Ethics
Lecture 5: A Thing's Own Act Is Its End: The Two-Layered Induction

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at least, does better than other things. So what is the eye zone act? To see, right? Because the eye is the only part of the body through which we can see, right? And the ear zone act is to hear, right? Now to walk, whose own act is that? It goes to the legs and the feet, right? Maybe you've seen somebody on TV, or somebody who can what? Walk on his hands, right? But can they walk as well as you walk on your feet? No. It's not really the hand zone act, is it? It's still called the foot zone act, even though the hand might be able to do it to some extent, right? Look at the desk at the school there, you see people carve things with a knife or something, right? Could you take notes of the knife? Well, sometimes, you know, in a house, you know, when you can't find a screwdriver, people have taken out a table knife, you see, but they kind of wreck the knife and so on, and it doesn't work as well, right? So that's not the nice zone act, right? See? Although you might be able to use it, right? As a, what? Substitute, right? I was trying to make some chicken the other day, I was supposed to hammer the chicken down to make, for he had this white line to it. Uh-huh. I couldn't find this hammer my wife has for doing that, so I got the regular hammer out. He did the job, you know, he does it, he does it, he does it, he does it, he does it, he does it, he does it. So, this is the definition of a thing's own act. It's what that thing alone can do, or at least does better than other things, right? Okay. Now, is there a connection between the end or purpose, that for the sake of which something is, and its own act? Well, we're going to approach this by a kind of argument called induction, right? Okay. Okay. Now, I'd like to make this kind of a long induction, right, huh? An action induction in a couple of stages, huh? Okay. So, I make an induction, to begin with, from the tools of man. Okay. And then an induction from the organs of man. Now, the word organ, by the way, comes from the Greek word organon, which means tool in Greek. Okay. So that the human body, or the body of an animal, is a body put together from tools. And then, make an induction from the occupations of man. Okay. Now, what we're going to look at, is at each of these things own acts. And then, at the end or purpose of each of these things, right, and if we see, in particular, each one of them, a connection between the things own act and its end or purpose, and we'll be able to induce, right, that a tool zone act is its end. Okay. And an organ zone act is its end or purpose. Okay. And an occupation zone act is its end or purpose, right? Okay. And then, induced from those, even more general statement, the thing zone act is its end or purpose. Okay? Now, we start with the tools of man. And we could say, a nice own act is what? To cut, yeah. That's what the knife does, alone, or does at least better than other tools, right? Okay. A nice own act is to cut. What's the purpose of a knife? Why do you have a nice in our house? So a nice own act is to cut, and to cut is the end of the knife. Okay? Maybe I'll give myself a little more room here, because I'm running out of space over there. You see these big boards? When I was a freshman in college, Alan, I was in this classroom that had blackboards all around on the walls, and I was taking this mathematics course, and he started writing equations on the board, and he'd go all around the room, so in the class he'd go all around the room. We're piling around the room. There's a tough guy come in with a cigar and spoke with a cigar in class. Did he say he'd been a paratrooper during the war or something? He'd always have a tough guy. He'd always have a nice own act, and you know what you mean by own act, right? What it alone does is what it does better than others. And to cut is the end of the knife. That's for the sake of which we have knives in our house, right? And then we take that pen, you say. What's a pen's own act? To write. To write, huh? And what's the inner purpose of a pen? Why do you buy a pen, huh? And to write is the end of the pen, huh? Now, if you go through a house or any monastery, I suppose, you're going to find all kinds of tools, right? And each tool has what? An end purpose. Its own act, right? And you'd find in each case, the reason why you have that tool there is for that act, right? A hammer's own act is to what? Hammer, right? And to hammer is the purpose of the knife, right? The saw's own act, right, is to saw, right, you know? And to saw is the purpose of having the saw around, right? Saw the tree down, right? George Washington, huh? Uh-huh. So, I'm just giving a little indication here, but you can see, huh? You know, we've got a corkscrew. It's a very important tool. You see? And the corkscrew does something that, you know, some people get dissed that you're trying to open up a cork with a regular knife or something, you know? And, of course, you can do it if you have to, you know? But it won't be as nice and smooth. You probably part the cork down the line and saw it, you see? So, the corkscrew's own act is to what? Remove a cork, right? And that's why we have a corkscrew in the house. You see the idea? Okay? You get the idea, right? See? Okay. So, you can make an induction and say that a tool's own act is its, what? End or purpose, huh? Make sense? Mm-hmm. So, a screwdriver's own act is to turn the, what? Screw, let's say, right? And that's the purpose of it, right? That's why we have it in there, right? So, you can turn the screws and so on. Screw the things. Okay. Now, you can go to the organs of our body. And that's very similar to this. And as I mentioned already, the word organ comes in the Greek word organon. Meaning, a tool. It's the common word, tool. If you ever see the basic works of Aristotle say, you know, they'll sometimes put the logical works in the beginning together, right? And I call that, as