The Nicomachean Ethics
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The Nicomachean Ethics (Ηθικά Νικομάχεια #1)

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3.82 of 5 stars 3.82  ·  rating details  ·  4,841 ratings  ·  202 reviews
‘One swallow does not make a summer; neither does one day. Similarly neither can one day, or a brief space of time, make a man blessed and happy’

In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle sets out to examine the nature of happiness. He argues that happiness consists in ‘activity of the soul in accordance with virtue’, for example with moral virtues, such as courage, ...more
Paperback, 400 pages
Published March 30th 2004 by Penguin Classics (first published -350)
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Nemo
Aristotle vs. Plato

Having just finished and enjoyed Plato's complete works, I find this book a bit annoying and uninspiring in comparison. Aristotle seems to take every opportunity to "correct" Plato, when in fact he is only attacking a strawman. His arguments, sometimes self-contradictory, often support and clarify Plato's ideas, albeit using his own terminology.

Aristotle seems to have great difficulty appreciating or understanding Plato’s abstractions (from specie...more
Yann
Aristote resserre dans un seul ouvrage une critique fraiche des thèses de Platon. Pas de grands effets rhétoriques, de mises en scène ingénieuse, d'habileté didactique, le discernement et la méthode prennent nettement le pas sur l'esprit. Les thèmes abordés sont moraux: le consentement, la décision, la justice, le plaisir, l'amitié, le bonheur, la vertu. La sécheresse du style accentue les risques d'erreurs d'interprétation, et peut être qu'un peu d'aisance et de grâce ne trahissent pas la clart...more
Mandi
Mandi rated it 5 of 5 stars
Aristotle doesn't satisfy your whole soul, just the logical side, but here he is quite thorough. The Nicomachean Ethics is his most important study of personal morality and the ends of human life. He does little more than search for and examine the "good." He examines the virtue and vices of man in all his faculties. He believes that the unexamined life is a life not worth living; happiness is the contemplation of the good and the carrying out of virtue with solid acts. Among this book...more
Mark
Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars
Very interesting. This was my first real book that expounded a full ethical system. I certainly took a few things from it, but my biggest criticism would be that certain elements are impossible to account for. For example, the punishments for a crime were partly based on the "characters" of the victim and criminal. A man of low character insulting another man of low character was not nearly as serious as a man of low character insulting a man of high character. He also seemed to sugges...more
Simon A. Smith
I've got some elitist, pretentious bones in this here body of mine, and I don't pretend not to, but this text was too pompous and presumptuous even for my blood.

Hmmmm... ever notice how 'p' words tend to be used to express disdain for arrogance? I just noticed that my above review is a virtual thesaurus of p words meaning phony... or synonyms for pharisaic. Weird.
Joshua Nomen-Mutatio
As translated and cited by Owen Flanagan in The Really Hard Problem:

"We should consider our discussion adequate insofar as we make things perspicuous enough as regrds our subject matter. We do not seek or expect the same degree of exactness in all sort of arguments (compare: mathematics, physics, history), just as we do not expect sameness in the products of different crafts (compare pressing coins, to knitting clothes)...In ethics and political science each of our generalizati...more
Giovanni
The cover here is a much uglier green. Blech. I had to read this for PHL100Y1Y, Intro to Philosophy.

Well, correction: I had to read snippets. And I didn't even read some of the later snippets because I had mono. But I had my professor's lecture notes about Aristotle's lecture notes.

And that's the thing here. They're lecture notes. They're amazingly dry, and have this funny way of phrasing rather easy to grasp concepts in the hardest of ways. I don't know if this is a fail...more
Jared
Before I really go into this review, I want to note that it is a weird thing to give a classic like Aristotle's ethics a rating based on stars. Any book that has survived as long as Aristotle's Ethics automatically has the best rating applied to it "classic". An author can only hope and dream that their writing may reach such status.
When reviewing ancient writing I have to keep a couple different things in mind. One thing I must keep in mind is the translation. This trans...more
Gavin
Gavin rated it 4 of 5 stars
Forgive a long and direct quoting of my favourite passage:

"Benefactors are thought to love those whom they have benefited more than the beneficiaries love their benefactors... [m]ost people conclude that it is because the latter owe and the former are owed a debt... It may be thought, however, that the cause lies deeper in nature, and that the case of the lender is not even analagous. It is not affection that the lender feels, but a wish for the debtor's safety with a view to re
...more
Tim
This book’s a difficult case. On one hand there’s the infamous defense of slavery and the statements on the inferiority of women, and parts of the book seem downright pedestrian. But a closer reading of Aristotle on slavery suggests he supported a rather different and probably far more limited form than was his society’s practice. (If this is correct, implementing this version would have likely caused a revolution in the ancient Greek socieo-economic system, quite possibly eliminating the cla...more
Rowland Bismark
As the successor of Socrates and Plato, Aristotle was the last of the great Greek philosophers. Philosophy first flourished in Greece sometime in the early sixth century b.c. as inquisitive thinkers began developing rational methods for investigating the mysteries of nature and mathematics. These pre-Socratic thinkers were as much scientists and mathematicians as they were philosophers.

