РефератыИностранный языкGoGood Citizen Essay Research Paper The good

Good Citizen Essay Research Paper The good

Good Citizen Essay, Research Paper


The good man and the good citizen are not one and the same. What can be said


about one cannot be necessarily said about the other. It is essential for the


good man to be a good citizen. It is not, though, vital for the good citizen to


be a good man. This distinction is important to make, because it helps one


understand that the qualities a good man possesses far supersede those of a good


citizen. A good citizen does what is best for the community, his city. As long


as he is no harm to his surroundings, and cares for the improvement and


betterment of his city, he is a good citizen. Who a person is doesn’t greatly


affect what kind of citizen he will be. What if a man is a secret murderer? If


we were to say that he only kills people outside of his city, would he be


affecting the city in any way? If he was a great politician and lived this


secret life as well would he still be a great citizen? The answer is yes. This


is because the good citizen doesn’t have to care about others. He can allow his


desires to overpower his calculating. He doesn’t have to have a well-ordered


soul. In other words, he doesn’t have to be a good man. Aristotle chooses to


search for the difference between the good man and the good citizen by examining


and analyzing their virtues. He concludes that, "Hence, the virtue of a


citizen must be suited to his constitution. Consequently, if indeed there are


several kinds of constitution, it is clear that there cannot be a single virtue


that is the virtue-of a good citizen. But the good man, we say, does express a


single virtue: the complete one. Evidently, then, it is possible for someone to


be a good citizen without having acquired the virtue expressed by a good


man" (1276b). What Aristotle doesn’t tell us is who is better off. Is it


sufficient to be the good citizen or is it definitely more satisfying to be the


good man? The good man is recognizably superior to the good citizen. The good


man possesses everything that is good. He does what is just and what is just is


beneficial to himself and to those around him. His soul is completely


well-ordered and, therefore, cannot allow for his desires to take over and


commit evil or injustice of any kind. This can’t be said about the good citizen


and that is what makes the good man superior. He is the good citizen and a whole


lot more. The distinction between the good citizen and the good man is an


important one to make. If it is to be assumed that they are equal, then we


wouldn’t even have a grasp on the definition of the complete virtue. It would be


assumed that there isn’t just one way a person should be, considering the good


citizen’s virtue is dependent on his varying kind of constitution. By making the


distinction, an example is set for others to follow. It is as if someone is


saying, "This is the good man so try to be like him." If it were


believed that the good citizen is the same as the good man, there would exist a


lot more injustice in the world.

Сохранить в соц. сетях:
Обсуждение:
comments powered by Disqus

Название реферата: Good Citizen Essay Research Paper The good

Слов:603
Символов:3572
Размер:6.98 Кб.