Aristotle on Responsibility for One's Character1

The Philosophical Category of "Risk"

“…"La Ricerca Folklorica" 66: 85-95. 14 As for the educational function of risk and of testing oneself, it is sufficient to remember that this is the central theme of the VII book of the Laws, which supports the importance of being educated to "risk". This applies to everyone, including women.…”

“…Unlike what happens with Aristotle, to plunge into the dangers and put at risk his life and his integrity is, for Plato, decisive. Plato thinks that man can experience his value, his technical skills and his own wisdom only in conditions of risk 14 . It is not by chance that, next to κίνδυνοσ, the verb τολμᾶν, "dare", occurs repeatedly 15 : this verb evokes the famous cry of Prometheus, the hero nailed for punishment to the rock by Zeus:…”

“…Once again, it is necessary to point out that we are completely far from the concept of the world and the "theory of action" developed by Aristotle. We are not dealing with the motivated and rational "choice" that, for Aristotle, means the ability to decide within different possibilities of which the profile has been studied (this is the προαίρεςισ); nor with the expression of a "will" belonging fully to the subject agent and managed on a responsible level 17 [14][15][16].…”

Can reason establish the goals of action? Assessing interpretations of Aristotle’s theory of agency

“…EE.II.6. 5 At least since Alexander of Aphrodisias' De fato, scholars have discussed at length whether Aristotle was an indeterminist or a compatibilist, whether he endorsed some version of the principle of alternate possibilities, and in general what his position was regarding the free willdeterminism debate (seeGauthier & Jolif (1970, 217-220),Taylor (2006, 166), andDestrée (2011) for discussion and references). And yet, no Aristotelian concept is clearly analogous to 'will', 'freedom' or 'determinism', so it may be better to avoid forcing such notions and problems onto his texts; otherwise it may generate more distortion than clarity.…”

Philosophica

“…Si è dunque visto come Aristotele riconosca che la natura 'contribuisce' alla virtù in due modi: da un lato la natura offre la condizione base necessaria perché la virtù possa svilupparsi (la razionalità e la disposizione dell'uomo a ricevere vizio e virtù, in quanto natural-7 Oltre alle inclinazioni naturali anche il contesto in cui un soggetto cresce e viene educato influenza evidentemente le probabilità di un agente di divenire virtuoso o vizioso (Destrée 2011). Il nascere e l'essere educato da un buon maestro o in una buona famiglia sono fattori che contribuiscono in modo decisivo alla 'redistribuzione' delle probabilità, come lo stesso Aristotele afferma in Eth.…”