Welcome
First, we’re going to check in. use this time as well to talk about any issues you are having with your assignment. We’ll talk also about some of your suggestions for research materials.
Close Reading Aristotle
So our topic now is virtue. What I want us to do today is go back to close reading. You have read book II of the Nicomachean Ethics. Just as a reminder… these are the rules for close reading. We have five pages to read.
In your groups:
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Identify what you think are the most important sections of the reading.
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Summarise in your own words what the author is saying in these sections.
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Explain why these sections are important to the author’s argument.
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Give a practical example that can help us understand the argument.
To do this, you have to have the text open in your groups, so you can read it carefully, and talk about what it is actually saying (not what you guess it might be saying!). Work through, page by page. Don’t skip ahead. When you are sure you understand a page or a section, move on.
We’ll take a good amount of time for this, then we’ll feed back into the main group.
Thinking About Virtue
Make notes on the following:
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What do you think your main virtues are?
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Virtues are not innate for Aristotle. They are learned. How have you learned these virtues?
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Are there any virtues that you are you trying to develop (even if you haven’t yet developed them to a very great degree)? What are they, and how are you developing them?
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Do you think we can learn virtues?
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Is there a cut-off point where we stop learning (e.g. we can learn as children, but not adults)?
Now we’ll talk about this in our breakout groups.
Homework
We’re going to read another approach to virtue, and that is from Xunzi (荀子), the Confucian philosopher. It’s a chapter on “cultivating oneself.” Please post some thoughts on the discussion board before the next session!