Nicomachean Ethics

Nicomachean Ethics - General Ethics. PP Nic.+Eth.1094a Aristotle's ethics is often called teleological or goal-directed. According to Aristotle, every thing has a purpose or end. A knife, for example, has the purpose of cutting things. A good knife is good at cutting things, and therefore knives should be sharp. Similarly, people have a purpose. People should do things that help them fulfill that purpose or end: things that are for their good. There are many actions, crafts, and scie ...

See also:

Nicomachean Ethics, Nicomachean Ethics - Naming, Nicomachean Ethics - Overview, Nicomachean Ethics - General Ethics, Nicomachean Ethics - Virtue Arete: traditional Greek virtues, Nicomachean Ethics - Ethics within Society, Nicomachean Ethics - Important quotes

Read more here: » Nicomachean Ethics: Encyclopedia II - Nicomachean Ethics - Overview

Aristotle believed that ethical knowledge is not certain knowledge (like metaphysics and epistemology) but is general knowledge. Also, as it is not a theoretical discipline, he thought a person had to study in order to become "good." Thus, if a person was to become virtuous, they could not simply study what virtue is, they had to actually do virtuous activity. We are not studying in order to know what virtue is, but to become good, for otherwise there would be no profit in it. (NE 2.2) Including:

• Aristotelian ethics - Three Ethical Treatises
• Aristotelian ethics - Nicomachean ethics
• Aristotelian ethics - Influences of earlier Greek ethical systems
• Aristotelian ethics - Influence on later thinkers
• Aristotelian ethics - Criticisms

Read more here: » Aristotelian ethics: Encyclopedia - Aristotelian ethics

Socrates' philosophy, as it is represented in Plato's early dialogues, contains two related claims about eudaimonia. The first is the strong inter-dependence of eudaimonia, virtue (aretē), and knowledge (epistemē): virtue is a sort of knowledge, perhaps 'knowledge of good and evil', and it is this knowledge that is required to reach the ultimate good, eudaimonia being the prime candidate for this ultimate good. The second, sometimes called "psychological eudaimonism" or "Socratic intellectualism", is the claim that the ultimate good, eudaimonia, is wh ...

See also:

Eudaimonia, Eudaimonia - Greek Philosophy

Read more here: » Eudaimonia: Encyclopedia II - Eudaimonia - Greek Philosophy

Three treatises of Aristotle's ethics survive today: Nicomachean Ethics, the most popular Eudemian Ethics Magna Moralia Each is believed to be a collection of Aristotle's lecture notes (although authorship of the Magna Moralia is disputed), possibly containing several different lecture courses, which can be sparse and difficult to read. The scholarly consensus is that Eudemian Ethics represents Aristotle's early ethical theory, and the Nicomachean Ethics appears to buil ...

See also:

Aristotelian ethics, Aristotelian ethics - Three Ethical Treatises, Aristotelian ethics - Nicomachean ethics, Aristotelian ethics - Influences of earlier Greek ethical systems, Aristotelian ethics - Influence on later thinkers, Aristotelian ethics - Criticisms

Read more here: » Aristotelian ethics: Encyclopedia II - Aristotelian ethics - Three Ethical Treatises

Courage is the ability to confront fear in the face of pain, danger, uncertainty or intimidation. As a virtue, courage is covered extensively in Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, its vice of deficiency being cowardice, and its vice of excess being recklessness. The precise view of what constitutes courage not only varies among cultures, but among individuals. For instance, some define courage as lacking fear in a situation that would normally generate it. Others, in contrast, hold that courage requires ...

Read more here: » Courage: Encyclopedia - Courage

Humans or human beings define themselves in biological, social, and spiritual terms. Biologically, humans are classified as the mammalian species Homo sapiens (Latin for "wise man" or "thinking man"): a bipedal primate of the superfamily Hominoidea, together with the other apes: chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, and gibbons. Humans have an erect body carriage that frees their upper limbs for manipulating objects and a highly developed brain capable of abstract reasoning, speech, language, and ...

