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Chapter

Note on the text

Aristotle's life and work

For rhe sakeof having one standard systemwhich all scholars use, refeLences any work of Aristotleare alwaysgiven according the to to columnandline in Bekker'sBerlin Editionof 1831. .oage. This edition ilas th great advantage that each reference quite unique.Thus, is ll4?bl0 refersto line l0 of the second columnon page ll47 of tsekker. Evenwith no mentionof the title of the work, this is unambiruouslya reference the Nicomachaean rics, Book VII, chapter to E l. In this book I have given the standard references, have also but inciuded Book and chapter the Ethicsas an additional the of helpto a in Piacine refelence its context. The tmnsiations hreare my own. But sinceit is alwaysuseful lc comparedifferent translations any ancientauthor,the reader of night $ ish to consultthe other translations given at the startof the Bibliography. maketbe sense To clearerI haveoccasionally inserted rn square bmckets word which doesnot occurin the Greek,but can a be deduced frotnthecontext.

An outline of his life and times to Aristotle came Athensin 367 BcE at the ageof 17, to go to university.'University' in this casemeant school foundedby the Academy, philosophical the geat Plato,who himself had been a discipleof the was Socrates. Athens t/reculturalcentleofthe Mediterfor wouldhavehadtwo reasons ranean, its citizens and not being immediately impressedby the young fuistotle.He camefrom the far north of Greece,from a thecity of Stagira Macedonia; countryboy, then, in lackingin cultural refirement.In this, the doubtless Both prejudice would havebeenmisleading. Athenian parents came from families with a long Aristotle's ofmedicine,andhis fatherwas tradition ofthe practice physician King Amyntas ofMacedon. III Court court to werenot uncivilized, the value and circles Macedon in is by fteyplaced uponeducation demonstrated thevery fact of their sendingAristotle to Athns. There was, would havehad reason Athenians however, second a with wholly open arms. Aristotle for not welcoming

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with the royal family of Macedon,and Macedon He llas connected had military arnbitions. AmyntasJs son Philip II embarked on a proofmany grannreof militaristexpansion which, much to the resentment and led Athenians, to his dominationover much of Greece, i-.lominent evenlually to th subjugation of Athens itseli Still. for twenty years Aristotle remained at the Academy, stud)-ing,debaring, writing and teaching. Unfortunately, most of his ivrirings from that time have been lost, and we are able to do iittle about precisely what he studied,and inore than make educatedguesses ,,r,here own interests lay. But as those years went by, the political his situatiorbrought about by the policies of Philip of MacedonrapidJy worsened.and the climate in Athens became more and more nervous in Aristotle,whose legal status and hostile.Against this background, with suspF alien,found himselfregarded Athenswas tbat ofa resident the ciorr.Finally the c sis came.Philip battered city ofOlynthus, one and, a few months later,in of Athens'sclose allies, into submission; j,17, Plato died. a Aristotle was thus doubly isolated.Speusippus, nephewof took over as head of the Academy. Would Aristotle have hoped Plato. ! that he himself might have got the job? Did his not gettingit depend upon the fact that Speusippuswas a relative of Plato, or on the fact : in tl'rat appointAristotlewould have beenimpossible the prevailingI ro pcliticalcli:nate? was it perhaps that Aristotle'sown philosophical Or ;: rieu's r.veLe this time somewhat out of tune with the prevailing .. by tone in the Academy? Whatever the academic reasons may hav given the hostilepolitical thoughtit prudent,especially bccn.A.ristotle tc leave Athens and the Academy.He went to join a group siiiration. i of Platonists at Assos, a city on the north Aegean coast of what is r nori Turke],. The local monarch, Hermias, was himself interestedin I him to fulfil the Platonic phiiosophy. encoumged and the philosophers ideal of becoming a philosopher-king. Aristotle was later to write a irl,rnn lamenting his untimely death (he was murdered) and praising his lersonal qualities 'for which he will be raised by the Musesto inmonalit-r,'. Before that, though, Aristotle had himself manied Pythias,and ihcy lrere again on the move. Philip II invited him to retum to Alexanderlaterwas \lrcedonia to becometutor to his son Alexander.

conquests to becomeknown as 'the Great' becauseof his amaztng Empire across what is now Ti:rkey' which extendedthe Macedonian Aristotle Eg)?t, much of Western Asia, and on into India Perhaps young heir to the throne' but hopid to in"ulcat" Plato's ideals in the in the light of the brutality of some of Alexander's campaigning on his oie tactics, may wonderjust how completeAristotle's influence

