Philosophical Principles - Essay Example

On the other hand, Aristotle has always appeared to me as a proponent of a closed society (Keuth pg, 22). His work is always aimed at maintaining social order. His philosophy is actually state-centered and not people-centered. He tells society to behave in a way that is appropriate for the state. The doctrine of the mean is also just an extension of this aim of Aristotle. It really doesn’t do any good for society except for the fact that it helps to make the members of the society docile.

The idea behind this doctrine is that people should try to behave in a manner that is not extreme in nature. For example according to this doctrine, one should not be rash nor he should be a coward, but one should be somewhere in the middle of these two extremes thus one should be courageous. This is just an attempt to preserve the status quo of society and avoid an upheaval of the public. Because of the greatness of benefit Utilitarianism provides to humanity, the principle of Mill is the best moral philosophy.

The doctrine of Aristotle is not only state-driven but also calls for a submissive and a closed society. That is the reason for its rejection.