Rhetoric (The New Hackett Aristotle) by Aristotle & C. D. C. Reeve

Author:Aristotle & C. D. C. Reeve [Reeve, C. D. C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
Published: 2018-09-03T04:00:00+00:00

In ethical or political contexts, which are particularly relevant to rhetoric, the canonical application of kalon is to ends that are intrinsically choiceworthy and intrinsically commendable or praiseworthy (epaineton)—“Of all goods, the ends are those choiceworthy for their own sake. Of these, in turn, the kalon ones are all those praiseworthy because of themselves” (EE VIII 3 1248b18–20; also NE I 13 1103a9–10)—and that, as such, are contrasted with things that are compulsory. In the same way, what is ethically kalon is contrasted with what is compulsory: “we should be courageous not because of compulsion, but because it is noble” (NE III 8 1116b2–4). It is because ethically kalon actions are intrinsically choiceworthy ends, indeed, that a good person can do virtuous actions because of themselves (II 4 1105a32) and for the sake of what is kalon (III 7 1115b12–13). What makes such actions choiceworthy (VI 1 1138a18–20) and praiseworthy (II 6 1106b24–27), however, is that they exhibit the sort of order (X 9 1180a14–18), proportionality (II 2 1104a18), and determinateness (II 6 1106b29–30, IX 9 1170a19–24) that consists in lying in a mean (meson) between two extremes. This brings us full circle, connecting what is ethically kalon to what is aesthetically noble, lending the former too an aesthetic tinge.

Finally, what is ethically kalon includes an element of self-sacrifice that recommends “nobility,” in its more ethical sense, as a good equivalent for it as well: “It is true of an excellent person too that he does many actions for the sake of his friends and his fatherland, even dying for them if need be. For he will give up wealth, honors, and fought-about goods generally, in keeping for himself what is kalon” (IX 8 1169a18–22). One reason people praise a kalon agent, indeed, is that his actions benefit them: “It is necessary, though, for the greatest virtues to be those that are most useful to others, if indeed virtue is a capacity productive of benefaction. Because of this, people most honor the just and the courageous, since courage is useful to others in war, and justice both in war and in peace” (Rh. I 9 1366b3–7). But since what is kalon is a greater good than those an excellent person gives up or confers on others, there is also a strong element of self-interest in what he does: “The greater good, then, he allocates to himself” (NE IX 8 1169a28–29). An excellent person does kalon actions for their own sake, not for an ulterior motive, because it is only as done in that way that they constitute the doing well in action (eupraxia) that just is happiness. An account of kalon tailored to rhetoric is given at Rh. I 9 1366a33–36.

{184} Note 92

But often they give no thought to [showing] it not unjust to enslave neighbors: Reading οὐκ ἄδικον with Kassel, Grimaldi; OCT secludes οὐκ. The idea is that in advising a course of action, they do nothing to address the injustice involved.

Note 93

They praise Achilles because he went to

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