The Nicomachean Ethics (; , ) is Aristotle's best-known work on ethics: the philosophical study of the good for human life, that which is the goal or end at which all our actions aim. () It consists of ten sections, referred to as books, and is closely related to Aristotle's Eudemian Ethics. The work is essential for the interpretation of Aristotelian ethics.
The text centers upon the question of how to best live, a theme previously explored in the works of Plato, Aristotle's friend and teacher. In Aristotle's Metaphysics, he describes how Socrates, the friend and teacher of Plato, turned philosophy to human questions, whereas pre-Socratic philosophy had only been theoretical and concerned with natural science. Ethics, Aristotle claimed, is practical rather than theoretical, in the Aristotelian senses of these terms. It is not merely an investigation into what good consists of, but it aims to be of practical help in achieving the good.
It is connected to another of Aristotle's practical works, Politics, which reflects a similar goal: for people to become good, through the creation and maintenance of social institutions. Ethics is about how individuals should best live, while politics adopts the perspective of a law-giver, looking at the good of a whole community.
The Nicomachean Ethics had an important influence on the European Middle Ages, and was one of the core works of medieval philosophy. As such, it was of great significance in the development of all modern philosophy as well as European law and theology. Aristotle became known as "the Philosopher" (for example, this is how he is referred to in the works of Thomas Aquinas). In the Middle Ages, a synthesis between Aristotelian ethics and Christian theology became widespread, as introduced by Albertus Magnus. The most important version of this synthesis was that of Thomas Aquinas. Other more "Averroist" Aristotelians such as Marsilius of Padua were also influential.
Until well into the seventeenth century, the Nicomachean Ethics was still widely regarded as the main authority for the discipline of ethics at Protestant universities, with over fifty Protestant commentaries published before 1682. During the seventeenth century, however, authors such as Francis Bacon and Thomas Hobbes argued that the medieval and Renaissance Aristotelian tradition in practical thinking was impeding philosophy.For Bacon see for example Novum Organum; for Hobbes, De Cive.
Interest in Aristotle's ethics has been renewed by the virtue ethics revival. Recent philosophers in this field include Alasdair MacIntyre, G. E. M. Anscombe, Mortimer Adler, Hans-Georg Gadamer, and Martha Nussbaum.
Title and abbreviations The title is usually assumed to refer to Aristotle's son Nicomachus. One theory is that the work was dedicated to him, another is that it was edited by him (though he is believed to have died young, probably before he could have managed this alone). Another possibility is that the work was dedicated to Aristotle's father, who was also named Nicomachus. It is unlikely that it was dedicated by Aristotle himself, as it does not appear to be in a form Aristotle intended for publication. Rather it seems to be something like lecture notes meant for the lecturer or for consultation by students.
The oldest known reference to the Nicomachean Ethics by that title is in the works of Atticus (c. ), who also refers to the Eudemian Ethics by name.
In Greek the title is (), which is sometimes also given in the genitive form as (). The Latin version is or .
Referencing The Nicomachean Ethics is often abbreviated as NE or EN. Books and chapters are referred to with Roman and Arabic numerals respectively, along with corresponding Bekker numbers. For example, "NE II.2, 1103b1" means "Nicomachean Ethics, book II, chapter 2, Bekker page 1103, column b, line number 1". Chapter divisions, and the number of chapters in a book, are somewhat arbitrary and sometimes different compilers divide books into chapters differently.Book V for example: Brewer, Browne, Burnet, Gillies, Grant, Jelf, Lancaster, Peters, Ross, Stewart, Taylor, and Williams divide it into 11 chapters; Hatch, Paley, and Welldon into 15; Chase into 17.
Background Parts of the Nicomachean Ethics overlap with Aristotle's Eudemian Ethics: Books V, VI, and VII of the Nicomachean Ethics are identical to Books IV, V, and VI of the Eudemian Ethics. Opinions about the relationship between the two works differ. One suggestion is that three books from the Nicomachean Ethics were lost and subsequently replaced by three parallel works from the Eudemian Ethics, which would explain the overlap. See also Another is that both works were not put into their current form by Aristotle, but by an editor.
No consensus dates the composition of the Nicomachean Ethics. However, a reference in the text to a battle in the Third Sacred War in acts as a for that part of the work. The traditional position, held for example by W. D. Ross, is that the Nicomachean Ethics is a product of the last period of Aristotle's life, during his time in Athens from until his death in .
According to Strabo and Plutarch, after Aristotle's death, his library and writings went to Theophrastus (Aristotle's successor as head of the Lycaeum and the Peripatetic school). After the death of Theophrastus, the library went to Neleus of Scepsis.
