Nicomachean Ethics By Aristotle

The way in which Aristotle begins Nicomachean Ethics is with the statement “Every craft and every line of inquiry, and likewise every action and decision seems to seek some good.” (Aristotle Bk.1, Ch.1). This is a fitting way to begin, as it addresses exactly what the entire book hopes to convey. While at this point in the novel, readers remain unaware what the good that he is referring to means, it becomes clearer and clearer as it progresses why this is such an apt beginning. The Nicomachean Ethics is devoted to the notion that all humans are attempting to seek the ultimate end, which Aristotle describes as happiness, or the Good. If, as he says, everything we do in life is to seek some good, then each action or decision we make brings us closer to the ultimate end.

Happiness to Aristotle is to have virtuous activity of the soul and to have achieved the highest good in life (Book I, Chapt. 9, Para.3). To be a virtuous activity of the soul means to participate in honorable and noble activities and to truly be happy and caring when doing them. In Book I, Aristotle implies that someone who does a virtuous activity, but does not really care to do it, is not really being virtuous, whereas someone who does care is truly being noble. Aristotle implies an argument from eudemonia, or happiness, where in order to live a jubilant life, one must live well, but what exactly Aristotle means by this is to live contemplatively and virtuously. He becomes clearer about the behaviors in having a good

Virtue ethics is a theory of ethics in moral philosophy in which it emphasizes that the notion of virtue is key to a

Throughout this Book 1, the discussion digresses multiple times to explore the method by which the topic will be examined. Realising that concepts such as happiness are subjective, he establishes in the third Chapter that the fruits of the discussion will be satisfactory so long as it holds true universally. He also considers in Chapter four whether the discussion should originate from the principles, or from our experiences, and suggests that we should being from things known and immediate to us, which seems to be a logical choice as the discussions as a whole focus on what a man should do in order to act according to virtue in order to become good and attain happiness. In addition, the sixth Chapter is devoted to criticism of the theory of Forms. Since good can exist in so many different ways, but are undoubtedly good, Aristotle argues that there is no common idea governing it. He also denies the existence of separate Forms that are merely mimicked by what we perceive, since a thing and the Thing Itself has the same

Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up" (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10). True friendships are a rarity in today's culture. In Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, he delves into what a "true" or "complete" friendship should be. The friendship of David and Jonathan in the Old Testament lines up with Aristotle's criteria for an ideal and complete and n true friendship. David and Jonathan’s friendship meets Aristotle’s criteria that friends must be good and alike in virtue, they should be equal, and they must love each other for their own sake.

Aristotle lists honor, pleasure, and wealth as the things believed to make humans happy. He believed that because honor could be easily taken away it was superficial and that pleasure, although enjoyable, was merely an “animal like quality”. Wealth was described as a vehicle to achieve greater status. The moderation of the three vices could be achieved but would not, in-itself produce or guarantee eudaimonia. Instead, Aristotle was of the opinion that wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice, would better lead person to happiness.

In book seven of the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle sets out his theory of akrasia, or weakness of will. Aristotle attempts to explain both how such actions are possible (contra Socrates), and how we can dissolve the puzzles (aporiai) generated by our most important (kurios) commonly held beliefs, which arise in response to the actions of the incontinent person. This paper will review book VII of the Nichomachean Ethics (EN), and attempt to resolve some of the remaining questions left open by Aristotle’s critique.

As soon as I read over this question, I knew it was the one I would have to answer, because it was the one I wasn't sure I could. I felt the prompt would allow me the opportunity to directly illustrate the person that I am. However, my current knowlege and interpretation of Aristotle's “Nicomachean Ethics” has made the task reprehensibly difficult. I found myself wandering through a mind-numbingly agonizing process to properly address the prompt. This process consisted of working through two separate paths that addressed the topic. Though, I found myself seeing that both of these paths brought me further from the very virtue I was trying to show that I pursue.

In his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle explores virtues as necessary conditions for being happy. A virtuous person is a person with a disposition toward virtuous actions and who derives pleasure from behaving virtuously. Aristotle distinguishes between two types of human virtue: virtues of thought and virtues of character. Virtues of thought are acquired through learning and include virtues like wisdom and prudence; virtues of character include bravery and charity, which are acquired by habituation and require external goods to develop. As a consequence, not all people can acquire virtues of character because not all people have the external goods and resources required to develop that disposition.

“Virtue is the perfection of human activity — that is to say, virtue is human activity at its best. Virtue describes the best traits of human action. The word itself comes from the Latin word for strength or power, vis. As with any human strength, it is built up through repetition. Do something good repeatedly and it becomes a good habit; do it long enough and it becomes a virtue. Virtue is developed by positive action, so merely avoiding evil or sin is not virtuous. Virtue consists in acting in a positive way to bring about good things such as justice, mercy or

According to Aristotle, friendship shares the same qualities of a proper self-love. In Aristotle’s”Nicomachean Ethics” (book 9), he asks us, if there is such a thing as friendship with oneself. He states that people who are good friends to others tend to be comfortable with themselves, therefore, they do not mind being alone because they have a clear conscience. However, Aristotle also says, that people who are not comfortable with themselves, tend to seek the company of others to distract themselves from their own regrets, caused by their bad actions. He states that people must have a “friendly attitude" toward themselves in order to be good friend (Ethics, pg. 255). I believe that wicked people are in conflict with themselves, and they seek companionship as a distraction, to escape from themselves. I agree with Aristotle’s view and I would also argue that only a virtuous person can love himself or herself, because bad people are full with inner demons and are unable to love themselves, let alone be a good friend to others. Therefore I believe that without to Self-love, there is no friendship. I don’t believe you can have a fulfilling relationship with anyone without loving yourself. In other words, how can you have respect for someone, if you don’t have respect for yourself?

In this sense, a person can do the “right” thing, but if it is not done by his own will or choice, it is not morally virtuous. The claims of Books II and III directly contradict each other. The former argues that force must play a part in the development of moral virtue, while the latter explicitly states that what is done by force is not at all morally virtuous.

The concepts of reason and passion are related to virtue, vice, and continence, incontinence in the Ethics. For Aristotle, the soul is governed by two influences; one’s reason and passion. The state of one’s character will either reside in a virtuous form or a state of vice. Where there exists a moral virtue, there also exist intellectual virtue inside the soul that help guide one’s reason to act in correct ways. The concepts of continence and incontinence are tied to the moral virtue and intellectual virtue of one’s soul; where both provide a depiction of some type of state the soul can reside, other than virtue and vice. Aristotle describes the soul having two parts, where reason and passion are ways in which the soul exists in; the state of character will be a one of virtue or, vice, continence or incontinence.

Concerning the philosopher, the principal factor which coordinates people's decisions towards good or bad actions is a soul. But this process is reciprocal because the soul, in its turn, is forming according to people's actions. The life with the feeling of satisfaction is connected with some level of pleasure; this pleasure, by Aristotle, is the activity determined by virtue. Virtue is a quality of a person's character; it highlights doing any action taking into account both rational

Before I can explain my evidence to this claim, we should figure out a meaning for virtue. The Oxford Dictionary states that the main meaning of virtue is “A quality considered morally good or