Areté

It’s likely that you’ve never seen this word before. A modern Arête is simply a sharp mountain ridge. Areté however, was a term first used by the Greeks, and has been mostly lost to modern society. In the most basic sense Socrates used the word to mean, “excellence of any kind.” What he meant by excellence though was, the ultimate fulfillment of somethings purpose or function. To pursue areté was to reach for the fullest potential. This could be the fullest potential of a man, this could be the fullest potential of a horse, this could be the fullest potential of a nation.

Areté doesn’t have a singular definition, because it means something different to each thing that it is applied to. The areté of a race horse would be to be as fast and durable as it can possibly be, or if it were a plow horse, reaching areté would mean to be as strong and durable as it can possibly be. The areté of a table, would be to be as sturdy and level as possible. Every person, has their own personal areté that only they are capable of perceiving. Socrates saw this as living to ones highest morals and virtues, which can only be discovered through the pursuit of wisdom. If you have achieved areté, then you have achieved ultimate happiness, ultimate security in who you are, and ultimate security in your actions. You have become the most excellent version of yourself.

So how do we know, what our own personal areté is? Socrates said this of the individual:

“He is indeed one who sets his house in order, by self-mastery and discipline, coming to be at peace with himself, and bringing into tune all parts of his life. - - Only when he has linked these parts together in well-tempered harmony and has made himself one man instead of many, will he be ready to go about whatever he may have to do.”

In order to achieve areté we must be able to truly contemplate ourselves. To truly contemplate what it is we want to achieve with our lives. Then we must pursue that life, and tune all our parts to that purpose. We must tune our desires, tune our thoughts, and tune our actions to the singular purpose that we decide for ourselves. To Socrates this was the means for the individual to achieve true happiness. (Socrates also had some caveats to this, in that your pursuit must be just, and that the truly just person never causes harm to anyone, even their enemies.)

I think it’s much more difficult in modern society, to achieve areté, than it was in ancient Greece. The blacksmith could attain areté by forging the best quality goods he could, and never ripping anyone off. However the blacksmith in ancient Greece, only saw as much of the world as his eyes could see in that moment. Today, our gaze stretches across the globe. It’s harder to find a singular purpose in life, when presented with every possible option conceivable. It’s hard to be ultimately secure in your choices, when there seem to be infinite choices, and they all have their merits.

I think in today’s society, you must be capable of deeply reflecting on your life, and be content with the choices you’ve made. You must be kind to others. You must help others to raise themselves up, as you raise yourself up. You must strive for excellence in all your pursuits. I think if you practice these things in your day to day, you will achieve areté in this life.