A day presents itself, Thursday.

In the afternoon I expect to join a circle of friends at the Barnes & Noble to discuss the topic of friendship in the light of what Aristotle had to say in the Nicomachean Ethics. Aristotle composed a summation of his understanding of life lived well, a legacy statement meant for his son. Somehow knowing the author’s intent lends weight to his point of view. Aristotle did not formulate his words as a professional exercise. His purpose could not be more personal, more intimate than to support the well being of his son, Nicomachus.

Here are some select lines from Section 1 of the ten sections of his essay:

Every art and every form of inquiry, like every practical activity and decision, seems to aim at some good. Thus, people have justly observed that the good is what all things aim for. However, there appears to be a difference among these goals: some are activities, while others are products over and above the activities which produce them, and with those in which the goal is something other than action, the products are naturally of higher value than the activities which create them.

…Now, what I have to say about this will be adequate if I clarify it as much as the subject matter allows. For we must not seek the same precision in all discussions, any more than in the work of all our craftsmen.

…For it is a characteristic of an educated man to look for as much precision in each subject as the nature of a particular area of inquiry admits. It seems just as foolish to accept probable thinking from a mathematician as to demand exact demonstrations from an orator.

The point of view offered by Aristotle comes down to life lived well is summed up by an aesthetic. That is, what is meant by excellence is a judgment of taste. Taste is difficult, even impossible to precisely define because “taste” is a dance on the high-wire of exact balance, the razor’s edge counterpoise of “good” and “evil.” These labels are of linguistic convenience, tools which we’ve fabricated because homo sapiens are social animals, and shared symbols are essential to jointly mapping perceived external reality, and the internal reality of our imagination. Aristotle reminds us to be satisfied with such degree of clarity commensurate to what our focus topic admits. A figure skater seeks none other than his/her class of precision!

Aristotle “doubles down” upon the social nature of our experience and self-development. What am I apart from you? Who would I be at this moment apart from collaboration, from the assistance offered by thousands of others whose paths I’ve crossed, whose destiny has intersected with that of mine? I am a composition of every encounter,..

Aristotle argues for mindful agency, a disciplined cultivation of excellence, attentiveness to the timing, to the texture of emotion, to the flow of relationship. As I care more, care proportionately in the reciprocity of exchange, – for example the stakes between a spouse and myself, between old friend and myself, the interface with a barista that I hardly know, etc., etc., each of us potentially becomes more adept at living a “beautiful” life.

*Header: arete – in English virtue or excellence

Perhaps Simple Minds expresses the same more eloquently! (Don’t you) Forget About Me.