The 21st Century Nicomachean
We're inundated with conflicting messages, Aristotle can help us break through
If you are making a resume or a dating profile, the expectation is that you will brag. You need to play up your greatest strengths and be arrogant to a degree. The great Catch 22 is that if you do not come off as humble, then you will be discarded. When we go by the books of what the ‘right’ thing is to do in any situation, we are left with a reality that refuses to accept that contradictions exist.
Any rational person can ascertain that there is a balance between hubris and humility, yet we seem to be told that they exist on different planes. This conflict extends into many aspects of our daily lives. We are told to be forgiving as possible but are admonished for letting someone walk all over us. Vanity is seen as a social faux pas but it is even worse to underdress. This may seem like a simple problem but is not one we often take the time to actually think about. Luckily, this problem was thought out by Aristotle thousands of years ago.
Aristotle laid out many of the general traits we have and created a spectrum. He saw our goal as finding a happy medium of these characteristics. It is an oversimplification of human interaction, but it provides a framework of how we can start to rectify our chaotic lives in these times. By analyzing our own shortcomings in a spectrum, we can break the paralysis of inaction we have become accustomed to. Its too easy to rationalize that our faults are a mere damnation outside our own control. Now, more than ever, the messages broadcast to us are confusing.
Virtue Ethics can give us a starting point towards self improvement. It used to be taught as an essential part of a classical education (I was fortunate enough to be taught it in college) but professors have traded it for the pompous and self serving work of Plato. There is a reason that both Medieval Islamic Society and Renaissance Italy went through golden ages upon their interaction with Aristotle.
The Nichomachean Ethics do have a specific context. Many of its points are still applicable today, but we need to remember that we do not live in a society that has all of the same virtues and vices. To truly realize our potential, we need to take the framework provided by Aristotle and apply it to the tribulations of our digital era. There is likely a happy medium regarding internet usage for example. Those who can become a 21st Century Nicomachean will be those who rise to greatness. Self-awareness and constant improvement lead to triumph.