The Nicomachean Ethics: Artistotle (Penguin Classics) - Softcover

Aristotle

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140449493 ISBN 13: 9780140449495

Publisher: Penguin Classics, 2004

Synopsis

Previously published as Ethics, Aristotle's The Nicomachean Ethics addresses the question of how to live well, and originates the concept of cultivating a virtuous character as the basis of his ethical system. This Penguin Classics edition is translated from the Greek by J.A.K. Thomson with revisions and notes by Hugh Tredennick, and an introduction and bibliography by Jonathan Barnes.

'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, generosity and justice, and intellectual virtues, such as knowledge, wisdom and insight. The Ethics also discusses the nature of practical reasoning, the value and the objects of pleasure, the different forms of friendship, and the relationship between individual virtue, society and the State. Aristotle's work has had a profound and lasting influence on all subsequent Western thought about ethical matters.

Aristotle (384-22 BC) studied at the Academy of Plato for 20 years and then established his own school and research institute, 'The Lyceum'. His writings, which were of extraordinary range, profoundly affected the whole course of ancient and medieval philosophy and are still eagerly studied and debated by philosophers today.

If you enjoyed The Nicomachean Ethics, you might like Plato's The Symposium, also available in Penguin Classics.

About this title

Synopsis:

A vigorous polemicist as well as a rational philosopher, Aristotle (384-322 BC) has the task in his ethics of demonstrating how men become good and why happiness can, and should, be our goal. The success of Aristotle's endeavour may be measured by the enormous impact of his ethics on western moral philosophy through the centuries. Composed as mere lecture notes, it possesses a boldness and represents an exacting, exciting challenge to the reader. By converting ethics from a theoretical to a practical science, and by introducing psychology into his study of behaviour, Aristotle both widens the field of moral philosophy and simultaneously makes it more accessible to anyone who seeks an understanding of human nature.

About the Author:

Aristotle was born in 384 BC, and studied in Athens under Plato. His writings were of extraordinary range, and many of them have survived. He died in 323 BC.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0140449493
• ISBN 13: 9780140449495
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 400