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Tag Archives: Virtue
Montaigne on Virtue
Three hundred and one dailylit.com episodes of Essays in and Michel de Montaigne serves up another view I 100% agree with, five centuries on. When it comes to ethics the the answer is staring you in the face – in … Continue reading
Posted in Ethics, Life, Philosophy
Tagged Cicero, Look in the Mirror, Montaigne, Seneca, Virtue, Yoda
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Of Angels
Smarting from the accusation I seldom read the source, I’m wading through Aquinas at present. Corblimey he’s obsessed with some things well beyond my interest. But that’s because I’m reading him for his ethics, and he’s writing a science book … Continue reading
Posted in Aristotle, Death, Ethics, Life
Tagged Angels, Aquinas, Aristotle, Character, Contemplation, Csikszentmihalyi, Happiness, Personality, Virtue
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Crystallisation
At the core of Aristotle’s account of ethics and virtue is ‘Prohairesis’ – the central moral character. I increasingly think of it like a copper sulphate crystal growing on a piece of thread. When you do the classic school experiment, … Continue reading
Posted in Aristotle, Ethics, Life, Philosophy, Psychology, Work
Tagged Aquinas, Aristotle, Copper Sulphate, Crystals, Deliberation, Herbert McCabe, Imperfections, Practical Wisdom, Prohairesis, Prudentia, Taking Time, Virtue, Wisdom
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Incandescence
This week, I advanced my new theory – to a gently sceptical friend – that the brain works (at least partly) like the electronic ink screen of an Amazon Kindle. Blending in the philosophy of St Thomas Aquinas, my sweeping … Continue reading
Posted in Achilles, Aristotle, Ethics, Philosophy, Psychology
Tagged 'anima', 'ira', Anger, Aquinas, Aristotle, Bayesian Brain, E-ink, Herbert McCabe, Instinct, Kindle, Passions, Philosophy, Reason, The Soul, Theology, Virtue, We are what we repeatedly do
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Elemental
The late Herbert McCabe wrote with almost scientific beauty on Aristotle and Aquinas. There is a tightness and precision which bespeaks a lifetime’s reflection and contemplation. The international physics community has just acknowledged two new superheavy elements – 114 and … Continue reading
Posted in Aristotle, Ethics, Life
Tagged 114, Aristotle, Football, Friends, Herbert McCabe, On Aquinas, Periodic Table, Practice, Ununquadium, Virtue
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The Good Life
I used to be a strict Act Utilitarian – the moral act is the one that produces the most overall happiness or least harm. The undergraduate philosophy case studies all seemed clear cut to me. Knowing what we know now, … Continue reading
Posted in Aristotle, Ethics, Life, Psychology
Tagged Arete, Aristotle, Bayesian Brain, Bentham, Csikszentmihalyi, Ethics, Eudaimonia, Happiness, Mill, Moral Philosophy, Telos, The Harp Player, Utilitarianism, Virtue, William Blake
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The Harp Player
In pursuit of the good life, Aristotle has sent me in a couple of very important directions recently. First the harp. He says that the work of the harp player is to play the harp, and of the good harp … Continue reading
Posted in Ethics, Life
Tagged Aristotle, Contemplation, Contentment, Eudaimonia, Fatherhood, Friendship, Fulfillment, Happiness, Jefferson, Pleasure, The Harp, Thinking, Virtue, Work
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Magnificence
I’ve talked to a lot of people about the Aristotelian virtue of Magnificence in the last two weeks. Magnificence feels a bit strong as a virtue one might aspire to these days, and indeed the good news is that most … Continue reading
Art
A super article in the New Scientist explains – as artists have intuited down the centuries – that the brain works to a different set of rules than the real world. We have misread shadows and mirrors from Velazquez Rokeby … Continue reading