the Greeks did, the organon. Meaning, it's the tool of, what? Philosophy, right? Okay. Logic is not for its own sake, but it's for the sake of acquiring the other parts of philosophy. It's a tool, right? Okay. So, we say, the eyes on act is to what? To see. And to see is the ender purpose of the eyes, right? The eyes are for the sake. And the ear zone act is to what? Here, that's the act that the ear alone can do. And to here is the end of the ear, right? And the heart zone act, not getting too profound here, is to pump blood, let's say, huh? Now, the case may be the things too. And to pump blood is the end of the purpose of the what? Heart, right? Okay. So you can go through the various parts of the body, and each organ, the liver and the pancreas and so on, because it's a little more complicated, but each one has its own what? Act, huh? And that's the end or purpose of the organ. That's why we have that organ, right? Okay. So again, eventually you can induce the general proposition that an organ's own act is its end. You see that? Then we can go to the occupations of man, right? So, a cook's own act is what? To cook, yeah. And why do we hire a cook? Let's say cooking, right? And to cook is the end of the cook. When I say the end of the cook, I mean to cook. But by the end, we mean that for the sake of it, right? Okay. I say sometimes, you know, happiness is the end of life, death is the end of life, therefore death is happiness. That's confusing to different meanings of end, right? Okay. And a pianist's own act is to do what? What's a pianist's own act? Play piano. What does he do alone or at least play another? Play piano. Yeah, play piano, right? Because we aren't easy. Now, why do we hire a pianist there in my restaurant? Play piano, right? So you bring the pianist as pianist, right? That's where it's. And to play the piano is the end of the pianist. Teacher's own act. Teach. To teach, right? And what do we hire a teacher for? To teach, right? That's where the teacher is. To teach, right? Okay. So you can go through the various occupations of man, right? The cook and the pianist and the teacher and so on, right? What's the policeman's own act, right? The policeman plays. Okay. The soldier's own act, right? But each occupation has its own act, right? What's either the man in that act, in that occupation, no one can do, or he's trained to do it better than that people do, right? Okay? And that's his purpose, right? So he could then induce an even more general statement, huh? Each occupation has its own act, and that act is its end, right? And we can make these inductions longer, but you can see the way they're going, right? Well, now, we can make a second induction now from these more general statements that we started with, but something we can induce even more general from them. What is that? Yeah. A thing's own act is its end or purpose. You see that? So now we've arrived by a two-layer induction there, right? The very general statement, which is that a thing's own act... Act is its end, meaning by end now the purpose, that for the sake of which end. You see that? Okay. So we arrive at this proposition by induction. You have some idea now, the induction that arrives at that, right? I don't believe the point, right? But we could spend, you know, how many tools I can have in an ordinary household in America? How many tools are there, right? You know, between the garage and the kitchen and, you know, quite a few, right? I have a machine whose own act is to play Mozart's CDs, right? I can't use my wife's beer there in the kitchen to play Mozart's CDs, right? That's not its own act. I can use that to whip up the cream or something or she can use it that way. The vacuum cleaner, right? Can't play any CDs in the vacuum cleaner, but it's got its own act too, okay? Which the CD thing will pick up the dirt and the dust on the floor, right? Okay. So each tool we have in the house has its own act, which it alone can do, or at least it's better than the other tools can do it, right? And that's the purpose. That's the sake of which we have the vacuum cleaner or the CD player or the equipment thing in the kitchen, okay? You see that? Okay. Now, if you know a little bit of wisdom, maybe we could give a reason why this is so, right? What general truth do you think kind of underlies this here, huh? Kind of the opposite of induction, you know, but some very action in the end? Act and ability, yeah. It's the type of act and ability, which we take up in wisdom, right? In the book of wisdom. But the ability is always an ability with some act, right? So ability is for the sake of act, isn't it? So the ability to see is for the sake of seeing. The ability to hear is for the sake of hearing, right? So everything that has its own act is characterized by its own, what? Ability, right? And ability is for the sake of act. So things own, what? Act is going to be its end, right? Because ability is for the sake of act, right? Okay. But it's easier to see this by induction, as you can see how much proportion that induction is more proportioned to us. Now, we can ask then, as there is a start with us in the first book, Is man without any act? Is he by nature without any activity? Is there any act, in other words, which either man alone has, or that he has at least better than other things, huh? To reason. Yeah. And maybe you could make it a little bit broader than that. You could say man is not just reason, right? But he's an animal with reason, an animal that has reason, right? So, man's own act would seem to be an act with reason, right? Okay? So, you could say man's own act is the act with reason. Okay? Now, if you go back to the definition of reason given by a Shakespeare there in the exhortation to use reason, if you understand what reason is fully, man alone has reason, right? Okay? But even if you're a dimwit modern, and you think that the ape and maybe even the dog has a mind in some sense, right? This is still the act which man has most of all, right? Okay? Or more so than