Pojam navike kod Aristotela
The Concept of Habit in Aristotle

Summary/Abstract: Besides being important and rich in itself, Aristotle’s concept of habit represents the foundation of a more comprehensive understanding of his theory of virtues, and with it his ethics as a whole. Throughout the entire history of philosophy the underlying ideas of this issue have frequently generated interest; even today his teachings lie at the very core of one’s reflections on habit and are inevitably the very starting point of contemporary speculations. Thus, in addition to analysing Aristotle’s main texts on habit, this paper also examines the interpretations given by the Italian philosopher Luigi Pareyson, who holds that Aristotle’s originality lies in the idea of linking two different concepts, namely éthos and héxis. Pareyson sheds light on the relation in which ethos ends in order to make room for héxis, and further explains that the latter can issue from the former. The authoress first expounds the difference and relation between éthos and héxis, as well as the way in which they can be the source of habit, which is – as such – both the outcome and condition of man’s deeds. According to Aristotle, by repeating acts, habits enable man to be such as he appears to be to himself, in which freedom transforms into necessity and effort into spontaneity. In other words, once the acts that were initially effortful and laborious to the will become a habit, the will does them spontaneously and with ease. Aristotle considers this property of habit vitally important in education and politics, due to which it can indeed be said that this topic is current even today.

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