Degrees of Virtue in the Nicomachean Ethics

Ancient Philosophy 37 (1):91-112 (2017)
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Abstract

I argue that Aristotle believes that virtue comes in degrees. After dispatching with initial concerns for the view, I argue that we should accept it because Aristotle conceives of heroic virtue as the highest degree of virtue. I support this interpretation of heroic virtue by considering and rejecting alternative readings, then showing that heroic virtue characterized as the highest degree of virtue is consistent with the doctrine of the mean.

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07402007

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10.5840/ancientphil20173715

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Doug Reed
University of Rhode Island

Citations of this work

Degrees of Assertability.Sam Carter - 2020 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 104 (1):19-49.
Overstraining Human Nature in the Nicomachean Ethics.Doug Reed - 2021 - Journal of the History of Philosophy 59 (1):45-67.

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References found in this work

The morality of happiness.Julia Annas - 1993 - New York: Oxford University Press.
Ethics with Aristotle.Sarah Broadie - 1991 - New York: Oxford University Press.
Aristotle and the Virtues.Howard J. Curzer - 2012 - Oxford, GB: Oxford University Press.

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