Nicomachean Ethics

Bk. I

Telos = end, goal

Teleological ethical theory = ethical theory concerned with an end

Ends are Goods aimed at

(1) "Every craft and every investigation, and likewise every action and decision, seems to aim at some good"

Ends can be activities themselves, or products of activities

(2) "the end is sometimes an activity, sometimes a product beyond the activity"

(3) "there are many actions, crafts and science"

(4) [Hence] "the ends turn out to be many as well"

("health is the end of medicine"; "a boat [is the end of] boatbuilding"; "victory [is the end of] of generalship"; "wealth [is the end of] household management"]

If one end is subordinate to some other end, then the further end is the more choiceworthy end

(5) "the end of the ruling science is more choiceworthy than all the ends subordinate to it"

(e.g. "bridlemaking... [is] subordinate to horsemanship... [which is] subordinate to generalship")

Suppose that there is one end to which all other ends are subordinate; this end would be the most choiceworthy end

(6) "Suppose... there is some end... which we wish for because of itself, and because of which we wish for the other things... this end will be the good, i.e. the best good."

This will be the end of the "most controlling science", which is "political science"

(7) "[Political science] prescribes which of the sciences ought to be studied in cities, and which ones each class in the city should learn, and how far... generalship, household management and rhetoric, are subordinate to it"

(8) "[political science's] end is action, not knowledge"

What end is the most choiceworthy end, the end of political science?

(9) "what is that good which we say is the aim of political science? What is the highest good of all the goods pursued in action?"

Characteristics Of The End (Good) At Which All Actions And Decisions Aim

(a) Choiceworthy - chosen for itself (i.e. it is an end)

(b) Complete - not wished for because of some other good (i.e. it is never a means, only an end)

(c) Self-sufficient - "all by itself it makes a life choiceworthy and lacking nothing" (i.e. sufficient)

(d) Most Choiceworthy - "not counted as one good among many" (i.e. best)

Eudaimonia (or Eudaemonia)

"Happiness, then, is apparently something complete and self-sufficient, since it is the end of the things pursued in action."

"living well and doing well"

(eudaimonia, from eu (good) + daimôn (spirit), literally "having a good guardian spirit", or, being blessed)

To be eudaimôn is to have a life that is objectively desirable

Different Accounts of Eudaimonia

(1) Pleasure - life of gratification

(2) Wealth - life of business

(3) Honor - life of political activity

(4) Virtue - life of virtue

[ (5) Understanding - life of study ]

Problems with each of these

(1) This is a "completely slavish" life, a "life for grazing animals"

(2) Wealth "is useful, for some other end"

(3) Honor "seems to depend more on those who honor than on the one honored", and "they seek to be honored by intelligent people, among people who know them, and for virtue"

(4) Virtue "is apparently too incomplete. For, it seems, someone might possess virtue but be asleep or inactive throughout his life; or, further, he might suffer the worst evils and misfortunes; and if this is the sort of life he leads, no one would count him happy, except to defend a philosopher's paradox."

[(5) Understanding "we will examine in what follows"]

Function Of A Human Being

"the good... for whatever has a function... seems to depend on its function"

"perhaps we shall find the best good if we first find the function of a human being"

ergon = function

Possible answers (for living things):

(1) Plants - nutrition and growth

(2) Animals - sense-percpetion and movement

(3) Human beings - Rationality

Division of Soul

(a) That part which has reason (Rational)

(b) That part which obeys reason (non-rational)

However, (b) is further divided:

(b1) That part that shares in reason not at all ("the plant-like")

(b2) That part that "listens to reason and obeys it" ("appetites and in general desires.")

Function of a Human Being = Activity of Soul Expressing Reason

"the human function is the soul's activity that expresses reason"

Excellence (Virtue)

Function of something is the same as the function of an excellent something

aretê = excellence, virtue

"the excellent man's function is to do this [the soul's activity and actions that express reason] finely and well"

"the human good turns out to be the soul's activity that expresses virtue"

Three Types of Goods

(A) External Goods

(B) Goods of the Soul

(C) Goods of the body [not discussed]

agathos = good

Goods/Excellences/Virtues of the Soul: Two Types

(B1) Virtues of Thought - Wisdom, Comprehension, Intelligence

(B2) Virtues of Character - Generosity, Temperance (Moderation)

êthos = character

(Note: ethos = habit)

(B1) Intellectual Virtues

(B2) Ethical Virtues

External Goods (Goods of Fortune)

(A1) Friends; wealth; power

(A2) Good birth; good children; beauty

"Nonetheless, happiness evidently also needs external goods to be added, as we said, since we cannot, or cannot easily, do fine actions if we lack the resources."

(A1)  "For, first of all, in many actions we use friends, wealth and political power just as we use instruments."

(A2) "Further, deprivation of certain -- e.g. good birth, good children, beauty –- mars our blessedness; for we do not altogether have the character of happiness if we look utterly repulsive or are ill-born, solitary or childless, and have it even less, presumably, if our children or friends are totally bad, or were good but have died."

"some of the other goods are necessary conditions, others are naturally useful and cooperative as instruments"

Correct Account of Eudaimonia

"Then why not say that the happy person is the one who expresses complete virtue in his activities, with an adequate supply of external goods, not just for any time but for a complete life."

A complete life spent exercising the intellectual and ethical virtues, with a sufficient amount of external goods (from a good family, good-looking, successful children, friends, wealth, political connections) [and goods of the body (health)].

"It is not surprising, then, that we regard neither ox nor horse nor any other kind of animal as happy, since none can share in this sort of activity."

"And for the same reason a child is not happy either, since his age prevents him from doing these sorts of actions"

Why not Virtues alone?

"For life includes many reversals of fortune, good and bad, and the most prosperous person may fall into a terrible disaster in old age, as the Trojan stories tell us about Priam; but if someone has suffered these sorts of misfortunes and comes to a miserable end, no one counts him happy."

For more on Priam, see http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/Priam1.html

[Solon : Call no man happy until he is dead.]