Nicomachean Ethics

In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle carefully considers the issue of responsibility and finds that the human being is indeed responsible for his or her actions. In fact, humans may be morally culpable even for unintended consequences. However, Aristotle makes a distinction between moral virtue and intellectual virtue. The essential difference between the two is that intellectual virtue can be instilled by teaching in the course of life; moral virtue, however, does not work this way, and comes only through intended habits. In other words, in order to form moral virtue, the individual must consciously choose to act in a virtuous manner.

The individual is responsible both for his or her moral disposition and also for the manner in which moral questions are decided by him or her. Indeed, this is seen as a natural process so that the individual is born with the ability to differentiate between good and evil. For Aristotle, it does not matter whether the individual is born capable of differentiating good from evil or that this is ingrained by society over time as the individual grows to adulthood. In either case, the individual possesses the knowledge as an adult to know the difference and thus is responsible for the decisions he or she makes.

In Book III Aristotle discusses involuntary actions, or those that are done under constraint or due to ignorance. He says that the terms "voluntary" and "involuntary" are to be used only with reference to the moment of the acti

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e who acted involuntarily because of compulsion or ignorance. Aristotle holds out for the view that human beings are responsible for their actions, even many involuntary actions. He notes an argument that is raised against this, that carelessness may be part of a man's character so that his actions are shaped by that character, something over which he presumably has no control. Aristotle counters this by stating that the individual is responsible for his becoming careless in the first place, assuming that he lives in a lose and carefree manner that makes him careless. Aristotle says that a given kind of activity produces a corresponding character. It can be assumed from this that finding a certain type of character in a person proves that that person has lived in a certain way, which has developed that type of character. In the old argument over the primacy of nature or nurture, Aristotle finds that nurture is responsible rather than nature for the character traits we display. Aristotle points to the fact that people who want to excel at a sport do so by practicing, by living and acting in a certain way in order to achieve a certain goal. Moral characters are also formed by engaging in certain actions. Aristotle also ref

Category: Philosophy - N