Ética tau y utopía en Aristóteles

Abstract

“Ethos” and “ethos”, roots of the word “ethic”, are written with the consonant “theta” (Th). “Etos”, written with the consonant “tau” (T), means “year”. The aim of this paper is to highlight the presence of what I have called “tau ethic” in Greek political thought. To paraphrase Nietzsche, I perceive the birth of ethics out of the spirit of “ethos/ethos/etos”. To start with, Solon was one of the seven sages. Nobody could deny his influence in Archaic and Classical Greece. He was considered in those days a kind of founding father. His division of human life into periods of seven years was the canonical way of thinking about it in ancient times. In addition, Plato and Aristotle use to quote Solon as an indisputable authority. Finally, I show that Aristotle’s utopia is built on Solonian cornerstones. On the one hand, I emphasize the importance of Solonian anthropological thought in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and Politics. On the other hand, I show how ideal society is designed according to the age group into Aristotle´s utopia. To put the problem succinctly, an essential element of Aristotle’s practical philosophy is what I have called “tau ethic”, an issue not sufficiently researched.