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Five Ws
The Five Ws (sometimes referred to as Five Ws and How, 5W1H, or Six Ws)[1] are questions whose answers are considered basic in information gathering or problem solving. They are often mentioned in journalism (cf. news style), research and police investigations.[2] According to the principle of the Five Ws, a report can only be considered complete if it answers these questions starting with an interrogative word:[1]
The Five Ws and How were long attributed to Hermagoras of Temnos.[5] But in 2010, Michael C. Sloan[6] established Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics as the source of the elements of circumstance or Septem Circumstantiae. Thomas Aquinas had much earlier acknowledged Aristotle as the originator of the elements of circumstances, providing a detailed commentary on Aristotle's system in his "Treatise on human acts" and specifically in part one of two Q7 "Of the Circumstances of Human Acts". Thomas Aquinas examines the concept of Aristotle's voluntary and involuntary action in his Summa Theologiae as well as a further set of questions about the elements of circumstance.[7] Primarily he asks "Whether a circumstance is an accident of a human act" (Article 1), "Whether Theologians should take note of the circumstances of human acts?" (Article 2), "Whether the circumstances are properly set forth (in Aristotle's) third book of Ethics" (Article 3) and "Whether the most important circumstances are 'Why' and 'In What the act consists'?" (Article 4).
For in acts we must take note of who did it, by what aids or instruments he did it (with), what he did, where he did it, why he did it, how and when he did it.[7]
For Aristotle, the elements are used in order to distinguish voluntary or involuntary action.
Because Aristotle employs this schema as a primordial crucible for defining the difference between voluntary and involuntary agents (a topic of incalculable importance in the works of Aristotle), the benefits of locating this schema within Aristotle, and ultimately providing clarification of the passage, may prove helpful to a number of disciplines (Sloan 2010, 236).
These elements of circumstances are used by Aristotle as a framework to describe and evaluate moral action in terms of What was/should be done, Who did it, How it was done, Where it happened, and most importantly for what reason (Why), and so on for all the other elements. He outlines them as follows in the Ethics as translated by Sloan.
Therefore it is not a pointless endeavor to divide these circumstances by kind and number; (1) the Who, (2) the What, (3) around what place (Where) or (4) in which time something happens (When), and sometimes (5) with what, such as an instrument (With), (6) for the sake of what (Why), such as saving a life, and (7) the (How), such as gently or violently…And it seems that the most important circumstances are those just listed, including the Why.[6]
For Aristotle (in Sloan), ignorance of any of these elements can imply involuntary action.
Thus, with ignorance as a possibility concerning all these things, that is, the circumstances of the act, the one who acts in ignorance of any of them seems to act involuntarily, and especially regarding the most important ones. And it seems that the most important circumstances are those just listed, including the Why[6]
In the Politics, Aristotle illustrates why the elements are important in terms of human (moral) action.
I mean, for instance (a particular circumstance or movement or action), How could we advise the Athenians whether they should go to war or not, if we did not know their strength (How much), whether it was naval or military or both (What kind), and how great it is (How many), what their revenues amount to (With), Who their friends and enemies are (Who), what wars, too they have waged (What), and with what success; and so on.[8]
Essentially, these elements of circumstances provide a theoretical framework that can be used to particularize, explain or predict any given set of circumstances of action. Hermagoras went so far as to claim that all hypotheses are derived from these seven circumstances.
In other words, no hypothetical question, or question involving particular persons and actions, can arise without reference to these circumstances, and no demonstration of such a question can be made without using them.[5]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Ws