Books with title The Nicomachean Ethics

Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, said to be dedicated to Aristotle's son Nicomachus, is widely regarded as one of the most important works in the history of Western philosophy. Addressing the question of how men should best live, Aristotle's treatise is not a mere philosophical meditation on the subject, but a practical examination that aims to provide a guide for living out its recommendations. The result is a deep inquiry into the nature and means of attaining happiness, which Aristotle defines as consisting not merely of pleasure or an emotional state, but of a virtuous and morally led life. This edition is the translation by W. D. Ross.

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.

Aristotle examines how best to live by looking at the nature of those virtues that characterize the most thriving human beings, and then at how to acquire and develop such virtues. This book is considered the founding document of what is now known as the "virtue ethics" tradition. Along the way, Aristotle delves into pleasure, happiness, justice, friendship, and willpower. He intended the Nicomachean Ethics to be the foundation on which to build his Politics. Nicomachean Ethics is based on Aristotle's lectures at the Lyceum and was originally collected as a series of ten scrolls. In translation it was hugely influential in the development of Western philosophic tradition, quickly becoming one of the core works of medieval philosophy.

The starting-point of ethical inquiry is the question: In what does happiness consist? Aristotle answers that man's happiness is determined by the end or purpose of his existence, or in other words, that his happiness consists in the "good proper to his rational nature". For man's prerogative is reason. His happiness, therefore, must consist in living conformably to reason, that is, in living a life of virtue. Virtue is the perfection of reason, and is naturally twofold, according as we consider reason in relation to the lower powers (moral virtue) or in relation to itself (intellectual, or theoretical, virtue). Moral virtue is defined "a certain habit of the faculty of choice, consisting in a mean suitable to our nature and fixed by reason, in the manner in which prudent men would fix it". It is of the nature of moral virtues, therefore, to avoid all excess as well as defect; bashfulness, for example, is as much opposed to the virtue of modesty as shamelessness is. The intellectual virtues (understanding, science, wisdom, art, and practical wisdom) are perfections of reason itself, without relation to the lower faculties. It is a peculiarity of Aristotle's ethical system that he places the intellectual virtues above the moral, the theoretical above the practical, the contemplative above the active, the dianœtical above the ethical. An important constituent of happiness, according to Aristotle, is friendship, the bond between the individual and the social aggregation, between man and the State. Man is essentially, or by nature, a "social animal", that is to say, he cannot attain complete happiness except in social and political dependence on his fellow man. This is the starting point of political science. That the State is not absolute, as Plato taught, that there is no ideal State, but that our knowledge of political organization is to be acquired by studying and comparing different constitutions of States, that the best form of government is that which best suits the character of the people--these are some of the most characteristic of Aristotle's political doctrines.

Nicomachean Ethics is considered as one of the greatest work by Aristotle. In this book he argues that virtue is more significant for human beings than pride, pleasure and happiness. According to him virtue can be described in two ways, moral virtue and intellectual virtue. A balanced combination of both is the key to an ideal life. Thought-provoking!