Because justice is concerned not only with the benefit of the individual, but with the benefit of society, it can be considered a kind of summary of the virtues.Īristotle also discusses virtues of thought, which are those states that direct the soul toward truth. Aristotle also discusses justice, which secures and maintains happiness for the political community. A friendly person is neither “ingratiating” nor cantankerous. A mild person is only angry at the appropriate times and to an appropriate extent. Magnificence involves spending worthy amounts on large purposes (such as temples for the gods), and magnanimity involves both being worthy of great honors and knowing one is worthy of such. A generous person avoids both wastefulness and ungenerosity. Temperance is a moderate appetite for fine things. Bravery, for instance, is the state between rashness and cowardice. Virtue has various preconditions for example, one must deliberate and then decide on the virtuous end toward which one is aiming.Īristotle discusses various specific virtues of character, and the extremes between which each is the mean, in detail. This mean, or intermediate state, involves “having feelings at the right times, about the right things, toward the right people, for the right end, and in the right way.” In other words, being virtuous involves more than simply doing the right thing, but doing the right thing while in the appropriate, intermediate, state. States tend to be ruined by excess or deficiency, just as too much or too little exercise can be harmful to bodily strength the goal is to aim for the mean.
Because it’s the case that activities produce character, it’s important to figure out the right ways of acting which result in states of character-that is, actions which accord with reason. Virtues of character aren’t natural to us they are achieved by means of habit. There are virtues of thought and virtues of character. Aristotle describes this human function as “activity of the soul in accord with reason,” or, more particularly, with virtue. To understand the highest good, then, it’s necessary to understand the function of a human being. Most people agree that happiness is the highest good, but they disagree about what it consists of.
He also points out that this work will “indicate the truth roughly and in outline,” not comprehensively.
He digresses to explain that Nicomachean Ethics will be a work of political science, the science which seeks the good of the city. To do this, it’s necessary to identify the best good, or end-the thing people pursue for its own sake, not for the sake of anything else. Aristotle begins by seeking to identify the best way of life.
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