Books
Thalassa Editions
Nicomachean Ethics
Aristotle
Virtue ethics · Intermediate
The origin of virtue ethics and still the standard reference point for character-based moral theory.
Aristotle · first circulated 4th century BCE
Free edition: Nicomachean Ethics, translated by Drummond Percy Chase (1820 to 1902). Public domain.
Main ideas
- Flourishing as activity of the soul in accordance with virtue.
- Virtue as a disposition formed by habit and practical wisdom.
Important themes
CharacterHappinessFriendship
Reading context
Lecture notes from the Lyceum rather than a finished book, addressed to adults with responsibilities. It asks what a whole human life done well consists of, and answers in terms of habit and judgement rather than rules.
How to approach it
Books 1 and 2 set up the argument and Book 10 closes it. Book 5 on justice is hard going and can wait. Keep asking how a virtue can be a mean without becoming mediocrity.