In Search of Virtue in Honors Essays -- Aristotle Friendship Philosoph

In Search of Virtue in HonorsOf the three forms of friendship discussed by Aristotlethe useful, the pleasant, and the non bad(predicate)the r atomic number 18fied seminar most resembles the perfectly ethical friendship between good men who are alike in goodness or lawfulness (Aristotle 1156b). A seminar, the Swarth much website reads, unites faculty with small groups of dedicated and accomplished students committed to freelance learning and dialogue with peers, teachers, and examiners. In light of Aristotelian and neo-Aristotelian thought on friendship, virtue and practical wisdom, this discussion will first examine how an ideal seminar promotes student virtues and then proceed to evaluate an e-mail I wrote in response to an imperfect seminar.Aristotle contends that friendship is instrumental for acquiring and maintaining righteous excellence the friendship of good men is good, and it increases with their meetings. Also, it seems, they become better as they are active togethe r and correct one an other(a) from the mould of the other each takes the imprint of the trait he likes, whence the saying dreadful things from noble people. (1172a) Similarly, a seminar composed of individuals with student virtuesincluding diligence, intelligence, curiosity, patience, and humilitycan outstrip maintain and encourage virtue. Rosemary Volbrechts Mutual Apprenticeship in chaste development, Nancy Shermans Making a Necessity of Virtue, Laurence Thomas Living morally and Aristotles Nicomachean Ethics outline the means by which friendship encourages moral virtue. An extrapolation from moral virtues to student virtues frames their discussion in the context of an honors seminar at Swarthmore. Volbrecht highlights the importance of role models in experie... ..., provided I erred in the delivery. A wiser, more amenable route may have included individualized messages. The certain problem, however, was imperfect information and my lack of familiarity with the nuances o f my classmates personalities. Aristotle writes, each man can judge ably the things he knows (Aristotle 1095a). His counsel offers little comfort when combined with rigorous epistemic standards. If flawless practical wisdom requires perfect information, then any conclusion by imperfect moral agents requires a search not for truth, but for the lesser evil. In my case, I hope the damage done was not too great. Works CitedAristotle. Ethics.Sherman, Nancy. Making a Necessity of Virtue. Thomas, Laurence. Living Morally.Volbrecht, bloody shame Rose. Friendship Mutual Apprenticeship in Moral Development. Journal of Value Inquiry, vol. 24 (1990).