Business Development Workshop

Supplemental Reading

Biography of Aristotle

Aristotle was born in 384 BC, in Stagira, near Macedonia at the northern end of
the Aegean Sea. His father, Nicomachus, was the family physician of King Amyntas
of Macedonia. It is believed that Aristotle's ancestors had been the physicians of
the Macedonian royal family for several generations. Having come from a long line
of physicians, Aristotle received training and education that inclined his mind
toward the study of natural phenomena. This education had long-lasting
influences, and was probably the root cause of his less idealistic stand on
philosophy as opposed to Plato. Aristotle's father died when he was a boy, and Aristotle was left
under the care of his guardian Proxenus.

When Aristotle was seventeen, Proxenus sent him to study at Plato's Academy in Athens, the heart
of the intellectual world at the time. Aristotle remained at the Academy for twenty years, until Plato's
death in 347 BC. Although Aristotle was Plato's most promising student, Aristotle did not succeed
Plato as head of the Academy because of their opposing views on several fundamental philosophical
issues, specifically regarding Plato's theory of ideas. As has already been noted, Aristotle was more
concerned than Plato with the actual material world, and did not believe that the only thing that
mattered is the realm of ideas and perfect forms.

After leaving the Academy, Aristotle was invited to go live in the court of his friend Hermeas, ruler of
Atarneus and Assos in Mysia. Aristotle remained there for three years, during which time he married
Pythias, the niece and adopted daughter of the king. Later in life Aristotle married Herpyllis, with
whom had a son, named Nicomachus after his father. When Hermeas' kingdom was taken over by
Persians, Aristotle moved to Mytilene. King Amyntas invited Aristotle to tutor his thirteen-year old
son, Alexander, later known as Alexander the Great. Aristotle tutored Alexander for five years until
King Amyntas died and Alexander came to power. In gratitude for Aristotle's services, Alexander
provided Aristotle generously with means for the acquisition of books and for the pursuit of scientific
inquiry. While the extent to which Aristotle's tutoring influenced Alexander's successes in
conquering an empire is disputable, Alexander did try to organize much of his empire along the
model of the Greek city-state.

In 335 BC Aristotle went back to Athens, where he found the Academy flourishing under
Xenocrates. Aristotle founded his own school, the Lyceum, and ran it for twelve years. The school is
often called the Peripatetic School, because Aristotle used to like walking around and discusses his
ideas with his colleagues. Peripatetics are "people who walk around." Aristotle would have detailed
discussions with a small group of advanced students in the mornings, and larger lectures in the
evenings. During his time at the Lyceum, Aristotle wrote extensively on a wide range of subjects:
politics, metaphysics, ethics, logic and science.

Aristotle agreed with Plato that the cosmos is rationally designed and that philosophy can come to
know absolute truths by studying universal forms. Their ideas diverged, however, in that Aristotle
thought that one finds the universal in particular things, while Plato believed the universal exists
apart from particular things, and that material things are only a shadow of true reality, which exists

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in the realm of ideas and forms. The fundamental difference between the two philosophers is that
Plato thought only pure mathematical reasoning was necessary, and therefore focused on
metaphysics and mathematics. Aristotle, on the other hand, thought that in addition to this "first
philosophy," it is also necessary to undertake detailed empirical investigations of nature. Thus,
Aristotle believed it important to study what he called "second philosophy," which includes such
subjects as physics, mechanics and biology. Aristotle's philosophy therefore involved both inductive
and deductive reasoning, observing the workings of the world around him and then reasoning from
the particular to a knowledge of essences and universal laws. In a sense, Aristotle was the first major
proponent of the modern scientific method. The Lyceum was an unprecedented school of organized
scientific inquiry. No comparable scientific enterprise existed for over 2,000 years after the founding
of the Lyceum.

In 323 BC Alexander the Great died unexpectedly and the government of Athens was overthrown by
anti-Macedonian forces. Having had close connections with the Macedonian royal family, Aristotle
was associated with them and was unpopular with the new ruling powers. The new government
brought charges of impiety against Aristotle, but he fled to his country house in Chalcis in Euboea to
escape prosecution. Aristotle commented that he fled so that "the Athenians might not have another
opportunity of sinning against philosophy as they had already done in the person of Socrates."
About a year later, Aristotle died after complaints of a stomach illness.

