Principles over Passions

“To criticize a particular subject…a man must have been trained in that subject: to be a good critic generally, he must have had an all-round education.  Hence the young are not fit to be students of Political Science.  For they have no experience of life and conduct, and it is these that supply the premises and subject matter of this branch of philosophy.  And moreover they are led by their feelings; so that they will study the subject to no purpose or advantage, since the end of this science is not knowledge but action.  And it makes no difference whether they are young in years or immature in character; the defect is not a question of time, it is because their life and its various aims are guided by feeling; for to such persons their knowledge is of no use, any more than it is to persons of defective self-restraint.  But Moral Science may be of great value to those who guide their desires and actions by principle.” Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics I. iii. 5-7.  [Emphasis added]

 

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