Aristotle: Above the Mean
With the strict oppression of thought by religion and government in the 2nd century B.C.E., it's a surprise in itself that Aristotle, a man with such revolutionary thoughts and ideas was able to let his thinking be known to the entire world (as it was known back then). It is therefore even more surprising that his idea's have survived these many centuries though books, a medium of writing that has a notorious reputation of being burned when something in its contents doesn't match the current beliefs of the established system of government or the church. We can certainly all be thankful that his idea's have survived thus far because of the tremendous impact that they have had on thought, government, and the way of life throughout the entire world in general. Aristotle was a revolutionary thinker whose ideas have no rival from anyone in his own school of thought.
In book Two of Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics, Aristotle lets out arguably some of his best work. The idea that in life, people shouldn't strive to be the best, but instead aim for the middle, or the mean as Aristotle calls it, was something new and innovative not only then, but even to some people today. He further backs his assumption up by supplying more than enough examples. To start out, Aristotle first defines what is "good" and what is "bad". He does this by providing examples of several things that have both a good side along with a bad side. One example he gives is lawmakers. A lawmaker can have a positive effect on society or a negative one. Judging by the effect his laws have on the people, he is then determined to be either a bad lawmaker or a good one. Moreover, ...