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in left Alexander for his campaigns the east,ard Aristotleonce of underthe protection Antipater' to retumed Athens,in 334, again and who was one of ,f,. r.g.n, whom Alexanderhad appointed, friends.At somepoint during his time in Maceclosest Aristotle's afterher mother'wasbom' calledPythias daughter, Aristotle's donia, probablyto in his but,tragically, wiie died,perhaps childbirth'It was eithermanied' that ater hap*i-ttttoot<ing his infantdaughter 'A'ristotle Herpyllis or lived with (the ancientsourcesdiffer on the point)' with her was,in his will Aristotlewas his Whatever legalrelationship warml! of her devotionto him, and to makecarefulprovi to speak child' the She fo, sion he, support. alsobecame rrotherof his second timea sonwhomhe calledNicomachus' 0ris own Upon his anival back in Athens,Aristotle foundedhis the Lyceum The park called in school a publicexercise philosophicat fiom thet customof known as 'periPatetics' th"r" became ,tudant, their as up walking and down (in Greek,Peripatein) they discussed Here in his Lyceum Aristotle taught and researches. ptrllosoiptricat happilyfor the nextelevenyears lt wasthe p*ru"d hi, o*n research periodof his life, andthe time of his mostenduring productive most struck Alexander politicaldisaster though, Once achievements. again, once saw at diedsuddenly the young age of 32 The Atheniansat ln a waveof regent' ofthe Macedonian io chance rid themsel-v;s their Aristotle with'impiety" the feeling,they charged anti-Macedonian two executron offencewhich had led to Socrates's catch-all same it OnceagainAristotlehadto leave,remarking' is earlier. generations commit a secondsin against iuia,tnutn" did so'lest the Athenians He philosophy'. suwivedonly a year in exile, and died at the ageof
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that agreed ethicsand politics had ultimatelyto rest on more Plato and of considerations epistemology metaphysicsThere are seneral often on in The r\,.osrearinfluences Aristotles philosophywere Ptatoandhis F ilso somesimilarities method Plato, following Socrates' and students' the o.,r research n into biology, especially biology of animals. by his starts dialogues elicitingthe views of one of his Plato must have been a hard act to follow. He had developed then goingon to seehow far thoseviews will standuP to criticism' and transfomred the philosophical method of Socratesand appliedit similarly,Aristotlehabituallytakesas his startingpoints Somewhat wide range of problems, including the immonality tc an arnazingly opinions'.By lhis term Aristotlemeansto include received endo:ra, justice, and the or of the soul. the nature of virtue, the meaning of whichareheldby everyone, at leastby mostpeople'aswell views justification for We thory of truth. He had atteltlptedto give a tbeoretical held asthose by the wise.2 shouldstart,then'with what cornmon havethought' .,rhat he regarded as the right way to live both as an individual and or mightsuigest, with what earlierphilosophers sense Aristotleis more thoseviewsto critical assessment rs a member of the city-state.In so doing, he had been forcedto thensubject and seek for the foundations of ethics and politics by developing s),rnpathetic Plato to the thoughtthat most people cannotbe ihan highil- original views in tnetaphysicsand in the theory of knowledge. wholly mistaken. to ascribed Aristotleis thathe rejected The very scopeand stvle of philosophyitself were those which had ihe viewmostpopularly was to all at one time Plato did believe in 'Theoryof Forms'.Certainly established Plato's Academy. The framework treconre Plato's appealances firmly established. Was there any room for genuine tlat, if words like 'beauty'or 'courage'or 'equaliry' or 'good' were Formsthey mustpoint to the corresponding o fi ginalit y ? any to have meaning, Only if thereare properties of instances these perfect, Recall that Aristotle studied and debatedin Plato's Academyfor exisiing, really itsell will there be any years, from the age of 17 until he was 37. He must surely have t\\'er'rq' Fo*, as Beautyitself, or Goodness ,u.h the not merely by Plato'smethodand by the ofthe way in which we understand beauty beenenonrously influenced explanation satisfactory whiclr Plato and his studentsbelieved to be beyond andgoodness this-worldlythings,imperfectas they are Only if .L-rnch,rsions of were recog- thesJ disnuie. but alsoby the placesat which Plato'sarguments Formsexist will therebe any solid basisfor morality' perfect itsell So' the popularview has it' Aristotle oiien by Plato himsell [t is still a matterofdispute nizerlas cieficient, for or irdeed knowledge and speculations, madea radical the young Aristotle startcdoflby being more in agreement hadno time for suchmetaphysical 'r i'.ciher First' Plato .r ith Platoand endedup being much more critical;or whetherhe was This view is a grossoversimplification' with Plato. break the Theoryof modified moie criticaj in his earlier years and only later began to seethat there laterin his life at leastconsiderably himself in views the nls pe:hapssome$'hattnore to be said for his old teacher's by thatis meant kind of viewsadvanced the Phaedo' if Foms, rhan he used to think. It may also be true that the brilliant young is perfectlywilling to talk about forms' and on Aristotle Besides, prruil influencedhis teacher.and that this influence shows up in even interpratations endedup by holding a view of forms not some truthbehindthe oversomeof Plato'slater uorks.r Still, at leastsomethings are reasonably wholly Still,thereis an impoftant Plato's. unlike politics,andlike biology'.which interest.in. in Plato'sinterests ethicsand clear.Arislotleretained The simplification. clue lies in Aristotle's with their medicalbackby first aroused his parents had perhaps been doneby Aristotle and his Much of the research with certainty gouni practice. by the factthal we cannot Theprr'blerris nol madearryeasier "nO of and the examination classification worksevento the extentof clearlydistinguishing r]:ue nranyof Aristotle's itudrnr,.onrirt.d in the meticulous
laterffom lhe earlier.In any casemanyof Aristotle'sworksare knownto be of on lcst For a sholt andjudiciouscomment the problems sayingan)'thing ch see development, T. H. Invin [1988]' l' $5, s rborr Arislolle philosophical to refered in lrwin'snotesDD. lJ. andlheanicles Il they were fish animals, and insects,and in the attempt to explain why 1l43bll-]!4' ll45b2-'7 Ethics Nicohachaean seealso 'Iopicsl00b2l;

