Case 1: Virtuous Behavior

Case 1: Virtuous Behavior

Virtue is a choice. Andrew is the most virtuous of the three. Andrew does not engage in the fight since he does not see any value in the fighting. He is well aware that he will be punched if he joins the fight and does not see the point in that. To him, getting into the fight is a choice, and he does not see any benefit to it. Also, Andrew does not know what the fight is all about and never bothers even to fight, heading home. All his actions are out of choice. The decisions are not made out of fear or confidence, which are the two extremes in a fighting scenario but based on reason.

Dustin, after seeing the fight, immediately enters into the fight. Dustin never reasoned why they were fighting or why he should join the fight in the first place since he is also a stranger in the fight. His decision is not out of choice, but an impulse, which is an extreme, and this is not virtuous. Also, there are questions about the state of Dustin, who enters a fight without a cause.

Yasmin enters into the fights out of fearlessness, due to her black belt, knowing very well she can disarm the aggressors. She is reasoning from the extreme side of confidence that is reckless. Instead of knowing what is going on, Yasmin, jumps into a fight between strangers to prove she can fight, not that she cares about what is going on. Her decision also does not stem from choice, but from an urge to prove herself, she can disarm anyone.

Case 2: Alcoholism in Winterfell

Gavin knows that he cannot control people. Also, people would not listen to his point of view; thus, the best strategy is to increase taxes. This makes him the ideal lawgiver under Aristotle’s school of thought. Gavin forces the people to stop drinking by increasing the price of alcohol, making it less affordable for large quantities.  Since people are not being banned from drinking, they still drink, but according to the money they have. Also, having a rehabilitation center makes Gavin think of helping them if they want to stop drinking. Gavin’s idea is to give the people the freedom to drink and support for those who choose to stop. He helps the alcoholics on both sides, while still hoping and planning how to minimize alcohol drinking in Winterfell.

According to Aristotle, a person ‘who lives in passion would not listen to a speech meant to deter him’ (Bartlett & Collins, 2011, p. 230). This shows that an alcoholic would continue drinking after telling them to stop. Thus, Austin’s proposal to ban alcohol in Winterfell would not work, since the men would find other ways to get alcohol. Persuading the alcoholics would also not convince them to stop. This makes a ban on alcohol have another way of supplying the same alcohol, making the ban worthless.

Tom’s suggestion is illogical. He comes from the school of thought that Aristotle said that ‘Some suppose that people become good by nature, others by habit.’ (Bartlett & Collins, 2011, p. 230). All that humans know and have as a habit is due to education or word of mouth. Yet for alcoholics, no speech can deter them from drinking, and they were never taught about alcoholism in the first place. His thinking about alcoholism and people stems from a shallow point of view, giving the notion that he is not educated himself.

Case 3: The Highest Good

Dan is fulfilling his highest good. All three men are engaged in something they love. For something to be the greater good, it has to involve the end of the action. When Dan is traveling the world during his summer breaks, his main aim is to enjoy himself, nothing more. The purpose of the action is to be happy. He finds happiness in traveling and having parties at his mansion. All the steps Chris takes are to make him happy or enjoy himself and not for any other benefit. For Chris, researching affordable medicine is not an end but a process that leads to other actions. Doing research does not guarantee results, and if he achieves the result, he will still need to rely on pharmaceutical companies to make the drug available to people at affordable prices. His actions, therefore, lead to other actions, not an end. This makes his research not serve as the greater good or happiness since happiness will be derived from people having affordable drugs, which he has researched. Emmet, on the other hand, devotes his life to pleasing others. His life is a never-ending cycle of demands and duties at home with his family or the church. Emmet never gives himself pleasure or break from other people’s desires. His actions do not lead to an end, but for every action he takes, there is another action waiting for him. For the greater good, in Emmet’s case, he needs to have an end goal for what he is doing.

References

Bartlett, R.C. & Collins, S.D. (2011). Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. University of Chicago Press.