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Essay / Accounts of Responsibility, Action, and Character Acquisition in Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics
In Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle expounds his theory in relation to the responsibility of each individual, l acquisition of his character and his actions in his book. He also raises objections to his claims, notably in 1114b, where Aristotle suggests that people cannot be responsible for any of their actions. In this article I will describe Aristotle's accounts of responsibility, action, and the acquisition of character, as well as the objection he makes in 1114b. Next, I will present a possible refutation to this challenge that Aristotle might pose. I will also argue that Aristotle's argument fails, because Aristotle did not assert that there are voluntary actions and not voluntary actions. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayAccording to Aristotle, people are always responsible for their voluntary actions, since we knowingly choose to perform these actions, while being conscious consequences that result from it. accompany them. In contrast, there are no voluntary actions, in which an individual acts in response to force or out of ignorance. However, some cases seem unclear, but for Aristotle, these are voluntary actions. For example, Aristotle used the example of a ship sinking and the crew threw the cargo overboard to prevent the ship from sinking. Since the crew was aware of the consequences of throwing the cargo overboard, even if it meant losing something valuable, and they were not physically constrained by anything else, they took action voluntarily. Another example brought up by my TA, Michael Prinzing, would be being told to rob a bank for someone, otherwise they would kill someone you loved. In this example, the person forced to do something knows in advance the consequences of their actions, so they will not be ignorant. This would also not be a case where force was used since the person always has the choice of whether or not to rob the bank. Non-voluntary actions, which according to Aristotle are the result of force or ignorance, can be divided into two different categories: non-voluntary and involuntary. Involuntary actions would be actions that are not voluntary but are not completely out of the person's character. For example, if someone was pushed against another person, the person being pushed did not intentionally bump into the next person and had no control over what happened, thus ignoring the consequences that might result from that action. involuntary actions, that is, also when the action is not voluntary, but it is not compatible with the character of the person who performs this action. For example, if someone accidentally stepped on your foot, but they didn't intend to and felt bad for doing it, then that action would be unintentional. This is because the action does not reflect who this person is, since they feel guilty for potentially causing pain to someone else. However, sometimes force and ignorance of a non-voluntary action are not sufficient excuses to avoid moral responsibility. If a person was responsible force, such as asking someone to do something to you or not paying attention to what someone says to you. Aristotle also believes that becoming a righteous or excellent person is different from becoming excellent at something else. These different types of excellence arise from two distinct virtues: the “virtues of character” [and] the virtues of thought. “The virtue of..