PHIL 118 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Nicomachean Ethics, Final Good
28 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
384-322 BC
Greek philosopher
Studied under Plato
Wrote in essay form
Coined the term physics
Introduced Logic
Set up categorization of biology
Nichomachean Ethics (NE):
Based on lectures
Try to address questions: what is the best life to live?
What is the good? The highest good one can have is happiness and being happy. All
knowledge/action aim at the good.
Even if a person does bad, the end goal to it is good and a human being never does
anything intrinsically bad. It's always for a greater good.
Plato and Forms
oForms: the versions of everything
oEssence beyond the physical
But different kinds of goods. Therefore, the form of the good is empty. All goods are not
actually good.
Different goods in different folds.
oEach field has ends. The good is the same as the end, and it can only be
achieved through action. The doctor and the plumber will have different ends. And a
good doctor and a good plumber will take actions to achieve this end/good.
oThere can be multiple ends but only one final end. Some ends are means to a
final end. Final end is done for itself. The final end always has something to do with
happiness.
The final good is to be self-sufficient. And so, is self-sufficiency happiness?
oNeeds self sufficiency because cannot lack anything. Lack= not final end.
Self sufficiency = life that lacks no intrinsically valuable goods.
What is good of the human?
To do with reason and thought.
oSeparates human from animals.
Humans perform good actions.
oDiscern the good through reason.
Good actions = virtue
Virtue Ethics:
Set of human characteristics
All lead to the good and happiness
A good has to be done by action and not by accident. It must be intentional.
Aristotle: action is always derived from virtue of a person. Cannot separate.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
The highest good one can have is happiness and being happy. Even if a person does bad, the end goal to it is good and a human being never does anything intrinsically bad. Therefore, the form of the good is empty. The good is the same as the end, and it can only be achieved through action. The doctor and the plumber will have different ends. And a good doctor and a good plumber will take actions to achieve this end/good. o. There can be multiple ends but only one final end. Some ends are means to a final end. The final end always has something to do with happiness. Self sufficiency = life that lacks no intrinsically valuable goods. A good has to be done by action and not by accident. Aristotle: action is always derived from virtue of a person.
