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What Philosophy Did Aristotle Follow And How Did It Affect The Opinions' of Our Founding Fathers?

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What Philosophy Did Aristotle Follow And How Did It Affect The Opinions' of Our Founding Fathers?

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Courage
Temperance
Liberality
Magnificence
Pride
Patience
Truthfulness
Wittiness
Friendliness
Modesty
Righteous Indignation

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The Golden Mean is the center of the vices. The center, he believed, is what an individual should always strive for in order to be a good person. There is no direct rule to follow in order to reach the golden mean, one simply just has to assess the situation and determine the possible outcomes.

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Aristotle believed that if you have excess vices (immoral behavior) or not enough, you will never truly be a virtuous person. Virtue is essentially in the middle of both of these extremes and there needs to be a balance.

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Aristotle believed that you naturally have the ability to be a good person. He claimed that if you are able to keep yourself healthy and virtuous while helping others, then you are a good person.

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In his Virtue Theory, Aristotle sought to emphasize character and being a good person. He believed a persons character was more important and valuable than following a strict set of rules.

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How Did Aristotle Influence Our Founding Fathers?

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How Did Aristotle Influence Our Founding Fathers?

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The founding fathers looked up to Aristotle quiet often when developing the Constitution as well as creating laws. They developed rules for Republican government based off of his ideals and studies. He was an original source for several statements in the Declaration of Independence and the founding fathers often gave him credit.

1. government should govern for the good of the people, not for the good of those in power;

2. there is a natural aristocracy, and skilled statecraft arranges things so that this element acquires authority, or, failing that, blends democratic and oligarchic influences in society to approximate to that outcome;

3. mixed regimes are better than pure regimes, because they are more stable;

4. the best form of government in nearly all circumstances involves the balancing of aspects of all three pure regimes (kingship, aristocracy, and timocracy);

5. a pure democracy can easily turn into a tyranny of the majority.

These are just some of the statements Aristotle had developed that are now a part of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence.

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1. http://www.nlnrac.org/classical/aristotle
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csIW4W_DYX4
3. https://www.cwu.edu/~warren/Unit1/aristotles_virtues_and_vices.htm
4.
https://bigthink.com/scotty-hendricks/aristotles-11-guidelines-for-living-a-good-life