Arete

( "excellence" or "moral virtue" -- Wikipedia )

( A moral virtue according to Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics is a disposition to behave in the right manner and as a mean between extremes of deficiency and excess, which are vices! In other words someone who is habitually virtuous (a good person) and strives for a 'Golden Mean' in society!

In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle begins by saying that the highest good for humans, the highest aim of all human practical thinking, is eudaimonia, a Greek word often translated as well-being or happiness. Aristotle in turn argues that happiness is properly understood as an ongoing and stable dynamic, a way of being in action (energeia), specifically appropriate to the human "soul" (psuchē), at its most "excellent" or virtuous (virtue translates aretē in Greek). If there are several virtues then the best and most complete or perfect of them will be the happiest one. An excellent human will be a person good at living life, who does it well and beautifully (kalos). Aristotle says that such a person would also be a serious (spoudaios) human being, in the same sense of "serious" that one contrasts serious harpists with other harpists. He also asserts as part of this starting point that virtue for a human must involve reason in thought and speech (logos), as this is an aspect (an ergon, literally meaning a task or work) of human living.

Most stoics acknowledge both their best and their worst moral characteristics and work continuously at self-improvement. They try to develop habits of generosity, honesty, responsibility, integrity, fairness, kindness and good humor. The result is a comforting moral self-sufficiency that even bereavement, bankruptcy or sheer bad luck can’t take away.)

"The person of Arete is of the highest effectiveness; they use all their faculties—strength, bravery, and wit—to achieve real results."

This section is therefore:

A study of Virtue Ethics

Normative ethical theories which emphasize virtues of mind, character and sense of honesty. Virtue ethicists discuss the nature and definition of virtues and other related problems that focus on the consequences of action. These include how virtues are acquired, how they are applied in various life contexts, and whether they are rooted in a universal human nature or in a plurality of cultures.