as the) \\'ere, and why they behaved as they behaved. Aristotle was convinced that the explanations were to be found not in some supersensibleworld of Platonic Forms, but in the intemal organization of tle organisms tbemselves. Their patteros of growth, development and behaliour were directed by an inbuilt purposiveness, different for each species,the nature of which could be called the 'form' of that orsanism.and could be discoveredby patient study and inquiry. i\'lore generaliv, perhaps the nature of every kind of thing could be drscovered a similar way. This quest for the naturesof things in for the p/rasrsof each kind of thing - is what Aristotle called Pilsics; and the further underlying truths about explanation in general, upon ri hich such inquiries ultimately rested, were what he discussedin his .\.1eta ohtsics.3 Here, then, is the original contriburion which Aristotle believed he could make towardshandling the questions that Plato had raised. lnsteadof looking to an abstmctdiscipline such as mathematics to provide the ultimate explanation of things, as did the Platonistsin the Academ).,, stotle proposed to study in detail the world around him, A and to deal with tbe philosophical implications of that study in an integrated\r'a-v. W}tat, he asks, must be the fundamentalcharacteristicsof a iuorld if inquiry into the naturesof things in that world is to be possible all? Like Plato, then, Aristotle seeksto know the ultimate at explanaiions ofthings; unlike Plato,he thinksthat questions aboutultimate explanations must arise out of, rather than dispense with, rurun,Jane questionsabout how we are to explain the shapesand movements and growth of animals, and the regular behaviour of the inanirnatepads of nature. ln particular, looking at how the different speciesof organisms are by nafure impelled to pursue what is good for them, rve can begin to see how values are central to the behaviour of iiving things. Once we learn to look at ourselvesas animals, and to understand how animals function, we can begin to glimpse how biolocy,with its inbuilt values,can in the caseofthinking animalslike ouriel\'eslead on to ethics. 'i'vleta-Ph)rsics probabJy (meto Greek) relers an inquirywhich.ofiesaJTer to in tle directinquiryjnto the natures things,whenthe inquirersees of thardeeper oue\rior,s be dealt rnust with.

