PHILOS 2P03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Nicomachean Ethics, Eudaimonia, Middle Ages
21 Apr 2020
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Aristotle on human happiness and the human good part 1. The nicomachean ethics is arguably the most famous and influential work in the history of moral philosophy: huge influence in middle ages. Happiness (eudaimonia): an objective condition of doing well in life, or flourishing. Not merely a matter of feeling a certain way. I might think i am eudaim n,yet be wrong: well or good (eu, well spirited (daimonia, not something you can just feel, someone might think they are happy but not really happy. Virtue (aret ): in general, something can be said to possess aret if it is an excellent example of its kind, one well-suited to its work or purpose. Ethics, aretai are excellent states or conditions of the soul: for the greek"s virtue was not restricted to human beings, knife can be virtue, an example of an excellent thing suited for its purpose.
