Human Nature and Conduct · Character

Aristotle

Greek philosopher discussed in relation to habit, virtue, and ethics.

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First appearance: Human Nature and Conduct

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Referenced implicitly in the tradition of moral philosophy that Dewey critiques for separating reason from habit.

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With Herbert Spencer (professional): Aristotle and Herbert Spencer are linked as philosophers whose works on ethics and social evolution are compared in the text, though they belong to different eras. With Plato…

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Philosophers of Human Conduct

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Herbert Spencer
professional · ambivalent
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Plato
professional · ambivalent

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Aristotle appears across 11 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

Human Nature and Conduct
Referenced implicitly in the tradition of moral philosophy that Dewey critiques for separating reason from habit.
Part I: The Place of Habit in Conduct
Dewey draws on Aristotle's concept of habit (hexis) as a formed disposition that shapes character and ethical conduct.
Habits and Will
Referenced for the idea that the untutored moral perceptions of a good man are trustworthy, while those of a bad character are not.
Part II: The Place of Impulse in Conduct
Alluded to in discussions of teleology and the nature of aims.
III: Changing Human Nature
Cited as an example of those who mistakenly attributed slavery to aboriginal human nature, arguing that native distinctions of quality made slavery natural and inevitable.
V: Classification of Instincts
Dewey mentions Aristotle's political faculty as part of a historical classification of instincts that has been used to explain political phenomena.
Part III: The Place of Intelligence in Conduct
Dewey references Aristotle's conception of deliberation as concerned with ends-in-view, contrasting it with traditional views that separate reason from desire.
Habit and Intelligence
Cited for his conception of an end that exhausts all realization and excludes potentiality, defining the highest excellence as self-revolving thought.
The Psychology of Thinking
Cited as asserting that the faculty of pure knowing enters a man from without, representing the view Dewey criticizes.
The Nature of Aims
Dewey identifies Aristotle as the source of the doctrine of fixed ends-in-themselves, which dominated Western culture for two thousand years and persisted in morals even after being expelled from natural science.
Desire and Intelligence
Mentioned indirectly through the critique of traditional moral theory that separates desire and reason.

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