Dear Friends,
It seems to me that…
If we take Aristotle’s precept that we all seek the good. And that all of our actions work to some perceived good or “happiness“. Then one facet of the question of a morally virtuous act can be understood like this.
It is in the seeking of “personal good” do we find an answer. It depends on where in time we set our point of “Good”. Beyond our set point we don’t take into consideration the consequences. It’s not that we don’t care about the consequences but that we don’t factor them into our decision to do this or that thing that will bring us a “good”.
If a person only seeks good that will suit him or her immediately with no eye to the outcome or future we can say that the set point for that persons actions is the next few minutes. Were this permanent it would be a set point that leads to total hedonism. The good that this person aims at is immediate gratification.
If we take another person who has set his or her aim point for “good” a few months or years ahead they will be somewhat trustworthy. This type of person would be more likely to store up for the future and control the near term actions to protect the long term goals. This would be Aristotle’s mean. The point between too close a set point and too long a set point.
Take a person who sets his or her aim point at the end or his or her life. This person will be deeply religious. Aiming at death is always sobering… but not energizing. A person who looks to death is not as productive as he or she would otherwise be. They are storing up for the afterlife… not old age. They may gain by going to heaven but society looses in their lost productivity. Heaven, wanting what is good for mankind, however wants us to be productive and social. So to dwell on death is to put up for the afterlife, but it is in a way, thwarting the will of God. Who wants us all to be fecund and prosperous.
We all set our points at different times in our lives and even sometimes change the point several times in a day. The example of foolish acts that we have all done can be explained this way. We act impetuously when we set our point of “good” in the near term. We act correctly when we take the longer view (the mean). But we are paralyzed by taking too long a view.
This is another way to look at moral virtue. As a tool…it may be handy. At least it is something to think about.
