Aristotle’s Ethics and the Rise of Christianity
Aristotle’s Ethics: The Pursuit of Happiness
The Teleological View of Happiness
Aristotle believed that the ultimate goal of human beings is happiness. He approached this concept through a teleological lens, analyzing human nature to determine what truly constitutes happiness. He distinguished between two approaches: the subjective, where individuals define their own happiness, and the objective, which seeks a universal definition based on human nature.
Aristotle argued that true happiness lies in the exercise of our most natural activity, which for humans is rational thought. Therefore, the highest form of happiness is contemplative activity. However, recognizing that this is not achievable for everyone, he acknowledged that most people must find happiness in more limited ways. Achieving even this limited happiness requires certain external goods (like health) and, importantly, the possession of moral virtues.
Intellectual Virtues
(dianoetic). Are excellent, makes our knowledge is excellent. Among these virtues Aristotle one of enormous importance for practical life wisdom (Plato and the virtue of reason itself, the top of the soul) which rightly determines what is right and proper in the practical conduct to get used to reason we proceed to a mathematical study. The moral virtues. Perfect character, the mode of being and behaving. Make our character is excellent. These virtues are stable dispositions moral excellence (habit of choice), we provide in each case as correct and appropriate (see here a clear position in which Aristotle is about relativism), and this is always a compromise between extreme actions or attitudes, which should be rationally established prudence, practical wisdom are what determine where the term is medio.Las different virtues are a reasonable compromise between two extreme positions, so moderation is the average between hardship license and a repressive or unresponsive to pleasure
. – The triumph of Christianity in the 1,500 years between the collapse of the ancient world, on the one hand, and the formulation of the new philosophy and new science in the seventeenth century, on the other, we witnessed the formation of culture and society Europe occidental.En the starting point occurs consolidation of religion and Christian churches and the disappearance of the Empire romano.Desde its modest origins as a Jewish sect, Christianity had spread through the work of Paul, as a universal religion open to all nations, and in the first century of our era. The Christian message, which offered to all men salvation by faith in Jesus as the risen Christ, was gradually gaining popularity in all regions and social strata while imperioAl Gnostic sects proliferated, with its various doctrinal systems his claim of a minority of men except by spiritual knowledge (gnosis) than the crowd. Gnosis threatened to fracture the unity and distort the message Christian. incorporating the third century Christianity of pagan intellectuals, such as Clement of Alexandria and Origen, brought about the inclusion in the Christian religion of most important components of Platonic philosophy. Thus began a process of construction or philosophical interpretation of Christian dogma among multiple threads and “deviations” condemned as “heretical”, culminated in the IV-V with the formulation of two fundamental tenets: “the Trinitarian dogma according to which symposia is a single substance in different 3 PEOPLE. – The Christological dogma according to which in Christ, perfect man and perfect God, unite the two natures, human and divine, in one substance and person. The edict of Milan issued by Constantine in 313, put an end to persecution previous century, which had proved ineffective, and granted to the Christian religion the same rights as all other ‘to worship God freely “in peace and order político.A thereafter, religion Christian Church and were given special care and protection by the imperial institution, under the political advantage he could get the strong social base and wealth of the new religion. In this new context, Christians, from their firm conviction that the only true religion and superstition error against the evil of paganism, they developed an attitude of intolerance, claiming the prohibition and persecution of the pagan religion, while their schools forbade of teaching pagan authors and philosophers.