Skip to main content

The Modern Day "Proud Man" // Jessef Leslie

In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle speaks of the proud man, a person who finds a balance between being “vain” and “unduly humble” through temperance. This person does so not by how much he achieves, but by finding in his actions the “mean in respect of the rightness of them; for he claims what is accordance with his merits, while the others go to excess or fall short.” (Aristotle 38). So, this person does not undermine his abilities nor exaggerate them; He seeks not rewards of endless wealth nor denies all accommodations and merit due to a belief that he is not valuable enough for them. The humble man can seem “disdainful” at times because he “cares not to be praised nor for others to be blamed; nor is he given to praise.” (Aristotle 39). The humble man also takes his time, he has a “slow step” and “a level of utterance” as he tries to understand things and keep his excitement from dying while not letting it control him.

            On the other hand, in modern day society, most people seem to be unduly humble. This also seems to be the most virtuous of the three for us. The issue with being so humble is that it leads to a negative outlook on one’s self. These perspectives of an individual lead them to failure, self-harm, depression, and much more. We constantly joke about ourselves yet will not joke in such a way about kind stranger or a good friend. It is ironic how much we love the people around us yet do not share the same love for the body and mind we are living inside of. While an arrogant attitude on the opposite end is annoying, at least it influences the person to pursuit his/ her goals and potentially learn how to cool off later down the line. 

        I believe that as a community we should speak of our achievements an accomplishments a bit more. If we boost each other’s achievements and have a more positive outlook on ourselves, it will lead to a more positive community. There’s no issue with laughing at ourselves, but the key is to find the balance between that and boasting to reach a point where we understand our value and can gladly say what we are capable of.

Commented on Ian Blair's and Hailey Morgan's Posts.


Comments

  1. IsabelleOctober 27, 2020 at 8:17 AM

    I like your post! It seems like the proud man states the facts rather than the opinions. There is a fine line between being humble and being self-deprecating. The person you described in your second paragraph seemed to lean towards to latter. You're correct in that we need to reach the healthy balance of knowing who we are but not being arrogant about our abilities.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Aristotle Might Not Like Me...Or Jesus//Haylee Lynd

      Aristotle says that the man who does not get angry at the things he should be angry at "is thought unlikely to defend himself; and to endure being insulted and put up with insult to one's friends is slavish" (Aristotle 41). While he states that passivity is preferred to excessive anger, he still gives great criticism to it.  In contrast to Aristotle, the man who Christians believe to be the most just is Jesus who states in Matthew 5:39-40, "...do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well." Essentially, arguing that one is not to respond in anger when insulted or hurt, to not defend one's self. Most individual's are unable to achieve this. Our natural instinct is to defend ourselves, especially in physical cases. However, Christians strive to be like Jesus in this way. I would also argue that it is a very admirable wa...
2 comments
Read more

Oedipus’ Children/Siblings—Lily Caswell

Ok, so Oedipus is a bit of a train wreck to say the least. I love the fact that even after Oedipus found out about his less-than-appealing relationship with his mother, he still tried to look after his children/siblings. After he gouged his eyes out, his children came to him at which point Oedipus talked about how that when they were old enough to marry, no one would want them due to them being products of incest. He said for the people not to condemn them based on what their father had done. Even after he knew what he had done and what his children were, he still wanted the best for them. I commented on Logan’s and Ian’s posts.
3 comments
Read more

Overanalyzing Everyone's Intentions Here-Rachael Gregson

 First off, I'd like to say this is going to be a two part blog post, because a lot of things happened in this reading assignment that demands to be discussed.  As with any war I've realized, it's tricky not to fall into the initial perspective I am given. I began this book skeptical of Hector because I was bias toward the movie Troy, which was told mostly through the eyes of Achilles, but neither were what I was expecting. It's actually funny that they both hold values completely opposite from one another. Hector represented everything related to city-state pride, honor, and humility whereas Achilles was everything wild, reckless, and unpredictable solitary. This isn't to say that Hector is all good and Achilles all bad. Both had instances where I rooted for the other more or less. I just thought it was interesting how their two personalities represented something that basically causes all wars: the clash between civilization and savagery.  Secondly, I'm not de...
2 comments
Read more