EN 1106a6-12 Virtues are not capacities either but dispositions

About this episode

This episode discusses Aristotle's view that virtues are not capacities but rather dispositions.

διὰ ταῦτα δὲ οὐδὲ δυνάμεις εἰσίν· οὔτε γὰρ ἀγαθοὶ λεγόμεθα τῷ δύνασθαι πάσχειν ἁπλῶς οὔτε κακοί, οὔτ' ἐπαινούμεθα οὔτε ψεγόμεθα· ἔτι δυνατοὶ μέν ἐσμεν φύσει, ἀγαθοὶ δὲ ἢ κακοὶ οὐ γινόμεθα φύσει· εἴπομεν δὲ περὶ τούτου πρότερον. εἰ οὖν μήτε πάθη εἰσὶν αἱ ἀρεταὶ μήτε δυνάμεις, λείπεται ἕξεις αὐτὰς εἶναι.

People in this episode

Host: Dr. Wenqi Li

Topics covered

• Aristotle
• virtues
• philosophy
• dispositions
• ethics

Keywords

• Aristotle
• virtues
• dispositions
• philosophy
• ethics

More episodes of Reading Aristotle's Text

• EN 1106a29-36 The mean in relation to the thing itself · November 5, 2025 · 2 min
• EN 1106a24-29 To investigate the nature of virtue from the perspective of mean · November 4, 2025 · 2 min
• EN 1106a13-24 Human virtue is a disposition that makes human become good and perform his function well · November 3, 2025 · 4 min
• EN 1105a28-1106a6 Virtues are not affections · November 1, 2025 · 4 min
• EN 1105b19-28 The happenings in the soul are three · October 31, 2025 · 4 min
• EN 1105b12-18 One will not be good by just philosophizing · October 24, 2025 · 2 min