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Single Idea 24328

[catalogued under 20. Action / C. Motives for Action / 3. Acting on Reason / b. Intellectualism]

Full Idea

The people who make the best deliberate choices do not seem to be the same as the ones who form the best beliefs; on the contrary, some people form better beliefs but because of vice choose what one shouldn't.

Gist of Idea

The best beliefs need not produce the best choices, because vice can intervene

Source

Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1112a08)

A Reaction

This is a more careful account of why Aristotle disagrees with Socrates on akrasia. The intellectualism of Socrates implies that making the best choices largely consists of forming good beliefs. Wickedness is ignorance.

Book Reference

Aristotle: 'Nicomachean Ethics', ed/tr. Reeve, C.D.C. [Hackett 2024], p.39