Aristotel's teaching on virtues and its social prospects

The article is devoted to the issue of an understanding of a person’s way of life through the prism of perception of Aristotle’s ethical teachings as an important element of human culture, expressed in the virtuous attitude of people to the world. The presented article reveals the key aspects of virtue in the “Aristotelian” sense and the understanding of the correctness of human actions by the ancient philosopher. As the main value and moral guideline, the scale of virtuous knowledge developed by Aristotle is considered, where virtue itself is the “golden mean”, and extremes (vices) are found on different sides of the latter. This work reflects the views of the ancient philosopher on human virtue. He considers the right actions of a person from the point of view of conscious moderation and reasonable prudence in their commission while rejecting the desire to help a person at any cost, as the basis of the measure virtue. Aristotle sees the achievement of “happiness” as the main goal of human behavior. But a feeling of satisfaction from the blissful state should not be expressed as a result of neglect of the moral principles of society but rather through personal growth, achieved through self-improvement, self-restraint, and detachment from attachment to the benefits of the outside world. According to Aristotle, sensory pleasures are achieved not by striving to achieve a comfortable existence in any way but by sensible and moderate motives of a person to feel genuine pleasure through the right actions. It is noted that the Aristotelian doctrine of virtue requires its theoretical understanding and analysis within the framework of the ethics of virtue, which claims to be the practical application of its results in modern society.