Aristotle on Thought and Feeling

189 Pages·2021·4.322 MB·English

by  Paula Gottlieb

Aristotle on
Thought and Feeling
Paula Gottlieb
Aristotle on Thought and Feeling
Aristotle’s discussion of the motivation of the good person is both
complicated and cryptic. Depending on which passages are emphasized,
hemayseemtobepresentingaKantianstyleviewaccordingtowhichthe
good person is and ought to be motivated primarily by reason, or a
Humean style view according to which desires and feelings are or ought
tobeincharge.Inthisbook,PaulaGottliebarguesthatAristotleseesthe
thought,desiresandfeelingsofthegoodpersonasinterdependentinaway
that is sui generis, and she explains how Aristotle’s concept of choice
(prohairesis) is an innovative and pivotal element in his account.
Gottlieb’s interpretation casts light on Aristotle’s account of moral
education,onthepsychologyofgood,badandhalf-bad(akratic)people,
andontheaestheticandevenmusicalsidetobeingagoodperson.
Paula Gottlieb is Professor of Philosophy and Affiliate Professor of
Classical and Near Eastern Studies at the University of Wisconsin-
Madison. She is the author of The Virtue of Aristotle’s Ethics
(Cambridge, 2009) and of numerous articles, including the entry on
Aristotle on non-contradiction in The Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy.

Aristotle on
Thought and Feeling
paula gottlieb
UniversityofWisconsin–Madison
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DOI:10.1017/9781107323544
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Contents
Acknowledgments pagex
ListofAbbreviations xiv
Introduction 1
Aristotle’sViewofThoughtandFeelingasSuiGeneris 1
TheDoctrineoftheMean 3
KantandHume 4
PhilosophicalMethod 6
SynopsisofChapters 9
1 ThePsyche 13
1.1 DescribingthePsyche 13
1.2 TheoreticalvsPracticalThinking 16
1.3 The“Function”Argument 18
1.4 AProblemaboutDesire 20
1.5 APlatonicSuggestion 20
1.6 TowardChoice(Prohairesis) 21
2 AristotelianFeelings 24
2.1 TheAnatomyofaFeeling:APreliminaryAccount 27
2.2 IndexicalInsight 29
2.3 TheRelationshipbetweenDifferentFeelings,especially
SympathyandFear 30
2.4 TheNeutralityoftheFeelings 34
2.5 MoreonPhantasia 36
2.6 Feelings,PleasureandPain,andtheDirectionofDesires
forAction 38
3 DevelopingThoughtandFeeling 42
3.1 WhatIsHabituation?APreliminaryDiscussion 43
3.2 TheDisputebetweenKosmanandJoachim 45
3.3 ActingwithFeelinginSituationsCharacterizedby
theFeelingstheyProvoke 46
3.4 BecomingGood 47
vii
viii Contents
3.5 Oneself,Others,andthePolis 52
3.6 BecomingBad 55
3.7 BecomingHalf-BadandtheExampleofNeoptolemus 61
3.8 HowImportantisShameasaStageinMoralDevelopment? 62
4 AristotelianChoice 65
4.1 DistinguishingChoicefromOtherPhenomena:
WhyareThosePhenomenaatIssue? 67
4.2 AnInclusiveViewofChoice:DesiderativeThought
orThoughtfulDesire 69
4.3 WhatKindofThinkingisInvolved? 70
4.4 WhatKindofDesiresareInvolved? 74
4.5 AQuestionaboutWish 77
4.6 TheGeneralPicture 78
5 Akrasia 81
5.1 AnInterpretationofthePracticalSyllogism 83
5.2 Aristotle’sAccountofAkrasia(ENVII3) 86
5.3 ThreeProblems 92
5.4 Neoptolemus,VirtueofCharacter,Thoughtfulness,
andtheKatalogMentality 97
5.5 FurtherQuestions 102
6 ThoughtfulnessandFeelings 104
6.1 TheGoodPerson’sPsyche 105
6.2 IsthisViewtooDemanding? 106
6.3 TwoTypesofBadPeople 109
6.4 WhatCountsasaPleasantLife 113
6.5 TheThoughtinThoughtfulness 117
6.6 ThePurposeofStudyingtheNicomacheanEthics 118
7 ToKalonandMusic 122
7.1 WhyWouldtoKalonLackAestheticForceinAristotle’s
Ethics? 123
7.2 ToKaloninAristotle’sMetaphysics,Biology,and
Poetics 125
7.3 FromMetaphysics,Biology,andPoeticstoEthics 127
7.4 TheRelationalStructureView 128
7.5 TheImportanceofMusicanditsEthicalDimension 129
7.6 TheMusicalDimensionofEthics 136
7.7 ActingforthesakeoftoKalon 138
Contents ix
7.8 FinalReflectionsonMusic,Contemplation,
andtheHappyLife 140
Conclusion 143
ThoughtandFeeling 143
LearningtobeGoodonaContinuum 144
KantianStyleandHumeanStyleViews 144
VirtueEthicsmadeVisible 145
VirtueforthePolis 145
GlossaryofKeyTerms 147
References 149
GeneralIndex 164
IndexLocorum 170