PHIL 1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Nicomachean Ethics, Virtue Ethics, Scientific Method
Document Summary
The second most influential philosopher of ancient greece is aristotle. His main contribution to human knowledge is his idea of scientific method. Scientific inquiry: starts with observation and sense perception, always study complex things by studying their simpler components first, deductive logic. For ancient greeks, ethics had to do with one"s self as opposed to dealing with others they did not view ethics as general guidelines that established how to treat others, but as a personal and individual matter. Given this orientation the central question was about the character of a person. Along these lines, the question that aristotle begins his ethical theory is, What makes a man good? to which he answers, the activity of soul in conformity with virtue. Thus, while most moral theories are after finding the answer to the question of right action, aristotle"s ethics is after finding what human character is virtuous.
