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Anthem
Overall Structure of As NE
I. II. The Human Good Two Types of Human Excellence: Intellectual & Moral III. Moral Excellence IV. Freedom & Moral Responsibility V. Intellectual Excellence VI. Concluding Discussion on the Good Life
The Nicomachean Ethics is an attempt to describe what it takes for a human being to live a good (i.e., happy) life.
The key concept in the NE is the idea of eudaimonia, usually translated into English as happiness.
What is it?
Will
the pursuit of pleasure & the avoidance of pain make us happy? How about money, status, & power?
Finality & completeness A pure end (not a means, not an end that is also a means). Desired entirely for its own sake & not for the sake of anything else. Sufficient in itself. If you are happy, you dont need any other good. Not one good among others, but an ultimate good above all others.
Excellent Functioning
Aristotle adds the idea of excellence (arete) to the idea of distinctive function (ergon). The function of a guitar player is to play the guitar; the function of an accomplished guitarist is to play the guitar excellently. If the function of a human being is to live in accordance with reason, then the function of a self-actualized (truly happy, eudaimonic) human being is to reason excellently.
Thus,
happiness (eudaimonia) results from excellent reasoning & from living in accordance with excellent reasoning. Another formulation: Happiness results from a rational life focused on the pursuit of excellence.
However,
in addition to living in accordance with excellent reasoning, human beings also need external prosperity or circumstantial security (money, friends, power, social status, etc.).
Internal Goods
Psychological (e.g., peace of mind) Bodily (e.g., physical health)
plus
Circumstantial Security (an external good)
Nonrational Dimension Life, Nutrition, Growth (Vitality; Basic Organic Processes) Desire
A Qualification
The
doctrine of the mean does not apply to absolute evils (e.g., murder) or to absolute goods (e.g., the pursuit of wisdom). There is no deficiency but only excess with regard to absolute evils. There is no excess but only deficiency with regard to absolute goods.
Apply Aristotles Table of Virtues & Vices to yourself. Using at least three of his virtue-vice categories, how virtuous (or un-virtuous) are you?
endurance of pain
Temperance -- pursuit of pleasure &
avoidance of pain
Justice -- doing good with regard to others
Courage
The willingness & ability to expose oneself to danger & pain when necessary to the achievement of some real & substantial good The coward shrinks or runs from danger & pain; & the reckless person exposes her/himself to danger & pain even when it is not necessary to the achievement of a real & substantial good.
Temperance
The willingness & ability to forego pleasure when necessary to the achievement of some real & substantial good
The mindless hedonist always pursues pleasure & always avoids pain, no matter what; & the insensible person fails to enjoy the pleasures of life at all.
Justice:
The Virtue of Doing Good with Regard to Others
A just person is in the habit of obeying the law & of treating people fairly. An unjust person is a law-breaker and/or one who takes unfair advantage of others.
Justice as Lawfulness
Good laws aim at the common good of society, i.e., the production & preservation of the happiness of the political community. A system of good laws requires us to act in a morally virtuous way, i.e., to exercise ALL of the moral virtues, and it forbids ALL immoral conduct. [Is this true? Should it be?]
Justice as Fairness
Unequally deserving = unequal shares in proportion to inequality. That is, those who are more deserving get more; those who are less deserving get less.
Penalties & punishments should be imposed only on those who deserve them, and no one should be penalized or punished either too much or too little. What about unequal penalties or punishments imposed on the equally deserving? Mr. A & Mr. B are guilty of murder, and both deserve the death penalty. Mr. A is executed, but Mr. B receives a life sentence. This seems unjust on the basis of Aristotles theory of fairness, but where, exactly, is the injustice?
The Law
-- Criminals deserve to be punished (needs clarification). -- Only criminals (& no non-criminals) should be punished (needs clarification). -- The punishment should be proportionate to the gravity of the crime. -- Where does deterrence fit in? Does it?
Questions:
Why does Aristotle call justice as
lawfulness complete or universal justice? Why does he call justice as fairness partial or particular justice? In what sense is justice a mean?
Moral excellence In general: pursuing the mean (except where there is no mean) In particular: courage, temperance, justice, & the other specific moral virtues
IV.
Should we praise the morally virtuous and condemn the morally vicious? That is, should we hold people morally responsible for what they feel and do? If so, what is the basis of moral responsibility? Under what circumstances does it make sense to hold people morally responsible?
Voluntary Action
Not performed either (1) under compulsion or (2) on the basis of ignorance, but rather caused by the agent with knowledge of the particular circumstances of the act.
Voluntary actions that result from deliberation & choice are morally free. Actions that are morally free may be praised or blamed.
Questions to consider:
In what sense do praising, blaming, rewarding, & punishing imply the reality of moral freedom & personal responsibility? Is it always morally incorrect to blame &/or punish people for involuntary actions based on ignorance? Why or why not? Examples?
Intellectual Excellence
Study
Learning
Intellect 2
Practical Reasoning
The Realm of Necessity, Eternity, & Universality The Realm of Contingency, Temporality, & Particularity
Practical reasoning (1) Artistry & Craftsmanship (making) (2) Practical wisdom (doing, acting) Theoretical Reasoning (3) Inferential knowledge (4) Intuitive knowledge (5) Theoretical Wisdom
VI.
Aristotles Conclusions
Why does Aristotle consider the life of intellectual excellence (at the level of theoretical reasoning) to result in the highest degree of happiness? Why does the life of theoretical reasoning bring us closest to the gods (or God)? Why does the life of moral excellence and practical reasoning result in only a secondary form of happiness?
Theoretical Reasoning Rational Intellect Dimension Human Excellence (arete) (ergon) Self Desire Nonrational Dimension Life, Nutrition, Growth (basic organic processes?) Circumstantial Security (external goods) Moral Excellence The Mean Intellectual Excellence Practical Reasoning
Intuition
Theoretical Wisdom
Inference Making -- Artistry & Craftsmanship Doing -- Practical Wisdom
Eudaimonia
The
End