Golden Mean

Golden mean (philosophy)

The golden mean or golden middle way is the desirable middle between two extremes, one of excess and the other of deficiency. It appeared in Greek at least as early as the Delphic maxim "nothing in excess", which was discussed in Plato's Philebus. Aristotle analyzed the golden mean in the Nicomachean Ethics Book II: That virtues of character can be described as means. It was subsequently emphasized in Aristotelian virtue ethics. For example, in the Aristotelian view, courage is a virtue, but if taken to excess would manifest as recklessness, and, in deficiency, cowardice. The middle way form of government for Aristotle was a blend between monarchy, democracy and aristocracy.

Golden mean (Judaism)

In Jewish literature, the golden mean is primarily associated with the philosopher Rambam, and was influenced by the Greek philosopher Aristotle. In Mishneh Torah, Rambam attributes the method to the first scholars (Chazal) and to Abraham. Similar concepts exist in the Rabbinic literature, Tosefta, the Yerushalmi, and Musar literature. Rabbi Yitzhak Arama also finds references in the Bible.

Average

In mathematics, an average of a collection or group is a value that is most central, common, or typical in some sense, and represents its overall position. In mathematics, it most commonly refers to the arithmetic mean, but may also refer to other measures such as other types of mean, the median, or the mode.

Gold (color)

Gold, also called golden, is a color tone resembling the chemical element gold.

golden mean

Noun

1. A position of balance between excess and deficiency.