Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics Andrew Komasinski, PhD Hokkaido University of Education Asahikawa

Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics

Andrew Komasinski, PhDHokkaido University of Education

Asahikawa

Vocabulary to Look up

• Function (n)• Tutor (v)• Typo (n)• Rhetoric (n)• Phenomenon (n)• Bridle (n)• Cultivated (adj)

• Subordinate (adj)• Gratification (n)• Vulgar (adj)• Achievable (adj)• Craft (n)• Horsemanship (n)

Words I will explain

• Academy (n)• Metaphysics (n)• The good (n)• The highest good (n)• End (n)• Telos (n)• Virtue (n)

Who was Aristotle 1

日本語 : アリストテレス 384–322 B.C.E.He was born in: MacedoniaHe studied at Plato’s Academy from age 17 until Plato died in 347

Who was Aristotle 2

• After Plato died, he went and studied biology for five years in other parts of Greece and Turkey.

• He tutored Alexander the Great for about two years.

• He married Pythias and had a daughter named Pythias (not a typo)

• Aristotle returned to Athens in 335BCE (12 years after he left).

Who was Aristotle 3

In Athens, he started his own school to rival the Academy – the Lyceum He had another child with a woman named Herpyllis named Nicomachus Nicomachean Ethics.He wrote about 200 books (we have 31 items).What we have are lecture notes.

Aristotle’s Writings

Aristotle wrote about everything:

• Raising Animals, Biology, Physics• Politics (Government), Ethics• Rhetoric, Poetry, Literary

Interpretation ( 文学解釈 )• Logic• Metaphysics ( 形而上学）

Aristotle’s Pattern

• Define the topic• Look at phenomenon and popular

opinions • Figure out which opinions to pay

attention to• Argue for what he thinks is best

Aristotle’s Argument in the NE

Aristotle first claims:

“Every craft and every line of inquiry, and likewise every action and decision, seems to seek some good” (EN 1094a1)いかなる技術、いかなる研究も、同じくまた、いかなる実践や選択も、ことごとく何らの善を希求していると考えられる。 ( 岩 17)

What everything seeks = the good

• Aristotle next talks about a definition:• “that is why some people were right to

describe the good as what everything seeks” (1094a2)

• 「善」をもって「万物の希求するところ」となした解明の見事だといえる所以である ( 岩 17) 。

What does Aristotle mean?

Q: What do you think Aristotle means?

He says “every thing seeks some good”

AND

“the good is what everything seeks”

Two Types of Ends

So far Aristotle has talked about some good = なにか目的あり、希求されるもの .

“But the ends appear to differ” / 種々の場合の目的とするものの間には差別が見られる (1094a10)

SOME ARE for the activity ( 活動それ自身 ) / others for an product ( 成果 ).

Subordinate and Final Goods

• Aristotle points out the following:–We make bridles ( 馬勒 ) • for horsemanship ( 騎馬 )

–We study medicine ( 医療 ) • for health ( 健康 )

–We study horsemanship ( 騎馬 ) • for war ( 統帥 )

–The “for” is more imporant

The Highest Good: 1

The Highest Good 2

The Highest Good 3

The Highest Good 4

• An end for two things is bigger than an end for one thing

• An end for twenty things is bigger than an end for two things.

The good for a city is bigger than good for one person.• What Aristotle calls The Highest Good is the

good that covers everything.

Aristotle’s Highest Good 5But what makes an end bigger for Aristotle?“Suppose an action could achieve something we want for itself, and because of which we wish for other things … およそれ我々の行なうところのすべてを蔽うごとき目的 … それ自身のゆえに願望し、その他のものを願望するのもこのもののゆえでありClearly this will be the good, that is to say, the best good” (1094a18-22)

The Good ( 文法 )

• Normally, good is an adjective.• In English, we call turning an adjective into a

noun “nominalization” ( 名詞化 ).• Nominalized adjectives mean that thing

exactly:– The good = 「善」であり , 「最高善」– The beautiful = 「美」であり– The ugly = 「醜さ実性」

The good = the best good

• Because of this, the good has the same meaning as:–The best good–The highest good–The greatest good

We want to know it!

