Dilbert, Aristotle, Character and Cows?

(PLEASE CLICK IMAGE FOR FULL COMIC STRIP)

Once again I find myself drawn to Dilbert for another example of Aristotelian thought. This time I will be looking at a twisted appeal to character. One of the attributes that Aristotle defines as a character is a person birth. While this trait lies outside of the realm of the person’s influence, it no less has as influence on the person. Aristotle says of birth, “The character of good birth is for the man who has it to be relatively ambitious; for all men, when they have something, are wont to accumulate it, and good birth is the reputation of one’s ancestors” (1). In the September 30th Dilbert comic strip by Scoot Adams, Dilbert and his colleges are faced with a humorous issue of species discrimination. The whole ordeal starts when the Elbonian clients introduce their bovine supervisor into the workforce of the office. While the Elbonian representative assures the workforce that there will be no discrimination from the supervisor, Dilbert, on the other hand, is quick to bring up that the Elbonians already have a biased view of non-Elbonians. It is poignantly observed by Dilbert that non-Elbonians are on a lower social plan due to the nature of being born outside the decadency of Elbonia. Even though there may not be any discrimination from the supervisor, there is already discrimination from those over the supervisor. Thus the issue comes down to the character of birth. The reassurance of Elbonian representative is really a backhanded insult attacking the very character of birth the human workforce. Good ancestry gives a man one up on the competition in that he is already standing in good report solely on the merit of his descendants’ reputation. For Dilbert and the rest of the workforce, just being born non-Elbonian is enough to lower their reputation to that of cattle.

(1) Aristotle: The Art of Rhetoric.
(2) Scott Adams: Dilbert.