Aristotle would have thought it astonishingif thinking animals like ourselveshad no way of expressingto themselveswhat was good for them. So, at many points n the Ethics, he starts by considering what people usually or frequently think about va ous questrons with norality, on the assumptionthat their views must either connected be right or at least contain some considemblekemel of truth which would explain why people hold them. But is this assumptiona reasonable one to make? Might an entire society not be blind to the rights of women, or acceptracist beliefs quite uncritically? Quite in general, doesAristotle's method not amount to little more than repeating the ofhis own culture? Aristotle assumptions prejuilicesand unquestioned might reply to this that he has no intention of merely repeating the views of the ordinary person,nor of the wise, without criticizing and them. If one asks how this criticism is to proceed' Aristotle assessing would reply that a good first step would be to bring into the open any hidden inconsistenciesin common beliefs, and try to sort those out' But, the cdtic might press the point, even if that results in a coherent account,mere coherencedoesn't guaranteelnl&. A person might be consistently rucist or sexist and still be simply mistaken' surely? Aristotle might reply to this that even if it is comparatively easy to be within a limited area of one's beliefs (say, about the rights consistent of women), it is much harder to be consistentacrossa wide spectrum of one's beliefs. One would have to integrate ethics and psychology, physiology, sociology and the rest; and once one t es to do this' at some point the hidden inconsistencieswill reappear. Achieving an overall 'fit' between one's experienceand one's beliefs is not at all easy;and when it has been achieved, that is as close as one is ever likely to come to the truth. This is a very complex issue,and we shall haveto see as we go along whether Aristotle's method seemslikely to deliver what he is looking for. For the moment, at least, this much can be said. Like Plato, Aristotleis concemedto get behind what people might happento thint their views, to examine their foundations and their in order to assess justification. Like Plato, Aristotle is concemed with how individuals oughtto live, and how they ought to contribute to their communities. He.too. is concernedwith the nature ofmoral virtues,justice, personal resoonsibilitvand moral weakness.Like Plato, he believesthat ethics

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r'nust rooted in a view of the humansoul. But unlike Plato,his be fiom biology, conception what a soul is derivesin the first instance of and reincamaratherthan from religiousviews aboutthe incamation true self And this differencehas profound ricn of a disembodied for irnlrlications morality.

Chapter

Style, structure
and aim of the Ethics

Ethics The Nicomachaean


gt}ics is so calledeitherbecause TheNicomachaean the dedicated work to his youngson,or, more Aristotle himself who it probably, because was Nicomachus gaveit its final form someyears the edited work and afterhis father'sdeath.Aristotle also wrote another Elhics,which the on book moralphilosophy, Eudemian of for the purposes our presentstudy we may leave to one side.l I shall here be dealingjust with the I Ethics,andfor convenienceshallrefer Nicomachaean to it simply as the Ethicswhen thereis no dangerof confusion. We know that Aristotlewrote stylishdialogues for intended the general andotherworkson philosophy
rNot only are there the two works: to complicate matters further,three of the eight books of the Eudemian Ethics arc identicalwith three of the ten books of the Nicomochaean Et ics. The more widcly held view is that the EudemianEthics waswritten first. How to explain the duplicatebooks?Perhaps lhrec of the books were losl from one of the two works, and werereplacedby the three p3rallel books from the other work (which probably w^s the Eudemianttrl.J). However, there is

