aretē

자료: Philosophy Dictionary: aretē, http://www.answers.com/topic/arete-1

(Greek, the goodness or excellence of a thing) The goodness or virtue of a person. In the thought of Plato and Aristotle virtue is connected with performing a function (ergon), just as an eye is good if it performs its proper function of vision. This is its telos or purpose (see also teleology). Aretē is therefore identified with what enables a person to live well or successfully, although whether virtue is then just a means to successful life or is an essential part of the activity of living well becomes controversial. According to Aristotle the various virtues consist in knowing how to strike a mean between opposing vices of excess and defect. Greek thought also paves the way for the Christian ideal that the fullest development of aretē for human beings consists in a self-sufficient life of contemplation and wisdom. The Sanskrit word kusala is used in Buddhism to represent the same association of goodness with the skill of being a good human being.

자료: Wikipedia, 

For other uses, see Arete (disambiguation).

Statue of Arete in Celsus' Library in Ephesus.

Arete (Greek: ἀρετή; pronounced /ˈærəteɪ/ in English), in its basic sense, means "goodness", "excellence" or "virtue" of any kind. In its earliest appearance in Greek, this notion of excellence was ultimately bound up with the notion of the fulfillment of purpose or function; the act of living up to one's full potential. Arete in ancient Greek culture was courage and strength in the face of adversity and it was what all people aspired to.

"The root of the word is the same as "aristos', the word which shows superlative ability and superiority, and "aristos" was constantly used in the plural to denote the nobility." ^[1] (SeeAristocracy.) The Ancient Greeks applied the term to anything: for example, the excellence of a chimney, the excellence of a bullto be bred and the excellence of a man. The meaning of the word changes depending on what it describes, since everything has its own peculiar excellence; the arete of a man is different from the arete of a horse. This way of thinking comes first from Plato, in whose "Allegory of the Cave" it can be seen.^[2].

By the fourth and fifth centuries BC, arete as applied to men had developed to include quieter virtues, such as dikaiosyne (justice) and sophrosyne (self-restraint). Plato attempted to produce amoral philosophy that incorporated this new usage (and, in so doing, developed ideas that played a central part in later Christian thought), but it was in the work of Aristotle that the doctrine of arete found its fullest flowering. Aristotle's "Doctrine of the Mean" (not to be confused with the Confucian "Doctrine of the Mean") is a paradigm example of his thinking.

Contents  [hide] 1 Homer 2 Personification 3 Paideia 4 Examples of usage 5 References 6 See also

Homer

In Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, "arete" is used mainly to describe heroes and nobles and their mobile dexterity, with special reference to strength and courage, but it is not limited to this.Penelope's arete, for example, relates to co-operation, for which she is praised by Agamemnon. The excellence of the gods generally included their power, but, in the Odyssey (13.42), the gods can grant excellence to a life, which is contextually understood to mean prosperity. Arete was also the name of King Alcinous's wife.

According to Bernard Knox's notes found in the Robert Fagles translation of The Odyssey, "arete" is also associated with the Greek word for pray, "araomai" (Homer. The Odyssey . trans. by Robert Fagles. Introduction and notes by Bernard Knox. Penguin Classics Deluxe Ed, London. 1996)

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Paideia

Arete is a significant part of the paideia of ancient Greeks: the training of the boy to manhood. This training in arete included: physical training, for which the Greeks developed the gymnasion, mental training, which included oratory, rhetoric, and basic sciences, and spiritual training, which included music and what is called virtue.

Examples of usage

• "Virtue (arete) then is a settled disposition of the mind determining the choice of actions and emotions, consisting essentially in the observance of the mean relative to us, this being determined by principle, that is, as the prudent man would determine it." Aristotle'sNicomachean Ethics, II vi 15, translated H. Rackham (1934: Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press)
• "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence (arete), if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." New Testament, Philippians 4.8.
• Robert Pirsig uses "arete" as a synonym for Quality in his book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. This includes an extensive discussion of Plato's "Phaedrus" and the historical contrast between Dialectic and Rhetoric. "And what is good, Phaedrus, And what is not good -- Need we ask anyone to tell us these things?" - Socrates

References

1. ^ Paideia; the Ideals of Greek Culture, Werner Jaeger, Oxford University Press, NY, 1945. Vol. I, pg 5.
2. ^ Greek Philosophy: The Allegory of the Cave, The Divided Line

• Paideia, Vol. I, pg. 15.
• Greek-English Lexicon, Liddell & Scott (1883: Oxford, Oxford University Press)
• Paideia: The Ideals of Greek Culture, Werner Jaeger, trans. Gilbert Highet (1945: New York, Oxford University Press)
• "Arete/Agathon/Kakon", G.B. Kerferd (in Paul Edwards [ed.-in-chief] The Encyclopedia of Philosophy (1967: New York, Macmillan & The Free Press)

See also

• Aretology
• Virtue ethics
• Arya