Including:

• Human - Terminology
• Human - Biology
• Human - Anatomy and physiology
• Human - Life cycle
• Human - Genetics
• Human - Race and ethnicity
• Human - Habitat
• Human - Population
• Human - Human evolution
• Human - Intelligence
• Human - Culture
• Human - Origins
• Human - Language
• Human - Music
• Human - Emotion and sexuality
• Human - Body image
• Human - Trade and economics
• Human - Artifacts technology and science
• Human - Mind
• Human - Psychology and human ethology
• Human - Philosophy
• Human - Motivation
• Human - Self-reflection and humanism
• Human - Spirit

Read more here: » Human: Encyclopedia - Human

A constitution is a system, often codified in a written document, which establishes the rules and principles by which an organization is governed. In the case of nation states, this term refers specifically to a national constitution, which defines its nation's fundamental political principles and establishes the power and duties of each government. Most national constitutions also guarantee certain rights to the people. Historically, before the evolution of modern codified national constitutions, the term constitution could be ...

Including:

• Constitution - Etymology
• Constitution - General features
• Constitution - Governmental constitutions
• Constitution - Key features
• Constitution - Constitutional courts
• Constitution - History and development

Read more here: » Constitution: Encyclopedia - Constitution

The soul, according to many religious and philosophical traditions, is the ethereal substance — spirit (Hebrew:rooah or nefesh) — particular to a unique living being. Such traditions often consider the soul both immortal and innately aware of its immortal nature, as well as the true basis for sentience in each living being. The concept of the soul has strong links with notions of an afterlife, but opinions may vary wildly, even within a given religion, as to what happens to the soul after death. Many wi ...

Including:

• Soul - Etymologies
• Soul - Philosophical views
• Soul - Socrates and Plato
• Soul - Aristotle
• Soul - Religious views
• Soul - Bahá'í beliefs
• Soul - Buddhist beliefs
• Soul - Christian beliefs
• Soul - Hindu beliefs
• Soul - Islamic beliefs
• Soul - Jainist beliefs
• Soul - Jewish beliefs
• Soul - Other religious beliefs and views
• Soul - Science and the soul
• Soul - Materialistic Science and the Soul
• Soul - Scientific approaches for study of a non-material soul
• Soul - Other uses of the term
• Soul - Movie
• Soul - External references and links

Read more here: » Soul: Encyclopedia - Soul

Aristotle (Greek: Αριστοτέλης Aristotelēs 384 BC – March 7, 322 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher, student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. He wrote many books about physics, poetry, zoology, logic, rhetoric, government, and biology. Aristotle, along with Plato and Socrates, is generally considered one of the most influential ancient Greek philosophers in Western thought. They transformed Presocratic Greek philosophy into the foundations of Western philosophy as we know it. The writings of Plato an ...

Including:

• Aristotle - Biography
• Aristotle - Early life and studies at the Academy
• Aristotle - Aristotle as philosopher and tutor
• Aristotle - Founder and master of the Lyceum
• Aristotle - Methodology
• Aristotle - Aristotle's epistemology
• Aristotle - Logic
• Aristotle - Science
• Aristotle - Aristotle's metaphysics
• Aristotle - Aristotle's four causes
• Aristotle - The difference between natural objects and artifacts
• Aristotle - Modes of causation
• Aristotle - Chance
• Aristotle - The Five Elements
• Aristotle - Aristotle's ethics
• Aristotle - Nicomachean ethics
• Aristotle - Aristotle's critics
• Aristotle - Aristotle's mistake
• Aristotle - Bibliography
• Aristotle - Major works
• Aristotle - Specific editions
• Aristotle - Named after Aristotle

Read more here: » Aristotle: Encyclopedia - Aristotle

Bekker numbers are the page numbers used in the Prussian Academy of Sciences edition of the complete works of Aristotle. They take their name from the editor of that edition, the classical philologist August Immanuel Bekker (1785-1871). Bekker numbers take the format of four numbers, a letter for column 'a' or 'b', then the line number. For example, the beginning of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics is 1094a1, which corresponds to page 1094 of Bekker's edition of the G ...

