>Archer.Todd at ic.gc.ca:
>> But an idea is generated by people, living in conditions generated (at least
>> partially) by other people. The idea does not exist in itself; it exists
>> only so long as there are people around to keep ii in their heads and act on
>> it.
>
>And so? Carroll was complaining, I think, about Aristotle --
>it certainly sounded like Aristotle, someone using a spook
>like The Good to oppress people. But bad as Aristotle may
>be, and it's hard to think worse of Aristotle than I do, some
>of his ideas may have some value, and the fact that he used
>one to justify slavery doesn't mean someone else couldn't
>put it or others to good (== what I approve of) use.
I think Carrol had our bete noir Plato in his mind. In contrast, Aristotle's conception of ethics presents an interesting alternative to the modern idea of morality as value judgments in light of "a third artificially introduced Relation" (Marx), that is, "a social relation [which] has become a thing in the form of a principle" (Ollman), be it utilitarian calculus or categorical imperative. According to Aristotle, "virtue" (arete) = excellence in fulfillment of a particular function, & "happiness" (eudaimonia) = a sense of well-being, resulting from achieving excellence in the fulfillment of one's functions, including the "species-specific" functions of reason (both theoretical and practical). To be virtuous, avoid the vices of excess & deficiency, develop good habits, & cultivate friendship -- all while participating actively in a political community. In short, virtue lies in the _exercise_ of one's powers (inseparable from historically specific conditions), not in value judgements (according to a reified principle). Read (creatively) in this way, eudaimonia = "an association, in which the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all." (Recall also Machiavelli's reminder that the maintenance of liberty in a republic depends upon the citizens' exercise of virtu.)
It is impossible for anyone to be virtuous in Aristotle's sense in today's world, first of all because capitalism ("Accumulate, accumulate! That is Moses and the prophets!") doesn't allow us to avoid the vices of excess & deficiency.
Yoshie