亞里斯多德論道德責任

Abstract

這份論文主要聚焦於討論亞里斯多德如何看待我們是否該為自己所形塑的道德性格負起道德責任。這份論文將透過詮釋《尼個馬各倫理學》與《政治學》兩部著作來論證亞里斯多德主張人們必須為自己的道德性格負起全責。也就是：如果一個人形塑了良好的道德性格，那麼她可以被我們讚揚；反之，如果形塑了不好的道德性格，則可以被批評。 這份論文將被分成三大部分：第一部分會聚焦於亞里斯多德如何看待德性。在那裡，我會論證一個好的理解亞里斯多德的德性觀是將德性看做是理性與非理性部分靈魂之間的動態平衡。第二部分將會論證亞里斯多德認為人們對其所形塑的德性負有完全責任。而在最後的第三部分，我將焦點轉至《政治學》，探討亞里斯多德在那裡所提出的教育制度。我將論證亞里斯多德所提出的音樂教育雖然讓形塑德性這件事情變得較為簡單，卻不會因此使人所需負的責任減輕。我們是經由我們的行為、以及對事物的回應而被決定為怎樣的人；而對此，我們需要負起完全的責任。

This thesis shall explore Aristotle’s view on people’s responsibility for their moral characters. It shall interpret his Nicomachean Ethics and Politics as arguing that Aristotle views individuals as fully responsible for their characters. That is, one can be moral-ly praised if she is morally good, and blamed when bad. The thesis is divided into three main parts. The first part shall focus on Aristotle’s notion of virtue, where I argue that a virtue is best understood as a dynamic between rational and non-rational part of the soul. The second part shall argue that Aristotle takes that people are fully responsible for the characters formed. In the last part I turn to the Politics, where Aristotle proposes a specific kind of education. I argue that while this musical education makes character formation an easier task, it does not lessen one’s responsibility for forming good characters. We are defined by the way we act and react to things, and we are responsible for how we define ourselves.