The Golden Balances of self
- Mean & Ratio -
Aristotle emphasizes that virtue is practical and that the purpose of ethics is to improve our lives.
He regards the ethical virtues, such as justice, courage, and temperance, as complex rational, emotional, and social skills.
His ethics is built around the premise that people should achieve an excellent character as a precondition for attaining happiness or well-being, on a Soul deep level which elevates the whole existence. In one word, Eudaimonia.
According to Aristotle, ethical values are a person's character.
He suggests that the Ideal moral behavior is found in a moderate position between two extremes - excess and deficiency. For example, courage is a virtue, but if taken to excess would manifest as recklessness, and in deficiency as cowardice.
Aristotelian Virtue is not an exact average of two precisely calculable extremes, but rather fluctuates with the collateral circumstances of each situation and discovers itself only to mature and flexible reason.
For this cultivation, Socrates taught us that we must know "how to choose the mean and avoid the extremes on either side, as far as possible."
As we journey within Life and interact with the world, we also experience our 'selves'. These two facets and conditions, although lived with one Being, they are separately Balanced.
In both cases, virtues & vices will urge or drive us. No matter if they are of our own or of others, we are to balance ourselves within occasions & circumstances, in accordance to what virtuous Nature/Reason dictates, and calibrate our selves with choices (words, actions, silence, inaction).
Reason plays a pivotal role in moderating and directing our actions and that is why we must have a clear reasoning.
This means there are no psychoemotional weeds drowning our Psyche's wellness.
Reason
represents our cognitive abilities to analyze, evaluate, and make
choices based on our understanding of the world. It acts as a filter
through which we decide whether to act on our urges, how to do so, and
whether our actions align with our long-term goals and values.
Reevaluating & curating our mindset should be
a recurrent pavestone of our perpetual self-development.
In general, we need to create a mindset with an idle state we can rely on.
This
means there are no reactions, just action. A goal is to imbue the
values & principles that lead towards virtues and away from vices,
to our mental framework and own our Psyche's movements.
Awareness is a learning zone.
Mindfulness is the training field.
ত On one hand, for the external world we have the golden-mean, for which we can use the classic tables, and is primarily used for the political (or practical) virtues.
When
the target is a Virtuous life, the aiming is our balance in our actions
and decisions. This is achievable if we take into consideration the
political virtues such as courage, temperance, justice.
These virtues help us harmonize our external conduct with the principles of ethical living.
The golden mean is like a Universal Truth that applies for all.
A constant that everybody can use as a general guideline.
For the external world, the golden mean guides us in navigating the field of practical affairs and social interactions.
Wisdom & Justice are sowed in Awareness.
Courage & Temperance are cultivated in Mindfulness.
ত On the other hand, for the internal world of ours, we have our golden-ratio.
The unique balance of our unique tapestry of self & psyche.
Khalil Gibran wrote "Your soul is a battlefield, on which your reason and judgement fight in the heat of your passion and desires", and he was quite right ~ at least, he offers in a single sentence, a framework and how to manage.
Virtues & Pathe, """inherent""" or not, express through emotions and desires, which are woven to the mind.
From purely instinctive to seemingly conscious choices, our Urges and drives force us in everyday life to actualize them via words and actions, but primarily by our reason's acceptance/allowance.
Examples of instinctive urges are the desire for food when hungry, the need for sleep when tired, and the drive for social connection and procreation.
The "spectrum" of instinctive desires is one of the most prominent fields for Pathe to root, with the "blessings" of our Now's psychology and our Present psycho-synthesis.
Additionally, considering every Virtue has it's opposite Pathos, a person that wants to virtuously self-develop needs to be conscious of his polarities dynamics and be aware of his/her needs in sowing & uprooting as to further elevate with Virtue and ascend within -φ- spiral.
꘏
In essence, the discernment between the two facets of the golden balance, the mean and the ratio, underscores the paramount importance of self-awareness and consciousness in our life's journey towards virtue.
Just as we meticulously calibrate our actions and decisions with the external world's golden mean, we must also navigate the intricate tapestry of our internal golden ratio, where virtues and desires coexist.
This conscious and deliberate self-exploration allows us to nurture our character, making choices that lead to a life deeply rooted in virtuous principles.
As we embark on this dual quest for a balance that will harmonize us with the Cosmos, we find ourselves not only living ethically but also experiencing the profound fulfillment that comes from being aligned with Agathó and experiencing the Divine energies.
꘏
I hope you found value in this post, and more specifically to have clarified the difference between our two golden balances and delineated their fields of practice and development.
If you enjoyed the reading as well,
have a look at my first guide for self-development,
using a Pythagorean Triangle of self.
Feedback-wise, both praise & damnation are fuels & highly utilized.
Intellectual Meditations
delve into the Essence of Universal Truths,
expand your mental horizons towards infinity,
and experience Cosmic Forms & Ideas.
Follow noetic trails that lead you to Cosmic horizons
& cultivate your Spirit via the path of Intellect.
Meditate on and Contemplate with,
concepts & theories, symbols & archetypes.
An intro guide is available here.
.png)
