Psychology Dictionary of Arguments

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The Good: The word "good" can have many different applications, but in general it refers to something that is morally right, ethical, or beneficial. It can also be used to describe something that is pleasant, desirable, or enjoyable. Philosophy is particularly concerned with the difficulties of defining the good. See also Definitions, Definability.
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Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments.

 
Author Concept Summary/Quotes Sources

Aristotle on Good - Dictionary of Arguments

Bubner, I, 164
Good/something good/Aristotle/Bubner: one of the most difficult problems: what role does good play in his metaphysics, practical or metaphysical good?

Metaphysics/Aristotle/Bubner: two main complexes:
1) general doctrine of being, modern: ontology,
2) The doctrine of the highest being, which Aristotle himself calls theology.
The relationship between the two is problematic.
AristotleVsPlato: not ideas as explanation of the world, but historical development.
>Idea/Plato
.
Bubner I 165
Good/something good/AristotleVsPlato: VsIdea of the good as the highest: even with friends one must cherish the truth as something "holy".
No practical benefit is to be achieved with the idealization of good.
Nicomachean Ethics: Theorem: The good is only present in the horizon of activities of all kind.
"Good" means the qualification of goals for action, the for-the-sake-of-which.
>Teleology.
Practice/Aristotle: No action is done for its own sake, with the exception of the game.
(s) Then victory is one step outside of the game.
Aristotle: otherwise, the goals would hinder the flow of practice only by virtue of their plurality through competition, blockades, undecidable alternatives, etc.. An order becomes necessary.
No for-the-sake-of-which is isolated, it rather points to a bigger one. The hierarchy, however, would be in vain if there was not a supreme good, which in turn can still be realized in practice.
Bubner I 166
The Highest Good/Aristotle: the unity of a successful life.
>Unity/Aristotle.
All the actors agree, because everyone wants to be happy. Of course this is interpreted differently.
Lust, honor, money are external determinations.
The sovereign form, on the other hand, lies in the philosophical way of life, i.e. in enlightened self-reflective practice.
Thus the problem of the highest knowledge posed by Plato, which legitimates the rule of the philosophers' king, is solved.
>Philosopher king/Plato.
- - -
Gadamer I 318
The Good/Aristotle/Gadamer: Aristotle emphasizes in relation to the doctrine of the good, which is determined by the Platonic theory of ideas, that in "practical philosophy" it cannot be a matter of accuracy of the highest order, as the mathematician does. Such a demand for accuracy would rather be misplaced. It is merely a matter of making things visible in outline and, by this drawing of the outline, of giving some help to the moral consciousness(1). But how such help is to be possible is already a moral problem. For it is apparently one of the essential characteristics of the moral phenomenon that the actor must know and decide for him- or herself, and nothing can make him or her accept this.
For the correct approach of a philosophical ethics it is thus crucial that it does not push itself in the place of the moral consciousness and yet does not seek a purely theoretical, "historical" account, but rather helps the moral consciousness to become clear about itself by means of the outline clarification of the phenomena.
>Ethics/Aristotle.
Knowledge/Knowing/Aristotle: [The human] (...) must have developed an attitude in him- or herself through practice and education, which in the concrete situations of his or her life
Gadamer I 319
is to be adhered to and to be proved by the right behaviour as it remains his or her constant concern(2).

1. Aristotle, Eth. Nic, A 7 u. B 2
2. The final chapter of the Nicomachian Ethics gives the broadest expression to this demand, thus justifying the transition to the question of "politics".

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Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments
The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition.

Bu I
R. Bubner
Antike Themen und ihre moderne Verwandlung Frankfurt 1992

Gadamer I
Hans-Georg Gadamer
Wahrheit und Methode. Grundzüge einer philosophischen Hermeneutik 7. durchgesehene Auflage Tübingen 1960/2010

Gadamer II
H. G. Gadamer
The Relevance of the Beautiful, London 1986
German Edition:
Die Aktualität des Schönen: Kunst als Spiel, Symbol und Fest Stuttgart 1977


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