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.
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." Happiness is not merely being content, or feeling good. A child cannot be happy, Aristotle says, because he has not developed the virtues, so is not "doing well."
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. 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. 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
On Virtues:
Virtues of Character: Generosity, Justice, Bravery, Temperance (being able to have the right amount and right sort of bodily pleasures). Virtues of Thought: Understanding, Prudence, Study. Note that some of these virtues involved treating other people in the right way, while others don't relate directly to others.
On Happiness: Virtues are activities, not just abilities. I am not necessarily a just person if I know how to be just, but only if I actually act that way. Happiness essentially involves virtues, since virtues are the proper or good functioning of something, and humans cannot "be well and do well" unless they are acting according to the proper function of a human being. This means that happiness depends explicitly on human nature.