Welcome to Episode 28 (Part II) on Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics.
The Nicomachean Ethics is Aristotle’s (384 – 322 BC) best-known work on ethics. The work consists of ten books and is understood to be based on Aristotle’s lecture notes. These notes were never intended for publication. Sometimes his notes are merely cues to talk more generally about a subject, other times they are more representative of what Aristotle would have actually said to his students.
The Nicomachean Ethics is amongst the most discussed texts in history and philosophers continue to debate its contents and intended purposes today. One cannot deny, however, that Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics is concerned with key political and ethical questions – Questions like, How can we do what is best for citizens? and What is the good life and how do we achieve it?
This week in Part II, we'll be looking at what Aristotle meant by 'virtue'.
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Part I. Aristotle’s Approach and Fundamental Arguments. (start of Part I)
Part II. Virtue as Excellence. (start of Part II)
Part III. Book X and Application. (start of Part III)
Part IV. Further Analysis and Discussion. (start of Part IV)