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lrublic. Unfonunately,only some fragmentsof thesehave survived,. and in any case most of these probably date fi'om Aristotle's first stay in Athenswhen he was working in Plato's Academy.The surviving \rorl(s. in contrast, were not intended for the wider public, and most of them could not be described as polished literary creations. More probably.they contain Aristotle's own notes for lectureshe was giving, 0i topics he was working on. The Ethics most likely dates from the pcriodafterAristotiehad retumedto Athensand foundedthe Lyceum. Likc er erlthing else we have from this period, in some places the ri,riting is extremely condensed,and would, presumably, have been er1-.iaincd more at length in the course of the lecture. In other places, more and the text could havebeendelivered thesiyie js more elaborate Did oi lessas it stands. Thereare alsosomeinconsistencies. he perhaps revise rvhat he wanted to say iD some places, but did not get round to making the conesponding corrections elsewhere? Altematively, it rright u'ell be that Nicomachus or some later editor was responsible whatevernraterialshad come down to him from Aristotle, lbr alTalrging and fitredsomebis in as best he could. lvhat has come down to us ls rt leasi ro solrle extent a record of work in progress,and we should fead it in fiat spirit. lt should encourage us to think about the problrrrrs as Aristotle hinself was thinking about them. Rather than being rjaunrrC a great man's finisheddefinitivework, we might perhaps by or we thiLrk the questjons night put to a lecturer, the contributions of ric rri3ht tr1 to rnaketo a seminar. -llrc Ctirics will strike the modem rcader as, if not exactly chaolic.irt lcnstrathcr looselywritten. For a start,the traditionaldiviand not a .ro n lnt o B ook s 'a n d ' c h a p te rs ' i s l m o s tc e rta i nl y A l i stotl e' s, $e shouldnot allow it to distEct us.?Sontetopicsrun over from one book to anotlrer(as for example, friendship straddlesthe divrsion tumson datingof the rwo works.The question no llgrec-llrent the relative about the between two woiks,and ofthe differences oncs estinrate thesignificance of cascfor as of \rlrichis moreplausibly regarded a revision theother.A powerful Ethicswas writtenfirst has qucslioning comnon view that the Eudemiah the ar bernput by AnthonyKenny 09781i his funherreflections to be foundin I. Kcnny ll992l,Appendix oftext whichwould that of I1hilshccnsuggesled a Bookconsisted theamount lir onro single of papyrus. i roll l0

in BooksVIII andIX, andthe moralvirtuesaretreated Books between often chapters ll andIV andV). Within a singlebook,too, successive waming' To to seem hop from one topic to anotheralmostwithout extentthis is the result of the editing,but it also reflectsthe some which issues as comprising it doesseveral nature ofethicsasa subject, ratherthantightly interlockingStill, to oneanother related areloosely Whetherit is Aristotle'sor that of a later not we should exaggerate. of and thereis at leastsomestructure, an intelligiblesequence editor, alongthe following lines: topics, I What do we aim at in life? what is it that would make A living worthwhile? worthwhilelife mustsurelyinvolve to humancharacteristics the our specifically developing we find out what thoseare?Upon reflecfull. How could human tion,we canseethatwhatis mo$ characteristically which thoughtcoloursall aboutounelvesis the way in but pursuits, also our our lives - not just our intellectual andrelationships' our feelingsandemotions, choices the So rve start by considering ways in which thought which contributeto those tmits of character influences a wonhwhile,fulfllled life. What are thesetraits? living thcm?And how do our charHow do we cometo possess which we makein life' the choices in actcrs turn influence andfor which we are held responsible? in We needto thinli aboutchoiceandresponsibilify more and for detail.Are we responsible all our behaviour, also we for the character havedeveloped?

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these of Wc canusethe examples individualvirtuesto illustrate .., points, of moreexamples virtue' of several Miscussion quitelike the others)' Thevirtueofjustice(whichis not V not life Vl Livinga wonhwhile requires only thatwe havea but character, alsothatwe have and well-rounded balanced dcvelopcdthe intellectualskills neededto gmsP which choiceswe necdto make as we go along What is it to havea goodmoraljudgement?
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Horv can people responsiblymake wrong choices?The connection between good and bad choices and virtues and vices. Pleasureas a possible source of temptation The preceding topics might give the impression that a wortlrwhile huuran life fright be lived entirely on one's own. On the contrary humans are naturally inclined towatds various kinds of friendsltip' N4oreou iiiendship: its justification and its importance' Pleasureagain; for surely a worthwhile life must somehow be fulfiliing and enjoyable? This leads on to a final discussion of the ingredients of fulfilled life' both for the individual. and for the individual as a member ot a comn.runity.

Aristotle's aim in writing the Ethics work on moralitywashis RepablicIt included mostambitious Plato's abouthow an individualshouldlive' but' much notsimplydiscussions picture ror. urntitloutty,integntedthat view into a comprehensive and goodcitizenship' thebestway morality, of theidealstatePersonal Aristotle'saim in writing the Erhics all a to organize state fit together. of Politiu rvasno diiferent.He hopedto providean account urndih" be struchow the goodpersonshouldIive, and how societyshould believe io in rured o'rder make suchlives possible Adstotledid not was give peoplea true for thatall thatwasneeded moraleducation to worthwhile' of understanding what was goodand nobleand morally without motivation'which knowledge is Understandirig not enough of to give an account moral ulon..unnot irouide. SoAristotlesetsout of all this can discussion as training *ell us moraltheory.A detailed to 4, uitil lat"r, in Chapter but the followingtwo textswill serve rait outlineof what he is trying to do: giveus a preliminary It is well said,then' that it is by doingjust acts that someone acts that they become just, and by doing temperate becomes would haveany chance no Withoutdoingthese, one temperate. actrons do good.But mostpeople not performthese ofbecoming plilosobut tuke,eiulc in theory,thinkingthat they are being a goodin thisway'Theybehave bitlike phers wiii become and but to their doctors' do noneof the who listencarefully patients well ihing, th.y weretold to do. As the latterwill not be made the formerwill not be in tiOy ty sucha nethod of treatment,

