Credibility & Ethics - A Moral Discussion

As I sit down to type out this blog post, the direction of the post developed a different path than originally intended. I had contemplated discussing one of my favorite themes in Nichomachean Ethics thus far, however, I ran into an issue about 30 pages into the book: the publisher was independent & the book was printed on the date of the order. Zampieri Books, the publisher of the version of Nichomachean Ethics that I had purchased, offered a bilingual translation of the book and I was ecstatic to read it. However, when I went to find the publisher and translator, I encountered the disturbing fact that there is no listing as to who translated this paper. Thus, in the discussion of credibility, I was prompted to purchase the Oxford World's Classics version of Nichomachean Ethics as the Oxford University Press is well-established, researched, and credible, and offers a translator and editor that are both well-versed in philosophy and the book itself. While I can not verify the accuracy of the translation as of the date of this post, in the discussion of credibility, I felt I had a moral obligation to compare and verify the translations from a more researched and scholarly resource to ensure that both my message and interpretation is not misguided as to not misguide anyone who may listen to what I have to say. More on this as I continue to research and analyze these documents.

I felt that it would be worthwhile to document exactly what I have experienced emotionally only two weeks into the development of this blog and my journey to understanding and defining credibility. I was slightly disappointed and demotivated when I could not verify the legitimacy of the translation of the book that I had begun to enjoy studying. I spent the last week awaiting the new copy of Nichomachean Ethics as I did not feel it good and best in my character to continue analyzing a text that has not been tried and tested compared to other, more scholarly resources. In my attempts to understand the moral obligation I have when writing upon this subject, as foolish and inadequate as I am on the subject as of current, I could not help but feel inspired when I sat down to write this post. There is something beautiful in the challenge of establishing credibility. Whether you write the post or simply say you will. In a previous post, I outlined that in order to be credible, you must establish credibility with yourself. Dr. Jordan Peterson speaks frequently on a similar issue where he essentially states that you can not be a tyrant to yourself. You have to design a day that you want in order to successfully develop a schedule. That is something that always stuck with me and as I work to become an author and expert on this subject, I am tasked with communicating my challenges and hardships in a way that is as transparent as possible.

Therefore, this post is not an analysis but rather a reflection. I have almost completed the introduction of the Oxford University Press's version of Nichomachean Ethics and will shortly be able to discuss the content of credibility more in-depth. However, it appears I may have stumbled upon one important conclusion: there are only two ways to build credibility; you either create it or you borrow it. Created credibility seems to look something like building your knowledge base on a particular subject and beginning to communicate your knowledge (something that might even take the form of a blog). However, I am not so naive as to believe that I believe I can actually speak on such matters with the little knowledge of the subject that I do possess. Hence, I must borrow credibility from other, well-established sources (such as Aristotle and Dr. Jordan Peterson) in an attempt to develop my position and validation of the discussion at hand. The point of where I am going is that when you are beginning to build credibility, you can not escape the time that it will take to develop it properly. Therefore, in the meantime, while you are attempting to organize your thoughts and research, you must be willing to borrow others' credibility and possess the willingness to contemplate and reflect on the message that has been set forth.

To conclude, I will leave you with a note from the Introduction of the Nichomachean Ethics: "...the best thing in us is one aspect of reason, not reason in general. It is the aspect that studies unchanging objects and necessary truths; the highest activity is contemplation, and its virtue is wisdom (sophia), in that special sense confining it to excellence in theoretical, i.e. philosophical thinking" (Ross et al., 2009).

Our gift is the ability to reason and Aristotle constantly defines that the greatest good does not come from knowledge but from action. We must dare to analyze, seek the truth, and contemplate the ways of the world for that is the job of a philosopher and a philosopher is a lover of wisdom. If you, like me, love wisdom and dare to contemplate the subjects of our world (like credibility) and seek the truths, you too are a philosopher. In this sense, by being able to decipher the context of our thinking and analyze texts such as Nichomachean Ethics, we are actively pursuing credibility as a philosopher, a thinker, and as a reasonable judge of ethics.

If you enjoyed this post or found it helpful, please consider following the blog and enjoy my journey to establishing credibility.

Stay credible my friends.

Collens W.

References:

Ross, W. D., & Brown, L. (2009). Aristotle, The Nichomachean Ethics. Oxford University Press.