Crisis. Philosophy and Virtue. Onthe Present Validity of Arete

Abstract

Crisis means the culminating moment of a risk process. in which everything can be lost or found. Starting from that premiss. this paper points out three levels of Western culture's crisis. These levels concern the orientation, the growth and the foundation of individuals. groups and institutions. The crisis in different ways touches sciences. social political praxis and philosophy. Those three levels of crisis are visible in the philosophers, a phenomenon of undoubtable heuristic strength, since it enables one to find concrete relevance in the notion of arete. Indeed, philosophy understands its present sense as a concentration point of contemporary crisis.