Blog Post #1

Here I my first of many ethics-related blog posts.  Better late than never, I suppose.

The teachings of Aristotle’s “Nicomachean Ethics” are not an easy thing to understand.  It’s clear why this particular writing was chosen to introduce us to the idea of communication ethics.  After all, the The first part of the Nicomachean Ethics basically discusses what ethics is and why we study it.  Aristotle explains the different forms of argument, making a clear difference between Dialectic and rhetoric.  I would be interested to discover whether his ideas of happiness and his views on how it should be achieved in society could still be applied to modern societies today. 

Furthermore, I’m curious whether the majority of the current population would agree to his teachings, or if most people would simply write him off as an archaic thinker from a different time.  Surely he’s still respected by scholers and philosophers at this time, but how often are his teachings applied by normal members of society?  The world is far more educated than it was 2000 years ago, which should suggest that his ideas should reach a larger audience.  Perhaps his philosophies are absorbed by modern society, but not directly.  Instead, his values have been passed down by similar teachings, philosophies, and memes. 

It is anyone’s guess how many of Earth’s great thinkers who came after Aristotle were inspired by him, but I would guess that there were numerous ones… at least enough to transfer his teachings into our minds, without us even realizing it.

Perhaps.