I feel like Aristotle is saying that we can be the makers of how we live our lives. In section one, he says that how we respond to things determines our virtue. He writes "by doing the acts that we do in our transactions with other men we become just or unjust, and by doing the acts that we do in the presence of danger, and being habituated to feel fear or confidence, we become brave or cowardly." To me, this quote sounds like he is trying to say it is up to man to decide how to respond. In part three, he drives this point home. He writes "men even define the virtues as certain states of impassivity and rest." He is saying men make virtue what they want it to be. In part three, he talks further on about how actions and experiences shape our lives. It is in this that we as man get to choose what we think about life. He is writing about man creating their own worldview and deciding they are in charge of their lives.
I commented on Abigail's and Hannah's!
I took the quote two ways. One being the one you mentioned, and the other being how people see us. Since we can't see ourselves other than in a mirror, we see how we are differently than others. So I thought he mainly meant it as one's actions cause people's reactions towards you to change.
ReplyDeleteI agree that he believes that virtues are the choices that we make and how we respond to things. While we cannot control what happens to us or the emotions that we initially feel, we are in control of how we respond and the actions that we take.
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