Abstract:

In regard to the issue of how to cultivate virtue or morality, there’s a lot of discussion in ancient Greek texts as well as a comprehensive answer in Aristotle’s practical philosophy. There are two kinds of interpretation about Aristotle’s moral cultivation: the mechanistic theory and the developmental theory. This paper provides a more complete theory of development so as to reveal the metaphysical foundation of the potential-movement-actuality framework behind this ethical theory and analyze its corresponding mechanism of nature-habit-reason. The emphasis is placed on three stages: the potential of nature, the growth and harmony of nature and habit, and the growth and harmony of habit and reason. The analysis will also clearly show the ethical cultivation stages of natural virtue, habitual virtue and perfect virtue. Such an idea of moral education has something in common with the educational concept of emphasizing nature, habit and teaching in the Confucian Three Characters Classic.

Key words: practical philosophy, moral cultivation, nature, habit, reason