Philosophy 3170F/G Lecture 7: Book III - Voluntary, Deliberation, and Decision

• School: Western University
• Department: Philosophy
• Course: Philosophy 3170F/G
• Professor: D. Henry

Document Summary

E(cid:448)aluatio(cid:374) of a pe(cid:396)so(cid:374)(cid:859)s a(cid:272)tio(cid:374)s depe(cid:374)ds o(cid:374) (cid:449)hethe(cid:396) the(cid:455) a(cid:396)e voluntary or involuntary. Involuntary = performed under compulsion and causes pain to the person acting. Voluntary = person recognizes what they are doing at the time. Non-voluntary = person realizes later what they did. Best measure of moral goodness is choice (voluntary choices: means to achieve a desired end, deliberation is involved, we first consider what end we wish to achieve, then reason backward to the means. In choosing, those of good character will always aim for the good. Those who are not of good character may think they are aiming at the good, but are simply aiming at the apparent good. Examination of each individual virtue: courage, appropriate attitude towards fear, confidence to face the fear, fearlessness (because some things ought to be feared, excess = cowardice, deficiency = rashness. Concerns of free will yet aristotle never mentions this.