Augustine And Aristotle

Lately, I've been reading up on Augustine and Aristotle. I'm liking Augustine's ideas of good and evil, which has it that evil depends on good in a sort of parasitical way. So, without good there could be no evil. It beats the Manichean view of absolute good and absolute evil going toe to toe against one another.

I'm also getting into Aristotle's "Virtue Ethics" Kant tells us to follow certain rules. "Do your duty." He admonishes. He tells you not to lie and if you lie under any circumstances it's not moral. Something about that just doesn't ring right. Aristotle, on the other hand, tells us that we must build character. We do this by developing certain traits and those traits fall into a "golden mean." So, if we're brave it means that we're not reckless ans charge into frays needlessly, and it also means that we aren't cowardly and shrink for any conflict.

Teleologica

I get things wrong when i think of them and I always hit the mark when I don't. Whenever I think of what I'm doing I become so self-conscious that I trip over my own feet, both literally and metaphorically. When I keep my eyes on the path ahead and I savor the exploration of whatever it is I seek, I often make a bullseye without my intending to do so.

Religion Defined

Religion is best defined as the attempt to control people through their spirituality