“Then does knowledge of this good carry great weight for our way of life, and would it make us better able, like archers who have a target to aim at, to hit the right mark?” (1095a23-25)「してみれば、かかる「善」の知識は我々の生活に対して大きいな重さを持つものではないであろうか。そして我々はちょうど射手の場合がそうであるように、標的を持つことによって、然るべきものによりよく的中しうるのであるまいか」

Start 1/22: More Vocabulary

• Political science = 政治• According to Aristotle this is the largest end of

man ( 究極目的 )• Convention = 社会慣習• For the sake of X 　 = X のためすること

Aristotle’s Answer

• This appears to be “political science”, because … (1094a30-b10)– It controls cities– It manages war– It manages the economy– It manages literature

But political science is …

• 曖昧 : “Now, fine and just things, which political science examines, differ and vary so much as to seem to rest on convention only, not on nature” (1094b15)

• “ 政治学の考察の対象であるうるわしいことがらとか正しいことがらとかは多くの差異と揺曳を含んでおり、それはひとびとをして、かかるものは単に人為的のみ存して本姓的には存しないものであるかの感を抱かしめるほどである”

So how can we find the highest good?

Q: If political science is unclear How can we find answer?[Per 1.5]

Some people think good = braveSome people think good = richSome people think good = smart

Aristotle’s Answer

Q: If there are too many different ideas, how can we pick a good one?Find the right judge: “Each person judges rightly what he knows, and is a good judge about that” 「それぞれ、自分の知っていることがらについてはすぐれた判断をすることができ、それについてのよき判断者である」 (1095a1)

Who cannot tell us the good?According to Aristotle, the young:

“This is why a youth is not a suitable student of political science; for he lacks experience of the actions in life, which are the subject and premises of our argument”少年者が政治学の適当な聴講者でないのはそのゆえである。とういのは、彼は人生の現実の実践に無経験であるが、政治学のもろもろの論述はこれらから出発しこれらについて論ずるものだからであり… (1095a3)

Not the Young!Also, the young are driven by passion:• “Moreover since he tends to follow his

feelings, his study will be futile and useless”

• 情念に従いやすいため、こうしたことを聴いても徒労であり利益がないであろうから。

(1095a3)

Aristotle’s Youth

• For Aristotle, youth does not end at 20• For Aristotle, you are a youth until you

are about 40.• Aristotle thinks only those who have

experience can know. ( プラトン反対 )

What then is the good?

• One name: “happiness”• “For both the many and the cultivated

call it happiness” / 「一般のひとびとも、たしなみのあるひとびとも、幸福にほかならないとういであり」 (1095a18)

= Everyone says the answer is happiness.

What is Happiness: Common Opinion

• Aristotle says: –Most people define it based on what they

need ( 多数は需要品から定義する ):• Sick Health• Poor Money• Lonely Friend / Family /Girlfriend /

Boyfriend

What is Happiness: Some Wise Men

Aristotle says the wise define it differently:• “Some used to think that besides [health,

wealth, etc.] there is some other good that exists in its own right that causes all these goods to be goods” (1095a25)

• 一部の智者たちは、このような多くの善のほかに、すべてこれらの多くの善をして善たちらしめる因るであるごとき、何らか自体的な別の「善」が存在すると考えたのである。

Why Happiness?

• When we want health, we want it to live happily• When we want money, we want it to

live happily• When we want friends, we want

them so we can we live happily.

How to Figure Out Happiness?

Aristotle: we need to cut down what we look at:He decides to just look at popular

options.

The Three Ideas of a Good Life

Aristotle looks at three popular ideas for the good life (1095b14-1096a-11):• The vulgar say the good life is a life of pleasure

and gratification.• The cultivated say the good life is a political

life of honor.• The life of study.

What about Moneymaking?

Aristotle does not think money-making is the good life:

(1) Money-making is always for something else(2) The good life is something we want for itselfErgo, money-making is not the good life.(1096a5 を参考にする )

How can we find a good we can agree on?

“But let us return once again to the good we are looking for, and consider just what it could be. For it is apparently, one thing in one action and craft, and another thing in another” (1097a15)「いま一度、我々の求める「善」に立ち帰って m それが一体何であるかを尋ねることにしたい。それぞれ領域の異なったものであるとみられる」

“For the sake of”

(1)Actions are done for the sake of the end of the action.

(2)The good of the action is the reason we do an action ( 定義 )

What sort of “good”?

“we choose some [ends] (for instance, wealth, flutes, and in general instruments) because of something else, it is clear that not all ends are complete.” (1097a23)「目的はかくして幾つも存在すると見られるが、その或るもの（例えば、富とか、笛その他一般に用具類）は、我々はこれをそのもの以外のことがらのゆえに選ぶのであるから、明らかに全ての目的が必ずしも究極な目的であるわけではない。」

What sort of “good” 2?• “We say that an end pursued in its own right is more

complete than an end pursued because of something else …

= 他のものを追求するもの ＜ それ自身追求するもの• and that an end is never choice-worthy because of

something else is more complete than ends that are choice-worthy both in their own right and because of this end” (1097a31-33)

= 他のものを値することきもの < 単なるそれ値するもの

What is the best type of good?

