have been committed otherwise. This might be what could be regarded as a non-voluntary
act. The only way to ensure a virtuous life, as determined by Aristotelian philosophy, is for humans to make voluntary choices as often as circumstances permit them to.
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