other things, right? Okay? So even if you're dimwit understanding, you can see that man's own act is the act with reason, right? Okay? Now, I usually say it that way, the act with reason. I don't say... Um... Let me put this around the other way around that. I want to syllogize here. First figure. You can say, the act with reason is man's own act. But a thing's own act is its end, therefore, it can't. Now, let me come back upon this phrase, act with reason. Is act with reason mean the same thing as act with reason? Does it mean the same thing? How are those two phrases related? Act with reason and act of reason? It's only part of reason. You can say, every act of reason, like understanding, right? Reasoning and so on, defining and so on. Inducing, right? Every act of reason is obviously an act with reason, right? But, what about an act of the will? Take the fundamental act of the will, which is love, right? Can that be with reason too? Can there be a reasonable love? Okay. And what about even emotion? Can there be a reasonable anger? There can certainly be an unreasonable anger. When our Lord chases the money changers out of the temple, right? He has anger there, right? We see sometimes our Lord's anger with the Pharisees, right? And their kind of duplicity and so on, right? So, but that's a reasonable anger that our Lord has, right? Okay. So there can be a reasonable love, right? So that's an act with reason, but it's not an act of reason, right? Okay. So it can be an act of will or an emotion that is measured and ordered by reason, right? Okay. So if the house is on fire, should I try to get my books out before I get the baby out? Mm-hmm. No. That would be a disordered love, right, huh? I should get the baby out first, right? And then if there's time, get the books out or something about it, right? Yeah. Okay. If you bump me in the hall, should I get angry? I have to consider the circumstances, right? Was it an accident, right? That's one thing you consider, right? What's the intention? If it was an accident, was it due to your carelessness or not even your carelessness, right? Or if it was intentional, if you go down the hall like the guy in high school, you know, goes down the hall like you're going to put in purpose, right? Maybe you get a little bit, you know, a little bit of anger there, right? But not like if you're using my kids' retirement practice or something heightened and it costs a little more anger, right? You see? So, but even then, an action of my body, right? See? I'd say walking, right? Or eating, right? Connect an act with reason. Not an act of reason. Walking is an act of my legs. But maybe I need some exercise, right? The reason to tell them is to have an exercise, they should walk every day or something like that. So, so, this is an act with reason right okay so this phrase act with reason is broader than an act of reason right okay includes first of all an act of the will or an emotion that is moderated measured that is to say or ordered or vote by reason right and even to some extent what the acts of my body right so if i eat when i should in the amount i should for the circumstances on right that could be an act with reason right now that's why i say act with reason rather than act because man's own act if man is an animal with reason man's own act would have to be the act with reason reason's own act is the act of reason right okay so notice at this point i'm not saying that the act of reason itself is better than the act of the will right okay i'm not even saying that that reason is better than walking right that's something more recites right i may have to talk about later on right okay at this point i'm merely saying the act with what reason right and that involves not only the acts of reason but acts that are corrected and measured by reason okay you see that i tried to be simple with this so that the basic way there i'm going to go right usually we begin with an induction to show that a tool's own act is its end right an organ's own act is its end occupations own act is its end or purpose right and then they do see the more general statement the thing's own act is its end right and then we turn to man and say well is man something that has its own act right and if you know that man is an animal that has reason animal with reason then you know that the act of reason is man's own act and then you can by this kind of argument here which is called syllogism right um conclude that the act of reason is man's end right and your middle term is the thing's own act or man's own act right okay now we can we can be a little more more full right we can go back now to the inductions that we made and we said is the end or purpose of a knife just to cut in the old way or is the end or purpose of a knife to cut well you get a steak knife that's so dull you can't get a steak say give me that knife right okay because that knife that doesn't cut well is not reaching fully ready it's in their purpose is it and if you're as you're taking your notes you know every other letter there is blank um if it doesn't write well it's not really achieving the end or purpose right right why do you have these dumb things are on my face here right i can see without them right you know you might be a little bit blurred over there but uh so what you know the page might be blurred you know watching the game i might be well you know i can't see who's battered with his football or baseball you know um uh so the end of the eye is not just to see but what to see well right and the end of the the end of the knife is not just to cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut 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No, the end of the pianist is not just to play the piano, but to play it well, right? And the end of the teacher is not just to teach, but to teach well, right? So I can go back over those whole inductions and do the induction again, right? And say that the end of a tool is its own act done well, right? The end of an organ is its own act