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16 - The Polis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Samuel S. Franklin
Affiliation:
California State University, Fresno
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Summary

To establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty.

The Constitution of the United States of America

The parents, teachers, and friends who are responsible for virtue development in children are part of a larger community that Aristotle called the polis. The polis is necessary for our well-being and even for our very survival. It is only in the polis that we can obtain the goods we need to actualize potentials. We need food from the grocery store, books from the library, heat from the utility company, and police protection from those who would harm us. Of course, we can obtain some goods ourselves, alone in the wilderness, but the fact that almost all of us choose to live among others testifies to the need for the polis. Yes, it is common to want to be away and free from the maddening crowd for a short time but we don't want to remain there for very long. Our home is with others.

Whether we prefer the tranquil village or the teeming metropolis, we wish to be with our kind. And to live together we must agree to certain ethical principles, at least at some minimal level.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Psychology of Happiness
A Good Human Life
, pp. 149 - 157
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2009

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References

Verbeke, G. (1990). Moral education in Aristotle. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, Chapter 2, especially p. 77Google Scholar
Adler, M. (1996/1970). The time of our lives: The ethics of common sense. New York: Fordham University PressGoogle Scholar
Lane, R. E. (2000). The loss of happiness in market democracies. New Haven, CT: Yale University PressGoogle Scholar
Fromm, E. (1947). Man for himself: An inquiry into the psychology of ethics. Greenwich, CT: Fawcett Publications. See especially Chapter IV on “Problems of Humanistic Ethics.”Google Scholar
Waterman, A. S. (1984). The psychology of individualism. New York: Praeger PressGoogle Scholar
Rogers, C. S. (1961). On becoming a person: A therapist's view of psychotherapy. Boston: Houghton MifflinGoogle Scholar
Wallach, M., & Wallach, L. (1983). Psychology's sanction of selfishness. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman & Co. See especially p. 90Google Scholar
May, R. (1969/1981). Love and will. New York: Dell, see p. 102Google Scholar

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  • The Polis
  • Samuel S. Franklin, California State University, Fresno
  • Book: The Psychology of Happiness
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511819285.017
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  • The Polis
  • Samuel S. Franklin, California State University, Fresno
  • Book: The Psychology of Happiness
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511819285.017
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Polis
  • Samuel S. Franklin, California State University, Fresno
  • Book: The Psychology of Happiness
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511819285.017
Available formats
×