Aristotle's writings were preserved by his student Theophrastus, his successor as leader of the
Peripatetic School. Theophrastus' pupil Neleus and his heirs concealed the books in a vault to
protect them from theft, but they were damaged by dampness, moths and worms. The books were
found around 100 BC by Apellicon, who brought them to Rome. In Rome, scholars took interest in
the works and prepared new editions of them. The writings of Aristotle that we have today are based
on this collection. Overall, Aristotle wrote three types of works: dialogues or other works of a
popular character, collections of scientific data and observations, and systematic treatises. His
philosophy can be divided into four main areas: 1) Logic; 2) Theoretical Philosophy, including
Metaphysics, Physics and Mathematics; 3) Practical Philosophy, such as Ethics and Politics; and 4)
Poetical Philosophy, covering the study of poetry and the fine arts.

Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics

Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics was written around 340 BC. It is probably named after either his
father or son, who were both named Nicomachus. Nicomachean Ethics is Aristotle's most mature
work on ethics. Aristotle’s argument, as presented in his book which sometimes seems to flow very
poorly, is due to the untranslatability of certain Greek / Thracian words into modern philosophical
English usage.

A few questions before reading further:

1. What does Aristotelian Ethics have to do with modern business?

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 3. Does virtuous, good (beautiful), thoughtful behavior have any importance or relevance to
the Business Development or Customer Engagement Processes?
4. Does Aristotle have anything to say about planning strategies, tactics or positioning oneself
to the real world?

Aristotle's Ethics Summary:

Nicomachean Ethics is a philosophical inquiry into the nature of the good life for a human being.
Aristotle begins the work by theorizing the existence of some ultimate good toward which, in the
final analysis, all human actions ultimately aim. The necessary characteristics of the ultimate good
are that it is complete, final, self-sufficient and continuous. This good toward which all human
actions implicitly or explicitly aim is called happiness (in Greek, "eudemonia"), which can also be
translated as blessedness or living well. Happiness as such is not a static state of being, but a type of
activity.

To discover the nature of human happiness it is necessary to determine what the function of a
human being is, for a person's happiness will consist in fulfilling the natural function toward which
his being is directed. This natural function must be something which is specific to human beings,
and is essential to being human. A person is primarily his intellect. While the spirited and desiring
parts of the soul are also important, the rational part of the soul is what one can most properly
consider a person's identity. The activity which only human beings can perform is intellectual; it is
activity of the highest part of the soul (the rational part) according to reason. Human happiness,
therefore, consists in activity of the soul according to reason. In practical terms, this activity is
expressed through ethical virtue, i.e. when a person directs his actions according to reason. The very
highest human life, however, consists in contemplation of the greatest goods. More will be said later
on this topic, which is the culmination of the Ethics.

Ethical virtue "is a habit disposed toward action by deliberate choice, being at the mean relative to
us, and defined by reason as a prudent man would define it." Each of the elements of this definition
is important. Virtue is not simply an isolated action but a habit of acting well. For an action to be
virtuous a person must do it deliberately, knowing what he is doing, and doing it because it is a
noble action. In each specific situation, the virtuous action is a mean between two extremes.
Socrates, years earlier, dramatized the same notion of pairing one’s knowledge with one’s actions
would say it this way: “…To know the good is to do the good”. “The good” in this context, is the
virtuous act.

Before going into a discussion of the individual virtues it is necessary to clarify what it means for an
action to be voluntary, since only voluntary actions can be virtuous. For an action to be involuntary,
there must be some external principle causing the action and the person must not contribute
anything to the action. An action done through fear is only partially voluntary, and an action done
through ignorance may have different degrees of voluntariness, depending on whether or not the
person would have wanted to do it if he had known what he was doing. A proper intention is
necessary for virtuous action. Intention is not a desire, a wish or an opinion. It is something
previously deliberated upon, and is formed with reason or thought. One can only intend something
which one has the power to do.

The first virtue discussed is bravery. It is a mean or in between rashness and cowardice. A brave man
is one who faces and fears what he should for the right reason, in the right manner and at the right

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time. A brave man performs his actions for the sake of what is noble. A brave man is thus one who is
fearless in facing a noble death.

The next virtue is temperance. It is a mean with regard to bodily pleasures. The intemperate man
desires pleasurable things and chooses them because they are pleasurable; he is pained when he fails
to get what he desires. A temperate man is moderately disposed with regard to pleasures and pains.
He loves such pleasures as right reason dictates. Temperance keeps the desiring part of the soul in
harmony with reason.

Generosity is the third virtue which Aristotle examines. With regard to property, generosity is a
mean between wastefulness and stinginess. A generous man will give to the right person, in the right
amounts, and at the right times. He will also take proper care of his possessions. Generosity does
not depend on the quantity of the giving but on the habit of the giver. This takes into account the
amount which the giver himself both has and is able to give away.

The next virtue is munificence, which consists giving large amounts for suitable occasions. The
deficiency of this virtue is called meanness and the excess is ostentation. A munificent man spends
gladly and lavishly, not calculating costs, but always for a noble purpose.

