So, if being wasteful is not the same as generosity, then generosity means that someone gives and expects to receive? I guess this part of the book confuses me because doesn't it seem if someone was giving with the intention of receiving something in return, then that isn't considered generosity?
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Generosity
In class we discussed 1120b line 2. There is a part in that section that says, "But it is most definitely a characteristic of a generous person to go to excess in giving, so that less is left for himself..." A couple pages later Aristotle says, "And this is why such a person does not seem to be base in character, for to go in excess in giving and not getting is a sign neither of a vicious person nor of bad breeding but of someone foolish." This is describing someone who is wasteful in the eyes of Aristotle.
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In my opinion, I think Aristotle is getting at two separate ways of giving. A generous person gives without in regards to him or herself. Such as, I'm donating money to a charity.. I could donate $10 to be nice and say I did it, or I could be generous and donate $25 because I know they need it. That is generous, and not thinking 'I'm going to need that extra $15 for myself.' However, if I were to donate, say, $1000 to that charity, or some large amount of money that I couldn't afford, which would in turn hurt me, then I would be foolish because I would be giving too much so I could not survive.
ReplyDeleteAs for the generous person giving and expecting something in return... I'm just as fuzzy as you are.
Hope that helped!
In the lines before where your quote is Aristotle says this, "But he will not be careless of what belongs to him, since he wants to assist some people by means of it." I think that he is saying that people should know their limits with how generous they can be. Not everyone will be able to give an "excess" they might be able to only give a small amount. I think Aristotle means that giving an excess of your wealth is generous but you can also be generous by giving less and wanting something in return.
ReplyDeleteI don't see any generosity in giving something and wishing for something in return. Being generous with something means being unselfish with it and if your wanting something back everytime you give an amount, whether it be $5 or $500, you should never need something in return to feel good about it. It's human nature for us to want to know that our deed was successful in accomplishing whatever act we had in mind. We always want to know that what we did helped someone (if that was our purpose), but to need something in return to feel good about it means your really not giving away anything your trying to form a trade. No matter if what you seek is a small amount back from a large one, your not giving your trading for your personal comfort.
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