Aristotle on Incontinence Greek Philosophy Incontinence Is Term Paper

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Aristotle on Incontinence

Greek Philosophy

Incontinence is a term which is used by Philosophers. It stems from the Greek term, which is Akrasia, which means lack of mastery -- or when someone is not able to withhold his or her desires. It describes human passion and desires and giving in to one's pleasures, not considering if an act is the right thing to do, according to Aristotle. However, it is believed by Socrates that such a thing does not exist, because if one were to know what the right thing to do was, he would not go the opposite direction because judgment overrules all desires and pleasures. This term is often used to be seen when a person lacks moderation or any type of self-control -- this is because, it is only human to do so. Aristotle believes that incontinence is something which is not necessarily a bad thing, and this is because a person can at times act irrationally. Incontinence does exist and does not mean that a person who gives in to his or her pleasures is of bad judgment; it only means that at that time of the act, he or she was led by passion and desire, not by rational thinking.

It is believed that there are certain things which should be avoided. These things are in regards to character and can be seen as vice, incontinence and brutality. Of the three, brutality is rare, this something which was seen as to exceed so much in a terms of vice that it demeans someone of humanity, and it makes someone hardly ever human. Aristotle believed that man only did what he knew was not the right thing to do because of his passions; however this does not mean all men act that certain way. He claims that the continent man has certain passions also, however does not give in to whatever it is that is bad for because of reason.

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In this chapter Aristotle, in his argument, made some distinctions between virtue and vice; why a man commits such vices, or why he decides to stick to some virtues. Virtue and vice require for a person to consciously know what they are doing, yet there are many when people act in the spur of the moment and do not really act deliberately; this is because they act according to passion and not then according to reason. Virtue asks of a person to do the right thing and also that he act for the right reason and that his desire should also be correct; this is seen as something very complicated, and it is within an individual's own judgment to be able to discern. Incontinence is "knowing the better" or the right thing to do, however, acting not just accordingly to one's desires, but rather succumbing to one's passions; this makes people selfish. This is not then seen as a vice, since the act was not done deliberately. With incontinence, a person has both the wrong desire and the wrong action even though he has the right reason. A continent person acts according to virtue and does so for the right reason but his desires are bad, he does not act accordingly to his will yet does it deliberately. This makes him not as good as the temperate person. According to how….....

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