The Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle

Background:  Aristotle (384-322 BCE) was born at Stagira in northern Greece.  His father was a doctor.  When he was 17 he was sent to Athens to study with Plato where he stayed for nearly 20 years until Plato’s death.  Later he was invited to be the tutor of Alexander of Macedonia.  In the Nicomachean Ethics, written for his son, Aristotle begins by attempting to define reasonably what living a good life might entail.  He suggests that the good life consists in performing excellent activity, such as intellectual contemplation and virtuous activity grounded in virtuous character.

See an introductory outline of major elements in Aristotle’s ethics from Southern Illinois University.  For a large collection of links to material about Aristotle, go to the Episteme Links page on Aristotle.

Discussion questions:

Do you agree with Aristotle’s initial claim (§1) that the good is that toward which all things aim?  If not, what would you describe as the aim of action?  If you do, what is the major question of life?  What is the point of Aristotle’s distinction between ends and means in this connection?

What is Aristotle getting at when he considers the possibility of some end in life (§2) which does not have any other purpose but itself?  Notice how Aristotle is using the term “politics” as the science that helps us understand the overall aim of civic life.  How does this fit into his ongoing reflections?

Notice the limited expectations that Aristotle sets out before inquiring into what the good in itself might be (§3).  Why did Bonaventure not approach his discussion of the nature of the highest good in this way?  What do their different approaches alert us to in their respective orientations?  Do you agree with Aristotle that a young man [sic] is not a proper student for matters like politics?  Notice how he qualifies this by acknowledging that this is not merely a matter of time.

Do you agree with Aristotle’s claim (§4) that, at least verbally, there is general agreement among people that the highest good consists in happiness?

What do you make of Aristotle’s reflections (§5) that the good or happiness is to be identified with pleasure?  What about honor?  Or virtue?  What about the pursuit of wealth?

What is the thrust of Aristotle’s reflections (§6) on the universal good?  The points relating to whether the good should be a substance or a quality derive from his teacher’s (i.e., Plato’s) theory that the Good was the primary substantial form of all reality [something Christian thinkers, six centuries later, begin to identify with God].  Why does Aristotle distinguish between that which is good in itself and other things good in reference to this?  What do you make of Aristotle’s claim that even if there were some one thing or idea good in itself, that it would not be attainable by humans?  Would Bonaventure have agreed with such a claim?  Why or why not?  Why does Aristotle seem intent on trying to define the kind of good that is attainable by humans?

When Aristotle claims that the chief end of human action must be something final (§7), what is his point?  Why does he argue for this?  In this context, what is the thrust of his arguments that happiness is the final and self-sufficient end of human action?  Notice how he moves on to an examination of constituent features of life, leading up to “rational” characteristics as the highest.  Would you tend to accept this account of the meaning of the human?  Notice Aristotle’s claim that, granting that an action well performed is one done in accordance with its proper excellence, then the “human good turns out to be activity in accordance with virtue.”  Do you agree with such a conclusion, which may be stated in other words, as “the good life is the virtuous life”?  Why or why not?  Do you think Bonaventure would have accepted this in any sense?