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So Aristotle's train of thought goes more or less like this: To lire a fullilled life, we need to be guided by errotions which are and by habltsof thoughtwhich enableus to seewhat is and balrnced, thesebalanced and why. In developing to ;s not relevant our decisions' we are presumablyacting responrntotions and disceming choices, lriblvi so \\'e need to know u'hat we can properly be said to be on here,to eiaborate the variousexamples for. rcs1.'tonsible (Digression which can be fitted into the rcsponses and unbalanced ol Lralanced on Now much of the foregoingdepends the notion of ibor c schenre.) are how suchchoices made' choice:so we needto discuss ir disceming of knowledge they presuppose Again, obviously rundwhat kinds for pcopleare otien held responsible wrong choices But how cnough, they know they should not do? At ..n *,n"on. knowingly do what the of Ihis point. something a leap: we have discussed qualitiesofthe to gooj indi"ldual, but what of the individual'srelationships others? contributeto a and how do they with such relationships, \ihi Lrother we thosequestlons' can lirlfilledlife for rte? When we have answered try to sultl up. Ethics has to say something about the fulfilled life' and about tbe kind of community in rvhich personsleading such a life nrighthope lo functionbest.Just a sketchof this last point here' since aftef the Erllcs conles tlle PoliticJ.

t" on'iilllli;*r_,r, an by weli made insoul such approach

inquiry (unlike our othets)is not aimedat theoretOur present to our We ical knowleclge. are not conducting inquiry in ordeJ good'otherofvirtue,but in orderto become knowthedefinition what wiseit would not benefitus at all so we mustthink about actionsandhow we oughtto performthem ' concems 01, 2, I 103b26-31)

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Aristotle's (1): Why do we do anything at all? Prelace

are Reasons hierarchicallyordered:we read a book to leam about Adstotle;and we want to leam about Aristotle becausewe want to get Aristotle usthattheflrstthree tells chapters theEthics by way a degrce, of are perhaps;and we want to get a degreebecause. . . and so on. of being a prefaceto the work as a whole (1095a12). thesechap- Now, most of the things that we do involve know-how. We need to In ters. he gives an outline of his approach, indicates the results which leam how to read, and, indee4 how to read Aristotle; know-how is might be expected, and describes the kind of student for whom his needed making a ship, or a CD. These various bodies of knowfor lecturs designed. are just are. actions for are ledge structured, as our reasons individual Ethicsand politics are concemed or electronicsare presupwith what we shouiddo. If we Practical such as marine engineering sciences do something distinct from have sonethinghappento us, or from posedby the scienceof commerce (which needs ships) or the music (as a piece of purely reflex behaviour), we do it for a reason.So Aristotle industry(which needs CDs), and these in tum have their own aims. itans off his introduction making somegeneral by observations the His point is that these second-levelaims explain why the firstlevel on reasons might give for doing anything. The observationsare indeed aims arc important to us. He then raises this question: is there some ra,e practical scienceto which all the others are subordinate? very general:and that is becausehe wants to get back to the most basic highest-level thereis, its end will be the highest of all ends, and to understandit asslunptionsinvolved in ethics. We commonly try to think out prob- lf lems such as 'Should mother come and live with us. or would she would be to understandhow ever'4hing else fits together, and why in the end we do an)4hing at all. His answer (in l, 2) is that there is indeed a plausible candidate for the position ofhighest-level practical science- politics. To seewhv he saysthis, we need to grasp two points. The first concems the way ofpolitics. The word 'politics' in whichAristotlethinksofthe science doesnot have for him the somewhat ambiguous overtones it might have for us, where to be a politician might suggest being adePt at wheelingand dcaling, manipulating the levers of power, and so on Nor doeshe mean what we might mean by 'political science', which Sonretimes moL:e we things (such as a statue,or a chair), ano is a theoreticel study of how political institutions work and interact. sometimes*'e simply do things (like walking, or discussing Like Plato, Aristotle had a noticn of politics which was at once more philosophy). idealistic and more practical. The science of politics consists in Some of the things we do, we do for their own sake(listening knowinghow to organizethe community for the best.3'Politics' is allto music, or keepinga promise,for instance). involving all the many ways in which we should interact embracing, Sor,relimes,we do something, or make something, for the sake with one anothcr in a community. The people whose task it is to orgaof something else that we want (we read a book in order to leam nizethe community are the ones who in the end decide what is to be about Aristotle; we paint a picture in order to enjoy looking at it: we make CDs in order to eam a living). I 'Community'. that to sinceit is inrportant remember at thisperiodthepolitical Somerimes we do things both lor their own sake and because as small unitwasa ccrmparaiively city - a polis - andsuchempires therehad the),ale meansto achievingsomething else as well. (We go for becn Greece even cities, of thought ofas alliances individual werenevefiheless in was partner Athens (as l \talk bccause enjoy walking, and in any casethe exercise if there hadoncebeen,andMacedon we werca dominant rc DCCOme.) is gcrodfor our health.)