The Kingdom of Pergamon conscripted books for a royal library, leading the heirs of Neleus to hide their collection in a cellar to prevent its seizure. The library remained there for about a century and a half, in conditions that were not ideal for document preservation. On the death of Attalus III, which also ended the royal library ambitions, the existence of the Aristotelian library was disclosed, and it was purchased by Apellicon and returned to Athens in about .
Apellicon sought to recover the texts, many of which were degraded by their time in the cellar. He had them copied into new manuscripts, and used his best guesswork to fill in the gaps where the originals were unreadable.
When Sulla seized Athens in , he seized the library and transferred it to Rome. There, Andronicus of Rhodes organized the texts into the first complete edition of Aristotle's works (and works attributed to him). These relics form the basis of present-day editions, including that of the Nicomachean Ethics.
Aspasius wrote a commentary on the Nicomachean Ethics in the early . It suggests "that the text [at that time] was very like what it is now, with little or no difference, for instance, of order or arrangement, and with readings identical for the most part with those preserved in one or other of our best [extant manuscripts]." Aspasius noted "the existence of variants—which shows that there was some element of uncertainty as to the text even in this comparatively early stage in the history of the book."
The earliest known reference to the Nicomachean Ethics in the Islamic world appears in a letter by al-Kindī, titled Letter on the Number of the Books of Aristotle and What Is Needed to Acquire Philosophy (Risāla fī kammiyya kutub Arisṭūṭālīs wa-mā yuḥtāğ ilayhi fī taḥṣīl al-falsafa). In this work, al-Kindī enumerates the three Aristotelian treatises on ethics. However, scholars suggest it is probable that he did not have direct access to these texts himself, but was instead depending on a secondary Greek source.
The oldest surviving manuscript is the Codex Laurentianus LXXXI.11 (referred to as "Kb") which dates to the 10th century.
Synopsis Aristotle was the first philosopher to write ethical treatises, and begins by considering how to approach the subject. He argues that the correct approach for subjects like Ethics or Politics, which involve a discussion on beauty or justice, is to start by considering what would be roughly agreed to be true by people of good upbringing and substantial life experience, and then to work from those intuitions toward a more rigorous understanding. Over the course of the Ethics, Aristotle alternates between a theoretical/systematic approach to formalizing ethics and an empirical approach of consulting opinion, prior philosophical or literary works, and linguistic clues.
Aristotle's ethics is said to be teleological, in that it is based on an investigation into the , or end, of a human. In Aristotle's philosophy, the of a thing "can hardly be separated from the perfection of that thing", and "the final cause of anything becomes identical with the good of that thing, so that the end and the good become synonymous terms".
Taking this approach, Aristotle proposes that the highest good for humans is , a Greek word often translated as "flourishing" or sometimes "happiness". Aristotle argues that is a way of taking action () that is appropriate to the human "soul" () at its most "excellent" or virtuous (). is the most "complete" aim that people can have, because they choose it for its own sake. An excellent human is one who is good at living life, who does so well and beautifully (). Aristotle says such a person would also be a serious () human being. He also asserts that virtue for a human must involve reason in thought and speech (), as this is a task () of human living.
After proposing this ultimate end of human activity, Aristotle discusses what ethics means. Aristotelian Ethics is about how specific beneficial habits (virtues) enable a person to achieve and how to develop a virtuous character (). He describes a sequence of necessary steps: The first step is to practice righteous actions, perhaps under the guidance of teachers, in order to develop good habits. Practiced habits form a stable character in which those habits become voluntary, which then achieves .
The Greek word , or "character", is related to modern words such as ethics and ethos. Aristotle does not equate character with habit ( in Greek, with a short "e") because character involves conscious choice. Instead, character is an like health or knowledge—a stable disposition that must be maintained with effort. However, good habits are a precondition for good character.In Latin, the language of medieval European philosophy, the habits are , giving us modern English words like "moral". Aristotle's term for virtuous character () is traditionally translated with the Latinate term "moral virtue". Latin , is derived from the word meaning man, and became the traditional translation of Greek .
Aristotle reviews specific ways in which people are thought worthy of praise or blame. He describes how the highest types of praise require having all the virtues, and these in turn imply more than good character, indeed a kind of wisdom.
(The Eudemian Ethics VIII.3 also uses the word "", the nobility of a gentleman (), to describe this same concept of a virtue encompassing all the moral virtues.)
The view that praiseworthy virtues in their highest form, even virtues such as courage, require intellectual virtue, is a theme Aristotle associates with Socrates; it is portrayed in the Socratic dialogues of Plato.See for example VI.13 for Aristotle on Socrates; and the Laches for Plato's Socrates on courage. Aristotle professes to work differently from Plato by trying to start with what well-brought up men would agree with, and to take a practical approach, but by Book VII Aristotle argues that the highest of virtues is not a practical one: wisdom. However, achieving wisdom requires all the virtues of character, or "moral virtues".X.7 1177a, cf. 1170b, 1178b