While there is significant pre-Socratic influence in Aristotle’s work, primarily in the sciences an...more
Alex Konrad
Aristotle, according to Dante, is "the master of those who know."

The master of those who know [that he is the master:]?
The master of those who [knew about him during the Renaissance period:]?

In The Nicomachean Ethics, going against the assumption of ancient philosophy that 'first there is the question,' Aristotle criticizes those who inquire into things, as well as inquiry itself, instead giving primacy to knowing. So, by this Dante meant, and I can only ...more
Erik Graff
Erik Graff rated it 3 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition
Recommends it for: Aristotle fans
Recommended to Erik by: Shimer College
Shelves: philosophy
After being laid off from Loyola University I looked for work at other higher educational institutions. One of them, Shimer College, a "great books" school which my step-brother was attending, actually solicited my applications via the agencies of some of their staff. Pursuing this option, I made an effort to read all of the books in their curriculum which I hadn't yet studied. The Nicomachean Ethics was one such book.

Except for On Poetry, which did help me understand Gr...more
Barry
Barry added it
Recommends it for: fellow dummies with good attention spans
Recommended to Barry by: Great Books/PEL podcast list
Shelves: philosophy
tran H. Rackam 1926 322 Pages

12/3 - this made for a wonderful rainy day read, very calming, chilling out and sorting some thoughts on lots of fundamental ideas. Much of his terminology seems to encompass different attributes than either its current use or more modern synonyms probably cover, so reading along and making that adjustment seemed necessary. Also there's some downright obsolete concepts and cultural consensus stuff in here, but again adjustments are easy to think of as well ...more
Yesterday's Muse Bookstore
While I respect Aristotle's contributions to philosophy, his work is not my favorite. He approaches philosophical thought in an extremely scientific way, providing precise definitions and following these through to their logical conclusions.

There are two reasons this does not work for me: 1) It is boring, and makes it difficult to reference the text because all the sections sound the same; 2) The definitions from which everything follows are seemingly picked out of thin air. They are...more
Matt
Therefore, the activity of the divinity which surpasses all others in bliss must be a contemplative activity, and the human activity which is most closely akin to it is, therefore, most conducive to happiness{…}So happiness is coextensive with study, and the greater the opportunity for studying, the greater the happiness, not as an incidental effect but as inherent in study; for study is in itself worthy of honor. Pg. 293.
Eudaimon, generally translated as “Happiness”, is the goal of Aristotle...more
Michael Griffith
Aristotle's Ethics is an incredibly pragmatic view of how one should live their lives and explaining how he came to these conclusions. A good deal of this is all about being of a "mean" disposition- basically, on average, you should fit his categories, which are means of extreme conditions.

Shockingly, Aristotle (occupation: philosopher)comes to the conclusion the contemplative life is the best and happiest condition. His discussion of the role of politics is interesting, wh...more
Sharon Archer
I only read the first two books for my great books discussion group...

He has some lofty ideas...he is quite the elitist....he is free to have all the time in the world to think due to the fact his every need was cared for by slaves. He goes into some length to defend slavery, to justify it...and I really don't have words to describe how I feel about his thoughts on women...

Much of the language is very subjective and can drive you a wee bit crazy. However, the very fact that...more
kaelan
Aristotle’s main purpose in Nicomachean Ethics is to define what exactly constitutes virtue and, more generally, the good life.

To the modern reader, many of his arguments appear blatantly invalid (perhaps most troubling is that his account seems to rest on a possible tautology: a virtuous act is an act such that a virtuous man would do it). Furthermore, many of his beliefs are so grounded in 4th-century Greek thought as to make any modern day applications of his philosophy improbabl...more
James
This is Aristotle's classic guide to ethics including the golden mean, the nature of friendship and other topics. While it is more a set of lecture notes than a polished philosophical treatise it still demonstrates the power of the mind of the man behind it. As he does for other subjects Aristotle approaches ethics in an organized and scientific manner with an initial emphasis on definitions such as: what is the good, virtue, justice and moral excellence? He does this with an expectation of only...more
Chris
Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars
Shelves: greek-philosophy
I give this book four stars out of appreciation of what Aristotle put together. There are so many good ideas here, but the ideas I liked for the most part had already been spelled out by Plato. The part on Friendship was new and I enjoyed it until it got into more business relationship stuff. Aristotle seemed to want to reinvent the wheel, and in doing so created the philosophical equivalent of a car - it appears to be good and practical but really just makes my life more complicated than it ...more
Julianne
Possible essay questions I would assign to my seminar students, if I were in fact making my seminar students read the Nicomachean Ethics:

