Concept
Arete
Overview
concept in Greek philosophy meaning "excellence of any kind" or "moral virtue", ultimately bound up, in its earliest appearance in Greek, with the notion of the fulfillment of purpose or function (the act of living up to one's full potential)
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Possible passages
Found by search and not yet checked by a person; they may only mention the idea in passing.
Then the word kakia appears to mean kakos ienai, or going badly, or limping and halting; of which the consequence is, that the soul becomes filled with vice. And if kakia is the name of this sort of thing, arete will be the opposite of it, signifying in the first place ease of motion, then that the stream of the good soul is unimpeded, and has therefore the attribute of ever flowing without let or hindrance, and is…
Plato, Cratylus
Names Arete several times; states what Arete is.
High-throned, and feasting, there thou shalt behold The sceptred rulers. Fear not, but be bold: A decent boldness ever meets with friends, Succeeds, and even a stranger recommends First to the queen prefer a suppliant’s claim, Alcinous’ queen, Arete is her name. The same her parents, and her power the same.
Homer, The Odyssey
States what Arete is; names Arete twice.
The economic appears in "merit," what I have earned, and likewise in "duty" and "ought," what is due or owed--though duty seems to have made itself felt especially, as noted above, toward a superior. Forethought and skill in practical affairs provided the conception of "wisdom," which was highest of the virtues for the Greeks, and as "prudence" stood high in mediaeval systems. The conception of valuing and thus of…
John Dewey, Ethics
Close in meaning to Arete; the term itself is not named.
Philosophers who discussed Arete
Related ideas
- Telos
- Athena
- Greek language
- Athens
- Goddess
- Homer
- Hero
- Heracles
- Republic (Plato)
- Justice
- Justin Martyr
- Basil of Caesarea
- Music
- Odyssey
- Plato
- Paul the Apostle
- Rhetoric
- Robert M. Pirsig
- Spirituality
- Golden mean (philosophy)
- Nobility
- Troy
- Aristotle
- Gymnasium (ancient Greece)
Opposing perspectives
Place in the tradition
Part of Cynicism (philosophy).