The phrase “what depends on us” in Aristotle. Origins and Importance
Natali, Carlo
The phrase “what depends on us” in Aristotle. Origins and Importance - 2023.
87
The term archê in Nicomachean Ethics III refers to the “principle” of a thing in the sense of that which has power over it, i.e. the efficient cause of actions. This power is expressed with the expression eph’hêmin, and it is Aristotle who first introduces it into the discussion of moral responsibility. The chapters in which he discusses the concept of eph’hêmin are clearly dialectical, and his analysis is probably part of an Academic debate on character and responsibility of which we find traces in the Laws. Plato’s disciples could find it difficult to understand Plato’s theses on the relationship between action and character, and Aristotle proposes an original solution, based on his theory of the four causes. Against Plato, he refuses to put the responsibility for bad actions and character on the city and educators, and locates the origin of character in the actions and choices of the individual. With this choice, Aristotle broadens the problem of human responsibility from the traditional question of whether the wicked are responsible for their bad actions to the general problem of responsibility for all actions, good or bad.
The phrase “what depends on us” in Aristotle. Origins and Importance - 2023.
87
The term archê in Nicomachean Ethics III refers to the “principle” of a thing in the sense of that which has power over it, i.e. the efficient cause of actions. This power is expressed with the expression eph’hêmin, and it is Aristotle who first introduces it into the discussion of moral responsibility. The chapters in which he discusses the concept of eph’hêmin are clearly dialectical, and his analysis is probably part of an Academic debate on character and responsibility of which we find traces in the Laws. Plato’s disciples could find it difficult to understand Plato’s theses on the relationship between action and character, and Aristotle proposes an original solution, based on his theory of the four causes. Against Plato, he refuses to put the responsibility for bad actions and character on the city and educators, and locates the origin of character in the actions and choices of the individual. With this choice, Aristotle broadens the problem of human responsibility from the traditional question of whether the wicked are responsible for their bad actions to the general problem of responsibility for all actions, good or bad.
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