Ethics, Definitions III summary
Definitions III of 17 · Part 4: Of Human Bondage, or the Strength of the Emotions · 2 min to read the chapter
In Definitions III, the speaker defines good and evil through usefulness and obstruction, distinguishes contingency from possibility, and explains how emotions can conflict. The unit also identifies an end with desire and virtue with power, while noting limits on how clearly we conceive distance in space and time.
What happens
- Good means what we know certainly helps us, while evil means what we know certainly blocks our attainment of good.
- Contingency concerns what a thing’s essence establishes about existence, while possibility concerns uncertainty about its producing causes.
- Emotions of one kind can pull someone in opposing directions, as luxury and avarice illustrate.
- Beyond a limit of clear conception, spatial or temporal distances appear equal.
- An end means a desire, and human virtue means the power to act through the laws of one’s nature.
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What distinguishes possible things from contingent things here?
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