Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics

(Books I, II, and X)

Honors 2101, Fall 2006

Bryan Benham

Aristotle (384-322)

• Originally from Macedon• Arrived Athens in 367, Student of Plato• Left Athens in 347, taught Alexander• Returned to Athens 334, founded Lyceum• Left Athens in 323, after death of Alexander• Works on topics: biology, physics, logic, music and

art, politics, ethics, etc.• Wrote dialogues, but only lecture notes survive• Considered “The Philosopher” in Middle Ages

Nichomachean Ethics

• A treatise on the nature of moral life and human happiness, based on the unique essence of human nature– Continuous with the Politics, which discusses

human happiness in the context of social and political structures

• Named after one of Aristotle’s sons who is thought to have edited it from lecture notes.

Outline

• The Greatest Good: Eudaimonia

• Eudaimonia and the Human Soul

• The Virtues

• “The Golden Mean”

• Justice (Book V and Politics)

The Greatest Good: Eudaimonia

• Every action aims at some good– Some actions aim at an instrumental good– Some actions aim at an ultimate good

• Ultimate goods are better than instrumental goods– Instrumental goods (ends) are aimed at only

insofar as they are for the sake of something else– Ultimate goods (ends) are aimed at for their own

sakes.

Ultimate Good?

Candidates• Pleasure

• Wealth

• Fame & Honor

• Happiness

Critiques Transient, not complete

Only instrumental, not self-sufficient

Depends on others, not self-sufficient

Complete and self-sufficient

Happiness?

• Eudaimonia– Well-being or doing well– “activity of the soul in accordance with

virtue or excellence” (EN I.7)

• More complete than merely feeling good or joyful– Feeling well in all aspects of life

Eudaimonia and the Human Soul

• Human happiness must be uniquely human, or a distinct human function.

• Consider the structure of the psyche:– nutritive, sensitive, and rational parts– Which is uniquely human?

• Only the rational element is distinctive of humans.

• So, human happiness consists of a rationally directed life…a whole life…

Aristotle’s Tripartite Soul

Rational HumansTheoretical

PracticalRational

Sensitive Animals

Will

Appetites

Sensation

Movement

Partly-rational

Nutritive PlantsAnimative

GenerativeNon-rational

The Virtues

• A virtue (areté) is what makes one function well; usually understood as a disposition or state of a person.

• Conditions for virtue: fortune and success– Basic necessities, good birth, friends, wealth, good looks,

health, etc.

• Types of virtue– Virtues of thought: wisdom, comprehension, etc.

• Achieved through education and time

– Virtues of character: generosity, temperance, courage, etc.• Achieved by habitual practice

– Both should be in accord with reason and are needed for eudaimonia

“The Golden Mean”

• Virtue is ruined by excess and deficiency (in feelings and action)– Consider health

• So, is learned by the mean of excess and deficiency– A balance or intermediate between extremes

• But a “relative” mean*– Not a geometric or arithmetic average…– A mean relative to the person, the circumstances, as

well as the right emotional component (EN II.3 and II.6)

Courage

The right action and emotional response in the face of danger

• Fool-heartiness or rashness is an excess of the emotional and/or proper action; (doesn’t properly appreciate the danger, not fearful)

• Cowardice is the deficiency of proper emotion (motive) and action; (the danger is over-appreciated, too fearful)

Some Virtues & Means

Deficit Virtue Excess

Cowardice Courage Rashness

Insensible Temperance Self-indulgence

Meaness, stinginess Liberality or generosity

Prodigiality, spendthrift

Mock-modesty Truthfulness boastfulness

What?

Deficit Virtue Excess

?Magnificence

(money matters)?

Lazy ? Zealous

Undue Humility ? Vanity

?Pleasantness

(Friendliness)?

What?

Deficit Virtue Excess

NiggardlinessMagnificence

(money matters)Tasteless or vulgarity

LazyProper Desire

(ambitious?)Zealous

Undue Humility Proper Pride Vanity

Quarrelsome, surlyPleasantness

(Friendliness)Obsequious. flatterer

Others

Deficit Virtue Excess

Shameless Modesty Bashfulness

EnvyRighteous Indignation

Spite

Boorishness Witty Buffoonery

Basic Model

Ends

EudaimoniaWant

Basic Model

Ends

Eudaimonia?

Means?

Basic Model

Ends

Eudaimonia

Means

Areté

Basic Model

Ends

Eudaimonia

Means

Areté

A disposition or character trait (intellectual, emotional) to choose or be motivated to actions that are a relative intermediate between extremes of excess and deficiency.

Rationally guided, whole life; complete with emotion, intellect, action, sociality, etc.

Justice?

• Two types (V)– Special justice or lawfulness: relation between

virtues– General justice or distribution: goods distributed in

a population

• Parts: Physis and Nomos (VI.7)– Political justice is natural = unchangeable or

equally valid everywhere– Legal justice is conventional = changeable,

different in relation to particular legal or political organizations.

Concluding Remarks

• Compare Aristotle’s account of the virtuous life with Plato’s just person.– Which is more accurate? Better?– Which is a richer account?

• Compare Aristotle’s tripartite soul with Plato’s account– Why is reason always the “ruler”?

Some Paper Topics

• Compare Aristotle’s account of the virtuous life with Plato’s just person. Which is more accurate? Better? Which is a richer account? Are there any modern parallels to either view?

• Compare Aristotle’s tripartite soul with Plato’s account. Why is reason always the “ruler”? Do you agree?

• Aristotle argues that virtues are character traits (or emotional states) that are intermediate between extremes of excess and deficiency, and which lead to the good life. Pick a central virtue (such as courage or temperance) and describe how it fits with Aristotle’s theory of the “golden mean”. Then evaluate whether this virtue by itself can lead to the good life? If not, what other virtues are needed and why?

• Consider Aristotle’s theory of the virtues (“the golden mean”) in relation to the virtue(s) of Homeric or Biblical heroes. Are these views of virtue compatible? Explain. What are the different types of “good life” recommended by Aristotle, Homer, or other text we have read? Are any of these views relevant to contemporary American society?