Including:

• Bekker numbers - Specific numbers

Read more here: » Bekker numbers: Encyclopedia - Bekker numbers

An action, as philosophers use the term, is a certain kind of thing a person can do. Throwing a baseball, which involves intention and coordinated bodily movement is an action. Catching a cold is not usually considered an action, because it is something which happens to a person, not something done by them. Other events are less clearly defined as actions or not. Deciding to do something might be considered an action by some, yet by others it is not an action if the decision is not carried out. Unsuccessfully tryi ...

Including:

• Action philosophy - Links

Read more here: » Action philosophy: Encyclopedia - Action philosophy

In philosophy, the phrase virtue ethics refers to ethical systems that focus primarily on what sort of person one should try to be. Thus, one of the aims of virtue ethics is to offer an account of the sort of characteristics a virtuous person has. The ultimate aim of virtue ethics is eudaimonia, roughly meaning 'flourishing' or 'success.' According to virtue ethicists this is the aim to which all humans endeavour - to lead a good, happy and fulfilling life. Virtue ethics - Achieving eudaimonia. < ...

Including:

• Virtue ethics - Achieving eudaimonia
• Virtue ethics - Criticisms of virtue ethics
• Virtue ethics - Virtue ethics contrasted with deontology and consequentialism
• Virtue ethics - Historical origins
• Virtue ethics - Aristotle's theory of the virtues
• Virtue ethics - Virtues ethics outside the Western tradition
• Virtue ethics - Contemporary virtue ethics

Read more here: » Virtue ethics: Encyclopedia - Virtue ethics

(Greek αρετη; Latin virtus) Virtue is moral excellence of a man or a woman. The word is derived from the Greek arete (αρετη). As applied to humans, a virtue is a good character trait. The Latin word virtus literally means "manliness," from vir, "man" in the masculine sense; and referred originally to masculine, warlike virtues such as courage. In one of the many ironies of etymology, in English the word virtue is often used to refer to a woman's chastity. Virtue can also be meant in another way. V ...

Including:

• Virtue - The four virtues
• Virtue - Virtue in the Western philosophical tradition
• Virtue - The unity of the virtues
• Virtue - Prudence and virtue
• Virtue - The Christian virtues
• Virtue - Virtue and vice
• Virtue - Capital Vices and Virtues
• Virtue - Virtue in Chinese philosophy
• Virtue - Occurrences of the word 'Virtue'

Read more here: » Virtue: Encyclopedia - Virtue

Aristotle, more than Socrates or Plato, defends the existing mores of his time. Although he argues for many values which many of today's philosophers agree with, the things he values include slavery, sexism and rule by a small leisure class, all of which seem unethical according to today's standards. In fact, all of Aristotle's ethical teachings upheld contemporary society and values. This in itself has been criticised because it offers no reasons for rebellion or adherence to society's values. Bertrand Russell even said that ...

See also:

Aristotelian ethics, Aristotelian ethics - Three Ethical Treatises, Aristotelian ethics - Nicomachean ethics, Aristotelian ethics - Influences of earlier Greek ethical systems, Aristotelian ethics - Influence on later thinkers, Aristotelian ethics - Criticisms

Read more here: » Aristotelian ethics: Encyclopedia II - Aristotelian ethics - Criticisms

Aristotle was taught in Athens until 529 AD when the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I closed down non-Christian schools of philosophy. Aristotle's teachings spread through the Mediterranean and the Middle East, where early Islam (unlike contemporary Christianity) supported rational philosophical descriptions of the natural world. Avicenna and Averroes were Islamic philosophers who commented on Aristotle as well as writing their own philosophy in Arabic. In the twelfth century, Latin translations of Aristotle's works were found, enabling ...

