In Aristotle's doctrine of the mean, he describes his view of virtue and of it in relation to the daily life of an individual. Aristotle offers the public a system of virtues that allows them to improve their daily habits, making them more virtuous and therefore a better person. Through this perspective, we can intertwine morality with personality. Aristotle's theories on virtue vary greatly from those of his predecessors. In contrast to the views of someone like Plato, who believed that goodness came from knowledge, Aristotle argued that goodness was achieved by building virtuous habits. Aristotle stated “The virtue of man will also be the state of character, which makes a man good, and which makes him do his job well” (qtd. In Great Traditions of Ethics page 29). This means that being virtuous was a personality trait, which would help him do all the good things he needed to do. Aristotle believed that a morally virtuous person lives his life by choosing his actions according to a “golden mean.” This golden ratio is used as a standard to avoid excesses and defects; is an intermediary or...