Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Arts and Humanities Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

Aristotle And Habituation: Is Virtue Really Attainable Without God's Help, Roy Michael Mattson Oct 2019

Aristotle And Habituation: Is Virtue Really Attainable Without God's Help, Roy Michael Mattson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

We are by nature moral beings who desire virtue. This fact is borne out by innumerable studies. Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and Eudemian Ethics remain among the most influential works on ethics and human moral psychology. Aristotle claims that human beings can develop good character traits and achieve virtue with the appropriate upbringing (what Aristotle called habituation). Much of what Aristotle says about character traits, virtue, and habituation is accepted today and inspires character education. Yet recent results in experimental psychology challenge the notion of character traits and virtue as understood by Aristotle. The challenge is the abundance of evidence showing …


Mythology, Morality, And The Messiah: How Natural Moral Law And Hero Myth Entail That Jesus Christ Is The Best Possible Hero, Matthew J. Coombe Feb 2019

Mythology, Morality, And The Messiah: How Natural Moral Law And Hero Myth Entail That Jesus Christ Is The Best Possible Hero, Matthew J. Coombe

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Essentially this dissertation is an abductive argument for Jesus Christ being the best possible hero. The abductive argument is concerned with the synthesis of several different disciplines: natural theology, general revelation, ethics, natural law (meta-ethics), literary criticism, Biblical criticism, and mythology. When synthesized the most reasonable conclusion for the data is that Jesus Christ is the best possible hero. All of the disciplines work together: Natural theology establishes the axiological basis for moral realism and moral knowledge. General revelation acts as a universal imprinter, which not only imbeds man with moral knowledge, but also with inherent notions of heroism—heroism and …