We want a final good – not a subordinate good.

Final = at the end Subordinate = Less than something else

Final good = good wanted for itself [last end]Subordinate good = good wanted for something else [less than last end]

How can we figure out the final good?

“Now happiness, more than anything else, seems complete without qualification. For we always choose it because of itself never because of something else” (1097a34-b2)「しかるに、かかる性質も最も多分に持つと考えられるのは幸福（エウダイモニア）である。なぜなら、我々が幸福を望むのは常に幸福それ自身のゆえであってけっしてそれ以外のものゆえではなく」=The Thing we want is happiness.

Aristotle’s “Happiness”

The English word “happiness” can have many meanings: “State of feeling or showing pleasure or contentment” (Oxford Dictionary).

Aristotle’s word is eudaimonia (専門的言葉 )For Aristotle, “happiness” is NOT a feeling 　 BUT rather a state of flourishing (繁栄の状態 )

Feeling (感情 )

Pleasure 楽しみ、喜びContentment 満足・充足

NOT Aristotle’s idea of happy: Drunk

Not Aristotle’s Idea of Happy: Stuffed with food

Aristotle’s Central Image: Happiness in Families

Aristotle’s Central Image: Happiness in Families

What does human happiness look like?

Aristotle thinks human happiness has to do with what it means to be human ( 人間の定義から人間の幸福を定義する ).He means: (1) The happiness of individuals(2) who live in society as social animals.

But this does not explain what makes us happy…

Aristotle’s Idea of Happiness

For Aristotle, happiness has to do with being the best human you can be:• “Perhaps, then, we shall find this if we first

grasp the function of a human being.” • このことは、おそらく、人間の機能の何

たるが把握されるとき果たされるであろう。 (1097a25-28)

The Good matches the function

The good of a thing matches its function:For just as the good, i.e. [doing well], for a flute player, a sculptor, and every craftsman and anything that has a function depends on the function, the same seems to be true for a human being …” (1097a25-28)

Aristotle: Function and Happiness

Aristotle: Function and Happiness

Aristotle: Function and Happiness

Aristotle: Function and Happiness

Aristotle: Function and Happiness

What does flourishing look like?

• For a flying squirrel:–Nuts–Friends (flying squirrel and/or human)–Flying

Human happinessFor Aristotle, we can figure out human happiness … if we can understand the function of a human being:“What then could this be? We are alive like plants, but what we are looking for is the special function of a human; hence we set aside nutrition and growth … and we set aside [perception that we share with animals] ” (1098a)生きているということは植物にも共通な機能であると見られる。ここで求められているのは、しかるに、人間に特有の機能である … 食養摂取とか生育とか … [ また感覚をおく ] 。

Aristotle’s Answer

“We take the human function to be a certain kind of life and take this to be the activity and actions of the soul that involve reason; hence the function of the excellent man is to do this well and finely” (1098a12)人間の機能は或る性質の生、すなわち、魂の「ことわり」を具えた活動と働きとかにほからず、すぐれた人間の機能は、かかる活動とか働きとかをうるわしく行うということに存するのであって、すべていかなることがらもかかる固有の卓越性に基づいて追行されるときによく達成されるのである。

The “Telos” of a thing

In Greek, one word for end is “telos” (the other word is “entelechy.” The word “telos” has a special meaning = the purpose of a thing.

According to Aristotle, living for the telos of a thing is what gives happiness.

Believing things have this sort of purpose ( 目的 ) is called teleology.

Paper Topic for the Final

• For this class, your final paper is to share your opinion about human knowledge.

• In it, you need to discuss either – Socrates (from the Apology) = “the wisest is to know that

we cannot know” – Plato (from the Crito) = “wisdom is to pursue truth not

mass opinion”– Aristotle = we know by observation (監視 ) – Aristotle = the young cannot know – Aristotle = knowledge is about figuring out what sort of

thing a thing is

Reports: Detailssent to me via e-mail: komasinski.andrew@a.hokkyodai.ac.jp• 1 page A4• Grading:– Length … Is it really at least one page?– Content … Does it show you understood the

lectures?– Insight … Do you add any of your own thoughts?– Grammar … Does the content make sense?

Reports: E-mail

sent to me via e-mail: komasinski.andrew@a.hokkyodai.ac.jp• Address me as “Dr. K” in the e-mail• Include sentences at the top:I am Hiroshi Abe. I am a student in 人文科学入門 . My student number is c30000ah. I have attached my report.

期末レポートの締め切りに関して

• 基本的 1月 29 日（来週の木曜日）は締め切りです。

• しかし、質問がある生徒はその代わりに 1月 29 日の授業に出席し、質問を聞いて、 2月 5 日まで出すこともできる。