be better where she is?', or 'Can we really blame him for what he rlid?' and so on. k is nruchmore rarely that we ask 'What shouldI be cloingu ith rry life?', and even more rarely that we ask 'What is the b.st wav to livel' Aristotlethinks that to deal with the more everyday problcnrs. have in the end to deal with the very general, we but very 'Why do anythingat all?' is indeeda strange lundarncltalissues. quesrron:but it might provide a clue to what is needed orderto answer in lhc others.So, he begins: rl)

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tir0!jtt aod to whom, how money is to be spcni, what laws are to be scientificlaws have no exceptions,whereasmoral principles, such as cn3crcd.$trat p)ays and festivals to be celebrated, which types of 'You shouldnot tell a lie' surely have all kinds ofexceptions. Someone belriri iour to be encoumged, and which not. plato toot it for iianted, might even wish to argue that, whereas the truths of physics should :ud.{risiotle u,ouid not have disputed,that all thesepracticaldeci_ beaccepted anyone,different individuals or culturesneednot accept by sionshave as rheir ultimatepurposerhe wel)-beingof the citizens, as the sameethical principles at all. Despite what he has just said about indiyidu3ls as a community.Ifwe could understand and how to achieve uffeasonable expectationsin ethics, Aristotle would neverthelessat rhatgoal. rhen, saysAristotle, we could seehow each action of each this pointurge caution until we see tums howtheinquiryintoethics irrdiyidual might be gocd for that personand might also conu.ibute out. Ethics and politics are indeed different from physics. Aristotle ro a flourishing community.Ethics and politics are alike concemed with admits that in contrastwith the naturalworld 'noble and just actions, $l]at is most importantto us; ethics looking at it from the point of which arc the subject matter of politics, differ and vary so much that irc.x of the individual. and politics from the point of view of the it night appearas if rhey dependsimply upon hunan convention rather ronrnrunitl, a whole. The Ethics,then,will attemptto answerques_ thannature'(1094b14-16). it might seem.But, as we shall as So se, tiorisabout \,vhat each of us should do by showing how thc answen Aristotle docs not in fact endorsethat conclusion. While ethics and crinbc found;and answers can be found by considcring what it is thal politics may be inexactby comparison with the physical sciences, it i:r Ultinlarely irnponantto us. doesnot follow that there are no natural limits to what should be regarded morally or politically admirable, or that ethics cannot in as anysense regardedas a scientiflc discipline. We shall have to wait be Aristotle's (2): Preface Realistic expectations andsee. \\ iil lhc sludy of ethics tell us exactly what we should do in every srruirrron which we find ourselves? in Certainly not, says Aristotle. (3): Aristotle'sPreface Suitablestudents onl)' s()rtrcoue had no knowledgeofthe subject rvho would expectthat . 1 ... . ,.1f , lc r r ilc dc la rrry . As we saw, Aristotle's aim in w ting the Ethics is not just to teach theory,it is to help peopleto becomegood. While in a way Ilrc discussion will be quite sufficientif it attainsto as much people fair enough (though perhapsthe emphasisis not one which clafiry as the subject allows. Detailed accuracyis not to be thatseems lookcd lbr equally in all discussionsany more than in the various would always be found in moml philosophy lecturesnowadays!), one mightbe forgiven for thinking that there is neverthelesssomething of thlngsu,e can make. a paradoxhere. If, by Aristotle's own account, attending a course on fl . 3, t094bl t-t2) moralphilosophywill not guarantee that the studentswill end up being In talking about what we should do, we must not expect the morallygood, then why should reading Aristotle's Ethcs or listening prcciston that we might expect in, say, mathematics, in the phys- to his lecturesbe any more effective? It's not enough for him or simply icol scicnccs. Only the ill-infonned would expectthe samedegreeof to r4_v that hjs aim is not just theoretical but pmctical. How is that liqt.rur. Once again,Aristotle is here making an introductoryremark, supposed work out? to lLrrNhich he u ill give his detailedreasons later (partlyin Book Il, and Aristotle would tahe the point. No more than a contemporary panlv in Book VI). Now, it might not strikeus as too surprising to say lecturer moral philosophy rvould Aristotle have thought it his busiin thal ethics{or-poiitics) is nor an exact sciencein the way in which nessto provide the kind of good moral training one might look for pn\stcj or astronotly are. We might be inclined to say that moral fromparcnls schools. or Such traininghas to slan in early childhood, piincil:,les ale very diflerent from scientific laws. At least idealtv. so that the young person acquiresbabits of good behaviour.Still, 17

