Andrew Connor

I.       Aristotle’s Character Types

A.     Virtuous

i.                     Desires are in accordance with right decision and action

ii.                   Able to perceive needs of others ie. Can tell if the person really needs the money

B.     Continent

i.                     It would be against his or her desire to do good, but he or she will do good anyway

ii.                   Not as willing to give away his money, either from greedy disposition or over estimating need of it in the future

C.    Incontinent

i.                     An Incontinent person will succumb to the desire to keep the wallet

D.    Vicious

i.                     A vicious person will have no problem with keeping the wallet, or the money inside the wallet

II.    Homers Character: D’oh D’oh and double D’oh

A.     Temperance

i.                     Homer is vicious when it comes to bodily appetite.(more so with food and drink then sexual activity)

ii.                   Willingly succumbs to the desire of eating.

B.     Honesty

i.                     Habitual liar. Lies to his family all the time, but mainly towards Marge.

C.    Sensitivity

i.                     Lacks both benevolence and justice

ii.                   He made Ned Flanders sell him furniture for dirt cheap prices even though he knew Ned needed money.

D.    Friendship

i.                     He has drinking buddies but no real friends, none to share goals with.

E.     Parenting

i.                     He tries to win his kids love

ii.                   He throttles Bart

iii.                  He forgets about Maggie.

F.     Marriage

i.                     He doesn’t care about Marge’s projects

ii.                   “I am sorry for the marriage up to this point”

G.    Wisdom (Phronesis)

i.                     This is the ability to go through life intellectually, morally, and a goal oriented fashion.

ii.                   “Trying is the first step towards failure.”

iii.                  Homer has many dreams, but no goals

a)      A goal is a lifelong achievement, while a dream is hoping something can happen but not working towards it.

III. Homer’s Character: The Glimmer of a Few Woo-hoos

A.     Courage

i.                     Stands up to Mr. Burns when too much is asked of him

B.     Kindness

i.                     He helped Ned’s Leftorium store by boosting sales.

C.    Intelligence and Wisdom

i.                     He made an elaborate plan to bring bootleg alcohol to Springfield.

ii.                   “(Jesus) went against the Orthodox Church and was right to do so.”

IV.Assessment: Judging Homer

i.                     Homer is not evil

A.     Upbringing

i.                     Grew up in Springfield, whose inhabitants, except for Lisa, have character flaws.

B.     Not Malicious

i.                     Gluttonous, greedy, but he doesn’t wish anyone ill will.

C.    Not Virtuous

i.                     Vice for Food and Beer

ii.                   Lacks stability

V.   Conclusion: the Importance of being Homer

A.     Homers In Your Face Attitude

i.                     Shows his love and enjoyment of life.

ii.                   But no matter how much he loves life, it doesn’t mean he lives it to the fullest he can.