See also:

Aristotelian ethics, Aristotelian ethics - Three Ethical Treatises, Aristotelian ethics - Nicomachean ethics, Aristotelian ethics - Influences of earlier Greek ethical systems, Aristotelian ethics - Influence on later thinkers, Aristotelian ethics - Criticisms

Read more here: » Aristotelian ethics: Encyclopedia II - Aristotelian ethics - Influence on later thinkers

Aristotle's ethics builds upon earlier Greek ethics, particularly that of Aristotle's teacher Plato and his teacher, Socrates. One important distinction is that Socrates didn't leave any written work, Plato left works aimed more toward popular consumption, and Aristotle left more scholarly works. More frequently than Plato, Aristotle notes exceptions to his general rules and the lack of precision in his ethics. ...

See also:

Aristotelian ethics, Aristotelian ethics - Three Ethical Treatises, Aristotelian ethics - Nicomachean ethics, Aristotelian ethics - Influences of earlier Greek ethical systems, Aristotelian ethics - Influence on later thinkers, Aristotelian ethics - Criticisms

Read more here: » Aristotelian ethics: Encyclopedia II - Aristotelian ethics - Influences of earlier Greek ethical systems

Energeia is an important Greek technical term in the works of Aristotle. The two components of his coinage indicate something being "in work". Joe Sachs attempts to translate it literally as a "being at work" although conventionally terms like activity and actuality are used. Most translators seem to make no effort to find one single translation. Aristotle contrasts the concept energeia with dunamis and hexis, in various places. See Eudemian Ethics II.i.1218b and Nicomachean Ethics I.viii.1098b33. And it is sometimes compared to kinesis (movement or perhaps s ...

Read more here: » Energeia: Encyclopedia - Energeia

People are humans and persons that interact as a society. They have thoughts and emotions. They work, play and originate from Earth, while investigating the options of expanding into space. Philosophy attempts to investigate and reason the nature, behaviour and purpose of people. They often ask themselves where they come from and where are they going, or question the meaning of life. Philosopher Aristotle reasons in Nicomachean Ethics that people seek a highest good, eudaimonia, and their other actions, such as wanting good health, or to rec ...

Read more here: » People: Encyclopedia - People

A right is the power or privilege to which one is justly entitled or a thing to which one has a just claim. Rights serve as rules of interaction between people, and, as such, they place constraints upon the actions of individuals or groups (for example, if one is granted a right to life, this means that others do not have the liberty to murder him). Most modern conceptions of rights are universalist and egalitarian; in other words, equal rights are granted to all people. Such rights may be defined in terms of the Golden Rule (" ...

Including:

• Right - Legal rights
• Right - Important documents

Read more here: » Right: Encyclopedia - Right

Published in 54 volumes, The Great Books of the Western World covers topics including fiction, history, poetry, natural science, mathematics, philosophy, drama, politics, religion, economics, and ethics. The first volume, titled The Great Conversation, contains an introduction and discourse on liberal education by Hutchins. The next two volumes, "The Great Ideas: A Syntopicon", were conceived by Adler as a way of emphasizing the unity of the set and, by extension, of Western thought in general. A team of indexers spent months c ...

See also:

Great Books of the Western World, Great Books of the Western World - History, Great Books of the Western World - The works, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 1, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 2, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 3, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 4, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 5, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 6, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 7, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 8, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 9, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 10, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 11, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 12, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 13, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 14, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 15, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 16, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 17, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 18, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 19, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 20, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 21, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 22, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 23, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 24, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 25, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 26, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 27, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 28, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 29, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 30, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 31, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 32, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 33, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 34, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 35, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 36, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 37, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 38, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 39, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 40, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 41, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 42, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 43, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 44, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 45, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 46, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 47, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 48, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 49, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 50, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 51, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 52, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 53, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 54, Great Books of the Western World - Second edition, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 20, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 23, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 31, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 34, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 43, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 44, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 45, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 46, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 47, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 48, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 52, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 55, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 56, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 57, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 58, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 59, Great Books of the Western World - Volume 60, Great Books of the Western World - Criticism

Read more here: » Great Books of the Western World: Encyclopedia II - Great Books of the Western World - The works