STYL E ,s T RUCT URE D AIM OF T H E E T H l C S AN

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what Aristotleis trying to do, someonewho has been weil brought up will typically come to wonder beenbroughtuP as they were' of 1r'/n they have been trained to behave in this way rather than tbat explanation why they shouldhave is to go aboutmakinggooddecisions' of an InGeedthey might well question whether their upbringing has been and account how an adult to saywill havethepractical effectof crysthat along the right lines at all. Doubtless there were rebellious adolescentr Hhopes whathe has haveas and for tallizing them attitudes ways of thinkingwhich they in Arhe)rs too. Rather than geting hold of them at once, however, were His themselves' lectures orjustify for ableto explain Aristotle rvould have consideredthem as still too young to profit fron yetnotbeen or' education; to be of the final stagof a process moral his lectures. The rebellious adolescent simply does not as yet havr io provide of backingto a process wereto give the theoretical they enough experience of life and its complexities to be able to forn ror. "*r.,, In-l doing' which hadilreadybeenlargelycompleted' training rrature moral judgements. So Aristotle consideredas prerequisitesfor moral -produce thoughtfuladultswho would be good morally to iris course fiat people should have been well brought up, and, further he aimed of and people, goodmembers the community' Ihat they should already have had some experienceof life and of the ' ' to in tfte chaptersthat follow, I shall not adhere strictly complex problems which life presentsone with. He remarks that: Aristode's) l shall try

an then,is to give his students

(if orderof exposition indeedit is Aristotle's Wlile young men become geometricians and mathematicians to explain the key pans of it 6rst' and then fill in the sufioundings and very adept at such subjects [we might includc being marvel. t"t"r.i *outa sugieit thata goodplanto follow wouldbe to readfairly of sections the text which are dealtwith in each lous at dealing with computersl,it is commonly believedthat quickly through-the then which aregivenat the startof eachchapter: a young man does not leam practical wisdom. ... A young ctraoter ottnis Uoot, to man has no experience.for it is length of time that gives read chapter carefully,following up the references the text as the expetience. yougo along.
(V I, 8. I l 42al l -15) tlere is a fonhright descriptionof the krnd of studenthe does

.\ young rnan is not a suitable person to take a course on hov tr-'run a city, for he is inexperiencedin the affairs of life (which are tt e starting point and subject-matterof the course). Besides, since he tends to be led by his feelings. attending the course wili be porntlessand unprofitable, since the aim of the course is nol knouiedge but action. [t makes no difference whether he is young in years, or immature in character.The problem is nor a mafter of time, but a life-style which pursues one kind of thing :ftcr another as feelings dictate. To people like this knowledge is Ito use, any more than it is to people who lack self-control But for those whose desires and actions are directed in a wellordered way, it would be very helpful to have knowledge about such topics. (1, 3, 1095a2-ll ) 18 19

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