Magnanimity, the fifth virtue Aristotle discusses, is one of the peaks of virtue. A magnanimous man
claims and deserves great honors. Someone who deserves honors but doesn't claim them is low-
minded. Someone who claims honors but doesn't deserve them is vain. It is better to be vain than
low-minded, because vanity will be naturally corrected by life experience. A magnanimous man is
great in each of the virtues, and exemplifies virtues because he shows how good a virtuous life is in
reality.

The next virtue concerns honor, specifically small and medium honors. It is a mean between too
much and too little ambition, which can be described as right ambition.

The virtue that is a mean with respect to anger is good temper. The excesses are irascibility or
bitterness. If one is irascible he gets angry quickly and retaliates, but then forgets about it. Someone
who is bitter holds anger for a long period of time. A good tempered man is one who becomes angry
on the right occasions, with the right people, at the right time, and for the right length of time.

The next three virtues are friendliness, the mean between flattery or obsequiousness and
quarrelsomeness; truthfulness, the mean between boastfulness and self-depreciation, and wit, the
mean with regard to humor and amusement. Wit entails saying the right things, in the right manner,
and also listening to things properly.

The last virtue, which unites and orders all of the other virtues, is justice. Justice can also be
considered in a more specific sense, as simply one of the virtues. Both justice in the specific sense
and justice as the whole of virtue are defined in relation to other people. But justice in the specific
sense is concerned with honor, property, safety and similar items, while justice in the larger sense is
concerned with virtue as a whole. Another subset of justice is distributive justice. Justice (in the
narrow sense) is a mean between two extremes of unfairness. What is just in distribution should be
in some way according to merit, but not all individuals agree what that merit should be. Advocates
of mob rule say that this merit is freedom. Oligarchs say that it is wealth. Others say that it is good
ancestry. And aristocrats say that is virtue.

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Natural justice is that which is just in all times and places. Conventional justice is that which is
made up of laws and customs. All laws are to some extent just, because any law is better than no
law. But, laws are always at least slightly flawed in that they must be formulated universally and
cannot take into account all specific circumstances. As a result, a judge should rule in accordance
with the intention of the lawmaker or the idea behind the law when the law does not seem to
properly fit the situation.

Prudence is the intellectual virtue of practical reason. It is concerned with human actions and gives
a person the ability to choose what the virtuous mean is in specific situations. Acquiring prudence
requires time and experience. Prudence and ethical virtue are both necessary for one another.

Continence and incontinence are concerned with bodily pleasures just like temperance and
intemperance, but are distinct from them. The incontinent man is disposed to do what he knows is
bad because of his passions. The continent man knows that his desires are bad but does not follow
them because of reason. The difference between continence and temperance lies in the fact that for a
temperate man his desires are in line with his reason.

Friendship is a necessary part of the good life. There are three types of friendship: friendship based
on usefulness, friendship based on pleasure, and friendship based on virtue. Only the last type is
genuine friendship. Friendships based on usefulness and pleasure tend not to be very enduring. This
is because they only last as the long as each party derives the usefulness or pleasure each desires
from the relationship. Friendship based on virtue is based on wishing the good for the other person.
This genuine friendship is necessary for self-knowledge and helps both of the friends to grow in
virtue. Friendship presupposes justice and goes beyond it. The virtue of a friend is to love. The
relationship one has with a friend is like the harmonious relationship between the different parts of
the soul of a virtuous man.

In spite of what many philosophers may say, pleasure is a good. It perfects actions. The goodness of
pleasure is determined by the goodness of the action which it accompanies. The highest good,
happiness, must also involve pleasure.

Man's highest action and most complete happiness, according to Aristotle, is a life of
contemplation of the highest goods. Man's intellectual capacity is his highest capacity, and
therefore his highest happiness resides in the use of that capacity. The life of contemplation is so
sublime that it is practically divine. Man can achieve it only insofar as there is something divine in
him. Contemplation is the action which best fulfills all the qualifications that the ultimate good
should have, because it is the most continuous, complete and self-sufficient of all actions.

For most people, mere exhortation will not be enough to make them act virtuously. Consequently,
good laws are necessary in order to make people virtuous. Laws and proper education are necessary,
especially for the young, in order to train their passions and desires to be in accord with reason. Yet,
since such a great number of men are not virtuous, laws are necessary not just for the young, but for
everyone.

______________________________________________________________
GradeSaver. *Biography of Aristotle | List of Works, Study Guides & Essays*. GradeSaver, 23
January 2012 Web. 23 January 2012. <http://www.gradesaver.com/author/aristotle/>
The Internet Classics Archive. *Nicomachean Ethics*. The Internet Classics Archive, 23 January
2012 Web. 23 January 2012. <http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen.1.i.html>

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