Houses are owned. Clothes are owned. The computer that I use to write this essay is owned. Ownership is possession of an object. It is the process of seeing and taking. It is making something your own. When someone owns an object, it shows who they are and what they want. Aristotle states that ownership of tangible goods helps to develop moral character. This can be seen as true. For example, owning a phone will build a much different moral character than owning a book. But, are objects the only thing that someone can own that builds their characters? Jean-Paul Sartre argues that ownership extends beyond objects to include intangible things as well. Can someone own love? Own peace? Or maybe even own the feeling they get when we see their favorite dessert? If ownership is possession of an object and is seeing and taking then the answer to these would be yes. People can have possession over love and peace. They have the power to own the feelings they have each day. Ownership branches out much more than objects but is rooted by our own characteristics and is built from there.
As no one is the same, no one will own the same thing. A football player will not own the same equipment as a soccer player. They are two different types of sports having two different types of rules enforced in the game. As people's characteristics are different, what they own will definitely be different as well. Someone who is playful and active may own a dog while someone who is more serious and laid back will probably own a cat. What people have shows how different everyone is. Also, people's actions show this. When someone gives away their last pencil, it shows that they are selfless and willing to help. These actions show the intangible ownership that they possess. Not everyone will study for a test a week in advance, but for people who do then they own the ability to be studious and prepared. Not everyone can play an instrument, but for those who can may own dedication and a love for music. There also is the factor of two or more people that own some things that are the same but not everything that they own will be the same. With both tangible and intangible, there are many different types and people choose the type that fits them and who the are.
Characteristics don't just appear after we own something though. They must be there from before. Notice how Aristotle says develop and not make. It isn't that characteristics come with ownership but that ownership comes with characteristics. Someone who is peaceful may not own a rifle. It wouldn't fit with their characteristics and the way theta they want to live. Who someone is plays a big part in what they will own. Ownership isn't random. Everything from the type of sheets someone buys for the bed to the house they own to live in all follows suit with what who they are. The characteristics are the base and ownership only moves from that base.
Characteristics and ownership work hand in hand with each other. Though one comes before the other, someone really can't have characteristics and own nothing at all. Everyone have emotions and feelings at they possess inside of them. Ownership isn't just things that someone see but is also the unseen as well. So when people look at all that they own, they find who they truly are. Because ownership means to express the characteristics that someone has.
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