Notes on
Aristotle' Nicomachean Ethics
Who Aristotle Was:
With
Plato, Aristotle was one of the two most influential philosophers of ancient
Greece, and the ideas of both of them continue to be very influential in modern
times. He was born about 2400 years ago, in 384 B.C or B.C.E. (B.C. means
"before Christ" and B.C.E. means "before the common era," a
non-religious way of saying the same thing). He was a student of Plato's, but
disagreed with Plato in many important ways, and eventually founded his own school
at Athens, the capital of Greece. For a while he was the tutor to Alexander the
Great, who became king of Macedonia and conqueror of a large part of the
ancient world. Aristotle died in 322 B.C.E., 25 years after Plato. He left a
large body of work on philosophy and natural science. His most import works are
his Metaphysics and Nicomachean Ethics.
The glossary on pages 315 to 354 of your text will
help you understand Aristotle's terminology. Here are a few comments on his
more important terms:
1. Good. Roughly speaking, this is
whatever people want, need, or benefit from. Aristotle claims that there are a
many goods, but the most complete good is happiness. We can also talk about a
good person, and being something's being good for something.
2. Happiness. Living well and
doing well. Not the same thing as pleasure. Happiness is the complete goal in
itself, and does not require some goal beyond it. This seems to be what
Aristotle means by calling it "self-sufficient" (p. 8).
3. Fine or Beautiful.
Deserving our admiration or praise. Opposite of shameful or disgraceful.
4. Virtue. Not just "moral
virtue" as people usually use those words. The virtue of something,
including a human being, is what makes it fulfill its function well. Being
sharp is a virtue of a knife. For humans Aristotle divides virtues into virtues
of thought (like understanding) and virtues of character (like generosity).
5. Craft. A rational discipline
concerned with producing something, a kind of production guided by some
theoretical knowledge. Examples: medicine, navigation, gymnastics, shoemaking,
house building.
6. Soul. Aristotle does not use
this word in the way you are used to. The soul of something is its
characteristic activity or function. For him every living thing has soul, but a
soul cannot be separated from the thing it is the soul of. For human beings,
you can often treat "soul" as equivalent to "mind."
7. Base. This means "bad,"
but also "inferior," something that would be done by an inferior
person in Aristotle's view, like a slave.
8. Study. Contemplating something, thinking about it, theorizing about it, not for some practical purpose, but just for the sake of the activity itself. Cramming for an exam or balancing your check book is not study. Proving a mathematical theorem for fun or thinking through the nature of happiness are examples of study. Study is the highest human activity, and necessary to complete happiness, according to Aristotle
Assignments in Nicomachean Ethics:
1.
Happiness, virtue, good: pages 1-5 (down to 6), 7-12, 18-21, 25(from
§15) - 27 (down to 8).
2.
Voluntary action, virtues of character:
pages 37(5)- 38(down to §10), 40(6) – 41 (down to 7), 45(9) – 46,
48(§8), 49(1) – 51, 56(3) – 60(down to 4).
3.
Justice: pages 67(1) – 76, 78(7) – 79 (down to 8),
4.
Virtues of thought, pleasure:
pages 86, 87(3) – 88(down to 4), 89(5) –92(down to 8), 114(11) –119
(down to 1).
5.
Friendship, political systems: pages 119(1) –123 (down to 4), 129(9)
–132 (down to 12).
6.
Happiness and study: pages 162 –167(down to 9).