1) What does Aristotle mean when he writes “seems?” (e.g. “Every art and every inquiry, and likewise every action and choice, seems to aim at some good…” 1094a, p. 1.)
2) What does Aristotle mean by “nature?” (e.g. “…the things that are pleasant to those who are passionately devoted to what is beautiful are the things that are pleasant by natur...more
Jon
Jon rated it 4 of 5 stars
Shelves: favoriteclassics
I'll just share one of the many pieces of wisdom I gleaned from this one. These ideas come, primarily, from Book I, Section C.

Aristotle believes that a person can become more virtuos by practing virtue. For example, the more one is humble as opposed to prideful, the more naturally humility comes to him. Virtues, by the way, are broken into intellectual and moral virtues (the above is a moral virtue).

I've heard this idea compared to a piano player: the more one pract...more
Ryan
Ryan rated it 4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for: Anyone interested in ethics
Aristotle is pretty great. I mean, there's just no getting around that. His system of ethics, based on virtue, is one that sort of faded from popularity (or even recognition) for a long time. Recently, it's made something of a comeback, so I was curious about getting to the source of it. Overall, it's pretty much brilliant, with a few exceptions. First, the translation. They've translated eudaimonia as happiness throughout, when there really is no good English equivalent. Yes, it means ha...more
Kenghis Khan
I read this work during high school on my own and was compelled to read it in the university. Going through it the first time, I was deeply impressed by Aristotle's praise of human thought and the contemplative life. Furthermore, his claims that Ethics is a practical science are particularly illuminative, and Aristotle refuses to "loose touch" with reality. Finally, Aristotle's attempts to develop our moral principles from a series of premises is very striking and relevant to our own a...more
Katherine
A really good translation, a fantastic introduction, and a very useful glossary and notes at the back.

I like how clear the translation is, and readable. It wasn't the set version, but I found it more useful for answering questions in class.

As for the philosophy itself...

After a semester of glaring at Ayn Rand, this was a refreshing breath of fresh air. I agree with most of what he says, and his rather colourful examples of people eating babies (he agrees that this...more
Jeremy
Jeremy added it
Shelves: philosophy, politics
In spite of my usual reservations about Aristotle, I found myself really liking this. The style is straight forward, his arguments are succinct and to the point, unlike the uber-dense abstractions in the Physics. And Unlike certain greek philosophers (cough, Plato, cough), his analysis manages to be upbeat and actually contains a shred of practicality. I don't see how it could work in the non-classical world, but it's such an enthusiastic piece of writing, so confident that it can pin down what ...more
Tom McKone
Aristotle appears simple at first glance but, as you continue reading, you find yourself in the weeds because you weren't being attentive to what was being said.
Aristotle was far more difficult for the monotheistic religions to digest. Plato is absolute and idealistic. Aristotle is a relativist.
Norman Cantor, in the Civilization of the Middle Ages, stated that Islam and Judaism never successfully incorporated Aristotelianism into their theologies. Christianity was more successful be...more
Jesse Lopes
Have you ever thought morality is an art form? Aristotle did too! Come, see the error of your ways: read this. It is one of the best organized of Aristotle's texts and thoroughly well written, with colorful examples and plausible descriptions. However, to call ethics an art is an egregious display of self-conceit, which leads you to "the magnanimous man," or the modern, what Zizek calls, liberal communists, i.e. Bill Gates, etc.
Kris
Kris rated it 5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for: philosophers/students
An excellent, albeit dry, primer on how the rational man/woman derives his/her virtue. I love this book! I can hardly recommend it though, for its difficulty level. Aristotle does not have the charisma or communication skills of his predecessor Plato. That makes Aristotle something of an acquired taste. But if one can get past the superficial obstacles, Aristotle and his lessons on virtue will wow you beyond expectation.
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Nicomachean Ethics (Paperback)
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Aristotle (Greek: Ἀριστοτέλης, Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. He wrote on many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, government, ethics, biology and zoology.

Together with Plato and Socrates (Plato's teacher), Aristotle is one of the most important found...more
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“One swallow does not make a summer,
neither does one fine day;
similarly one day or brief time of happiness does not make a person entirely happy.”
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