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    Challenges→It is in our power to be either virtuous or vicious.

    Aristotle himself concedes in Nicomachean Ethics III.5 that character, once formed through early habituation, constrains the range of choices available to the agent.

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    1 reason for
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    Reasons For

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    Reason for
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    • 1.Habituation shapes neural pathways and emotional responses, making certain choices psychologically easier or harder to execute.
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    • 2.A virtuous person with well-formed character finds vicious choices genuinely unappealing, not merely forbidden—this is freedom through constraint.
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    • 3.Aristotle's account matches empirical evidence: early childhood experiences demonstrably limit adult behavioral repertoires.
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    Reasons Against

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    Reason against
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    • 1.Constraint on choice-range is not uniquely about character; circumstances, ignorance, and coercion equally limit available options.
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    • 2.III.5 actually emphasizes that deliberation about particulars remains open even for habitually virtuous agents—constraining range ≠ eliminating agency.
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    • 3.If character merely constrains without determining, agents retain meaningful choice within that range, undermining the determinism the claim suggests.
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    Free Will & Foreknowledge1 linked

    Related

    A virtuous person with well-formed character finds vicious choices genuinely una...Aristotle's account matches empirical evidence: early childhood experiences demo...Constraint on choice-range is not uniquely about character; circumstances, ignor...Habituation shapes neural pathways and emotional responses, making certain choic...
    +3 moreShow less
    III.5 actually emphasizes that deliberation about particulars remains open even ...If character merely constrains without determining, agents retain meaningful cho...It is in our power to be either virtuous or vicious.

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    Aristotle himself concedes in Nicomachean Ethics III.5 th... — Carmelics