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Selection from Nicomachean Ethics

Prepared by
Aziz Ahmad
Dr/2016-S-9

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 Key Ideas of the Presentation

 The presentation contains the following key concepts in connection with

Nicomachean Ethics

o Background
o A good person
o The concept of happiness
o The purposes of action/ final goal
o The function argument
o Virtues and its types
o The doctrine of mean 4

o Practical wisdom
 Introduction
 Aristotle (384-322 BC) came to Athens to study under Plato (427-347 BC). He remained
at Plato’s Academy for twenty years. After Plato and Xenophon (434-355 BC), he is
regarded as the third leading writer in the Socratic school

 For a time, he was the head of the Royal Academy of Macedon.

 During this time Aristotle served as the tutor to the royal household of King Philip II,
including Alexander (later called Alexander the Great). Shortly after the assassination of
Philip, and the ascent of Alexander to the kingship, Aristotle returned to Athens (in 335
BC). At this time he established his own school, the Lyceum.

 Immediately after the death of Alexander (323 BC), fearing the fate of Socrates (469-3993
BC), Aristotle fled from Athens and died shortly afterwards (Alvey, 2011).
 A Good Person

 The Nicomachean Ethics is an attempt to answer the

question ‘how do I become a good person’
 Good actions are then defined in terms of what a good
person would do
 The basic answer is very simple
 A good person who has virtues
 Every Greek person of the time would have accepted this
simple answer
 Aristotle take on this to includes a theory about what it 5

means to be a virtuous & how we acquire these virtues

 Virtue as Knowledge

 Socrates & Plato had argued that no one

knowingly does evil

 A person who knows what is the right thing to

do is will do it
 An ignorant is the person simply ignorant or
mistaken about what the right thing to do is
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 Virtue as a Right Action

 Aristotle denies that this is true

 He thinks that there are cases where a person knows
what the right thing to do is
 Yet he fails to do it
 Thus for Aristotle being a right a person is about doing
right actions
 Not simply about knowing which actions are the right
ones to do
 He wants to develop a moral theory that allows that 7

this could happen

 The Purposes of Actions

 All of our actions aim at some goal (a good)

 Since ethics is a science of actions it will be
concerned with achieving some goal
 There are three kinds of goals
 Instrumental goals – things we want only because
what they can get us
 Intrinsic goals – things we want only for their own
sake & never because of what they can get us
 Instrumental goals/Intrinsic goals - things we want both
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because what they are intrinsically & also for what they
can get us
 The Final Goal

 There must be some final intrinsic goal

 Which is ultimate goal of all actions
 If there weren’t then all of our actions would be
fruitless
 I do A to get B to get C to get D to get F to get G
……. & so on
 Aristotle thinks that the ultimate goal is happiness
 Every thing we do ultimately aimed at happiness
 We don’t want happiness for what it can get us 9
 Happiness

 Happiness for Aristotle is not pleasure

 Animals – seeking pleasure & avoidance of pain
 Reasoning

 Happiness for Aristotle is a kind of activity

 Living well

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 The Function Argument (a)

 We usually say that something does well when it

fulfills its function

 A knife
 A pencil
 A heart

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 The Function Argument (b)

 This if humans are to do well then it must be by

fulfilling their function

 Do humans have function?

 Every part of a body’s parts has a function (liver,
heart etc.)
 Every person in society has a function (banker,
driver etc.) 12
 The Function Argument (c)
 So what distinguish humans?
 Not living, since animals & plants do that
 This is the Rationality
 So the function of humans is rationality
 But how we can fulfill this function?
 A object fulfils its function by having virtues that allow
it to perform
 For a knife to curt well, following virtues should in
place
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 Sturdy, easy to grasp, handle, sharp blade, durability etc.
 The Function Argument (d)
 Human virtues are the qualities that allow us to fulfill
our function
 Two kinds
 Intellectual virtues – wisdom, knowledge, strategy etc.
 Moral virtues - justice, prudence, temperance, courage
etc.

 Intellectual virtues are acquired through formal

education
 Moral virtues are acquired through practise 14
 The Function Argument (e)

 But what exactly are the virtues like

justice & courage?
 They are the means between the
extremes

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cowardice courage excess daring
(mean) 17
relative to person & situation
 Phronesis

 The virtuous person is the one that is able

to judge where is the mean falls
 You must develop a practical skill for
determining where is the mean for you
 Phronesis = practical wisdom

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