Definitions

Question 1

Aurea Mediocritas (meden agan)

Answer 1

The so-called golden mean of Aristotle’s ethics whereby virtue consists in acting and feeling neither too much nor too little but just the right amount in all circumstances.

Question 2

Arete

Answer 2

Excellence or virtue. In Aristotle’s system, the arete of our function of rationality would be to reason well, choosing appropriate means and ends.

Question 3

Determinism

Answer 3

The doctrine that all events and actions are a result of natural law, so that casual conditions necessitate the occurrence of events happening exactly as it happened.

Question 4

Carp diem Philosophy

Answer 4

Seize the day. The philosophical view that stresses the enjoyment of the present moment without regard for the future.

Question 5

Empiricism

Answer 5

The view that all knowledge is based on sense perception. Where sense perception is of a physical nature.

Question 6

Function

Answer 6

The philosophical notion, originating with Aristotle that every object including human beings has a unique or distinctive function in being. (Existence)

Question 7

Hedonism

Answer 7

The view that says pleasure is intrinsically good and that pain is intrinsically evil. The goal of life is to achieve pleasure and avoid pain.

Question 8

Reason

Answer 8

The ability to think abstractly, to form arguments and make inferences. Sometimes referred to as a “faculty” of the human mind.

Question 9

Logos

Answer 9

For Plato, it means a true account. (A true explanation) For Aristotle, it means rationality right, reason or ration, For the Stoic, it means the bond of the universe or the mind of God.

Question 10

Self-realization

Answer 10

The ethical theory that advocates the maximum development of one’s self or humanness. (For our initial theories of ethics the “soul” is the self)

Question 11

Stoicism

Answer 11

The philosophy that advocates the acceptance of the natural and inevitable order of events as a way of achieving independence and tranquility.

Question 12

Stoic Philosphy

Answer 12

The belief that our lives are predestined. We only can control our attitude toward these predestined events.

Question 13

Predeterminism

Answer 13

In contrast to social scientific determinism, predeterminism is the theory that says a “cosmic destiny” controls all physical events.

Question 14

Ethics

Answer 14

Begins with a concern for individual character, sometimes viewed as a concern about what is a person.

Question 15

Altruism

Answer 15

Acting for the interest of others first before one’s own interest.

Question 16

Egoism

Answer 16

Acting for the interest of one’s self first before the interest of others.