done well. The end of each occupation is to do its own act well, right? Do you see that? And therefore, a thing's own act, you might say, done well, is its what? End. And therefore, the act with reason, done well, is man's end, right? Okay? Now, sometimes at this point, it would seem almost obvious to the Greek, Aristotle. Another way to say what we just said here, done well, is to say it's the act with reason according to what? Human virtue is the end, right? Now, that kind of throws people at first because they have a very narrow understanding of what you mean by virtue, right? And that's because they try to start off with a very particular understanding of what virtue is. But there is a general meaning of virtue that is much broader in meaning than human virtue, right? There is a meaning of virtue that's as general as a thing's own act. Okay? That virtue is what enables the thing to do its own act well. And vice is the quality of the thing whereby its own act will be done badly, right? Okay? So that one could speak of virtue in the broad sense, or a vice for that matter, in anything that has its own act. So, one of the simplest examples I would give is what is a knife's own virtue? See? What quality is it that enables a knife to do its own act well? Well, what quality is it of the knife that enables the knife to cut well? Sharpness. Yeah, yeah. So sharpness is a good example of what we mean by virtue in general. And notice, sharpness is not what a knife is. Sharpness is not the same as the cutting that the knife does, right? Sharpness is not the knife's cutting well. But sharpness is the quality or the disposition of the knife that enables it to cut well. It enables it to do its own act well, right? Now, what would be the vice of the knife? What would be the quality or disposition or condition of the knife that would make the knife cut poorly? Dullness. Dullness, yeah. So, if you're interested in cutting well, interested in having your knife cut well, which is after all the purpose of the knife, not just to cut, but to cut well, then you should have some interest in the virtue of the knife and what that virtue is. and then you should have some interest in the knife. you should have some interest in the knife. you should have some interest in cutting well. you should have some interest in cutting well. So, if you're interested in cutting well, you should have some interest in cutting well. So, if you're interested in cutting well, And then the third question that arises is, how do you sharpen a knife? How do you give a knife its own virtue, right? Now, we're going to do that eventually for man, right? If man's end or purpose is the act with reason done well, right? What is the quality or disposition of the man whereby he does his own act well? Well, we can call that virtue or the virtue of a man, we can call it a human virtue. We have to investigate what that is, right? It's more difficult to figure out what that virtue is, it's actually more than one of them, than to figure out what the virtue of the knife is. But you can speak of the virtue of anything that has its own act. A friend of mine has a plaque in his kitchen wall that you may have seen in somebody else's kitchen. It says, I'll put it on the board here, it says, much virtue in herbs, little in men. Have you seen that in there? Yeah. Now there you see the, what? General meaning of virtue, right? And of course our Lord makes a comparison, right? He compares the salt to the earth, right? Yet the salt should lose in virtue, right? He casts it out, half under, right? Now what is the herb zone at? To season the food, right? So if you have fresh herbs, right? Herbs that have the virtue of an herb, they're going to season the food well, right? Okay. Now I know this guy is kind of, you know, expert cook and so on, and he claims to be, he'll come out to my house, you know, and he'll do something and he, I just hope they pull that out, but it's around too much of an herb, you know? You know? I mean, it's got to be fresh, you know what I'm saying? So he's looking for a virtuous herb, right, huh? Okay? But compared to men, herbs more often have the virtue of the herb, at least when they're first produced, right? You get it out of the garden or something, right? Most men don't have the virtue that they should have, right? Aristotle, in the rhetoric, huh? He makes a statement that might seem strange to us in the translation, but he says, wealth is the virtue of money. Power to be the vice of money, right? And notice, he doesn't say, wealth is the virtue of man, right? He says, wealth is the virtue of money. Why does he say that? Well, before you can know what the virtue of the thing is, you have to know what its own act is, right? And then secondly, what enables its own act to be done well, right? Now, what is money's own act? What do you do with money? You buy something, right? So if you're wealthy, then you can buy wealth. If you're poor, you've got to buy the cheap cut of meat, the second-hand clothing, and the cheap furniture, and so on, right? Okay? But if you're wealthy, then you can buy wealth, right? Buy that $100 bottle of wine or something, right? And if they even you own it or something, right? Okay? I know this one guy in California used to give newly married couples, you know, this book on, I don't know, A Hundred Ways to Fix Hamburg, because that's all they can afford, right? You know? You see the point, though? I see. Okay? So, up to this point, we can say the end of man is the act with reason done well, right? Or we can say the act with reason according to human virtue, right? Okay? And then you see the need to investigate what human virtue is. Just like we have to investigate what the virtue of the knife is, right? And then, likewise, how do you acquire human virtue? Just like we might ask, how do you sharpen a knife, right? You see that? Okay? You kind of blurred my right eye, my left eye here. I see more clearly. Which is my virtuous, our virtuous eye? Yeah. Yeah. And that doesn't mean I...