Aristotle: Magna Moralia; On Virtues and Vices

The Philosophical vs Practical Mind The part of the soul which is possessed of reason has two divisions, of which one is the deliberative faculty, the other the faculty by which we know. That they are different from one another will be evident from their subject-matter. For as colour and flavour and sound and smell are different from one another, so also nature has rendered the senses whereby we perceive […]

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“Nicomachean Ethics” by Aristotle

Aristotle vs. Plato Having just finished and enjoyed Plato’s complete works, I find this book a bit annoying and uninspiring in comparison. Aristotle seems to take every opportunity to “correct” Plato, when in fact he is only attacking a strawman. His arguments, sometimes self-contradictory, often support and clarify Plato’s ideas, albeit using his own terminology. Aristotle seems to have great difficulty appreciating or understanding Plato’s abstractions (from species to genus, […]

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“Philebus” by Plato

One, Many and Infinite “All the things which are ever said to exist are sprung from one and many and have inherent in them the finite and the infinite. This being the way in which these things are arranged, we must always assume that there is in every case one idea of everything and must look for it—for we shall find that it is there—and if we get a grasp […]

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