owever, he feels strongly that without proper understanding of our emotions, no matter what our natures are we will not flourish. (P 54). Strong showing of emotion is at no time appropriate and we should instead be turned off by such displays. Our emotions constrain us and will not allow us to flourish if we do not correctly train them through education, whose goal should be to teach us what, should be pleasurable and what should be painful. Plato does believe that certain emotions are important to life and should be permitted as long as we understand which emotions are permitted and desirable. However, if these emotions are expressed strongly, we will only be distracting ourselves from attaining reason and flourishing, by giving too much attention to our desires. Aristotle gives emotion a more important role than Plato does; he emphasizes that if emotions are experienced at the right time in the right way they are beneficial to human flourishing. In Aristotle's mind if the context of the emotion is appropriate, then the emotion itself can be construed as being helpful to attaining moral virtue. If we feel pleasure doing the right thing, express it as appropriate to that, then emotion is a good thing, and will help us flourish.Aristotle also believes that the soul has two aspects, rational and irrational. Under the rational aspect lies contemplative and practical reason; under the irrational aspects lie the vegetative element, desires, and emotions. He believes though, that in the perfect circumstance emotion and desire can be rational, thus allowing individuals the ability to express strong emotions. It is important for the individual to use practical reasoning to attain and categorize emotion as rational. While Plato's view supports emotion less then Aristotle's, both philosophers seem to realize that if emotion in felt correctly it can in the attainment of human flourishing. Both men seem to draw deeply in the idea that earl...
