Is the life of reason and virtue the end in itself? If so, why do some people choose to live lives that are not of reason and virtue- what is their end? Could it be that virtuous people and non-virtuous people share a common end, but differ in how they seek that end? What is the purpose of virtue? It can't be turtles all the way down, but each turtle does need something to stand on.
You should stop doing this. A triangular diagram will be misleading in understanding Aristotle's theory of contrariety.
Oh, I understand the theory he has. I want to shove that diagram in his face, say "Here is an example of three things, each of which is contrary to the other two, existing on a continuum. Your one-dimensional continuum model is proven to not always be the case- now every time you use that model to show a specific case, you need to show that it accurately models the specific case you are using it for." I can forgive him for not being able to determine the limit as dT->0.
Perhaps my translation adds to my issues with the work; learning ancient Greek is out of the question for me; is there an English translation that you would recommend?
Is the life of reason and virtue the end in itself? If so, why do some people choose to live lives that are not of reason and virtue- what is their end?
Yes. And right, people who choose to live lives of viciousness and ignorance have the same end, they just radically misunderstand how to get there. The purpose of virtue is good action, a life of which is the happy life. And happiness is an end in itself. No more turtles after that, at least that's what NE X says. You might not like his answer (there's a lot to object to), and you might object to my spec...
Today's post, Three Fallacies of Teleology was originally published on 25 August 2008. A summary (taken from the LW wiki):
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