Golden Mean - Essay Sample

Introduction

The basic principle of golden mean as jotted down by Aristotle more than 2000 years ago is the need to balance two extremes. Too much or too little of something or a case of both extremes are wrong. Aristotle derived the golden mean theory citing moral behaviors as the mean between two extremities; one end being in excess and the other end being deficient ("A Dead Simple Guide To Aristotle's Philosophy Of 'Golden Mean'"). However, this does not necessarily mean that this balance has to lie at exactly the midpoint of these two extremes but rather anywhere between the two extremes.

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Every individual should strive to maintain balance, and in doing so, they will be behaving morally upright. Aristotle's ethics are strongly practical, and they mean that actions do lead to the realization of a good human being and the rest. Virtues are similar to the technical skills, and every individual should maintain their amount of balance and derail themselves from going overboard. According to the Greek philosopher, Aristotle, virtue is happiness and achievement with regards to humanity. Moral virtues ought to guide us to be virtuous. This is to mean that one should not feel the pressure to do too much or to feel the pressure to do too little. However, the adherers of the golden mean are not expected to follow them to the tooth just because an individual wants them to do that. Virtues vary according to character also known as the moral virtues and intellects. The moral virtue includes; generosity, justice friendliness, wittiness and courage whereas the intellects include knowledge acuity and also wisdom.

Some good examples of the golden mean are courage, generosity, and modesty. These examples, when taken to the extreme, are rather negative about the ethics that have been absorbed by the current generations. These examples vary in extremities and are often viewed across a wide percentage of the society. Take the case of courage if one possess the excess of it he or she is considered to be overconfident and when one doe possesses a little of it he or she is branded a coward. Generosity is also another virtue; which is mean, which is easily misinterpreted by society ("Golden Mean").

Using the philosophy of Aristotle, when one is excessively generous it will be seen as being wasteful, and there is a misuse of his 'generosity,' however when one is not generous or rather has that generosity deficiency he or she is termed as being stingy or miser. Modesty, on the other hand, is often misunderstood ethically since its excessiveness will amount to an individual being termed proud and the deficiency of it will only mean that one is humble. The golden mean according to Aristotle means that one should be doing and feeling, virtues should be inclinations to do and to feel whatever is deemed ethically correct. It means that these are centered on the person's character, and through improving their character, one can easily and well improve their virtues.

The golden mean is of huge importance in reaffirming the balance that is needed by one in his or her own life. The modern man, however, is living their pleasures and has often fallen victim to the 'excess' part of the golden mean. In the current century, there are a lot of vices that have taken root in society to the extent that we are unable to control them. Drug addiction and the use of alcoholic substances, wealth, food consumption has accumulated in excess. The deficient vices have also included sports or rather the physical sports and the educations are not being taken seriously by many individuals. The case of food consumption is taking a toll in society with obesity and other health issues taking control of our lives. Due to poor feeding habits, many individuals are losing their virtues. The twenty-first-century individual has not embraced the golden mean concept of eating healthy and therefore having a healthy life but rather that of excessive eating leading to obesity and in some instances cases of deficiency in eating leading to eating disorders and development of anorexia.

The perception of human beings is that they are not part of nature and therefore feel that they should not adhere to the rules of nature. They exempt themselves from following rules and play the role of the rule makers. The man has other ways of dealing with their moral standards and is the ones making the rules on how one is deemed moral or immoral. This has allowed an individual to fail to observe the issue of the golden mean fully. They are not obligated to do what is ethically correct by anyone, but they hold the key to that. Anger is good, but it also has its repercussions when in excess, anger can lead an individual to commit offenses that are not ethically correct such as kill or hurt others. This does not make anger bad vices but rather the actions that come with it. After all, even self-defense killings are allowed in the current world. Courage which is the golden mean makes one commit this atrocity in case of danger ("Golden Mean").

The golden mean, however, does not provide an individual with the proper manner in which to determine their balance. The case of generosity has affected most of the individuals and thus being unable to determine if they should be generous to the extent that they are limiting themselves or be generous yet be a miser at the same time. These vices limit the virtuousness of the individual since it fails to give one the correct balance or particular point of determination of the golden mean. Definitive considerations should be put in place to ensure that the individual gets the right proportions of the ethical issues. Aristotle might have brought up a great theory, but the truth of the fact is that the personal character and growth determine the way which one needs to be graded in the golden mean scale. To some extent, some individuals in society do not have a choice in shaping their character and thus need to be considered.

Modern society individuals need to overcome their pride and arrogance and embrace the natural setup. Golden mean gives us a better view of ethics and how society ought to be considered. The balance of the golden mean allows us to live in a morally straight life. The current society does not need to live on its lengths but instead should seek the wisdom of the old. Golden mean needs to be put up, and proper life skills and characters build up. Virtues will only be adopted when an individual takes up proper ethical vectors and adopt behaviors that are deemed to be ethically correct in society.

Work Cited

"A Dead Simple Guide To Aristotle's Philosophy Of 'Golden Mean'". Historyplex, 2019, https://historyplex.com/aristotles-philosophy-of-golden-mean.

"Golden Mean". Anus.Com, 2019, http://www.anus.com/zine/articles/draugdur/golden_mean/.

Media, WPSU. "Ethical Orientations: The "Golden Mean"". Pagecentertraining.Psu.Edu, 2019, https://pagecentertraining.psu.edu/public-relations-ethics/ethical-decision-making/yet-another-test-page/ethical-orientations-the-golden-mean/.