(iPoster) Way(s) of the Warrior? Honor and the Pursuit of Virtue in Aristotle and Tsunetomo

• In Event: Poster Session: Foundations of Political Theory 2 (Historical) & Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Foundations of Political Theory 2 (Historical)

Abstract

Honor is a perennially important theme across the entire history of political philosophy. Moreover, it is a significant motivating factor in the pursuit of virtue, or human excellence, within a multitude of cultures. In this paper, I compare Aristotle’s view of nobility-and-goodness (καλοκαγαθία) in the context of Ancient Greece with Yamamoto Tsunetomo’s view of the way of the warrior (bushidō or 武士道) for the Japanese samurai. This analysis is vital because it sets up a comparison between two distinguished cultures to highlight some pivotal differences and unduly neglected similarities. In the Eudemian Ethics, Aristotle stressed that the noble-and-good human being has all of the virtues, does noble things for their own sake, and deserves the external goods including honor. In the Hagakure, Tsunetomo gave prominence to serving one’s lord and being prepared to die in the pursuit of honor. While there are some striking differences between these cultures, there are also comparable similarities worthy of more investigation including how to approach the pursuit of both courage and justice, the types of relationships between older and younger warriors, the role of piety in the honor culture, and lastly, the place of truth or wisdom in the warrior way of life. The preponderance of such similarities requires scholars to inquire further about a possible universal way of the warrior and its relevance within the political community.

Author

• Kenneth Andrew Andres Leonardo, Hamilton College