The Nicomachean Ethics (340

BC)- Book I
Created @September 27, 2023

Tags Pol Sci

I. The Object of Life

i. Every rational activity or pursuit is considered to aim at some
good.
Example:
Medical Science - Health;
Economic Science - Wealth
Military Science - Victory

Directive Arts - main actions that would lead to a desired end.

Subordinate Arts - actions to pursue the end of a directive art.

We are more likely to achieve our aim if we have a target.

ii. Politics studies the supreme good of man.

Political science prescribes what subjects are to be taught in states.

e.g. the arts of war, property management, public speaking

The good of the community is clearly a greater and more perfect thing to achieve than
the good of an individual.

iii. Politics is not an exact science

Politics should not be expected to have the same precision as other sciences.

The Nicomachean Ethics (340 BC)- Book I 1

 Politics investigates morality and just conduct, topics that involve many differences and
varieties

A student of politics must have some general knowledge and experience of life.

A young man is not fit to study politics.

They are not versed in the practical business of life.

Tends more toward his feelings.

iv. The end is no doubt happiness, but views of happiness differ

Happiness is the highest of all practical goods, but the view of happiness often changes
on what is needed; e.g. when they fall ill, happiness is medicine.

Learners must start from beliefs that are accepted or at least familiar.

3 Types of Life

1. Pleasure

2. Political

3. Contemplative

Honor is not the “good” that is being sought, as people only seek honor to convince
themselves of their own goodness.

Wealth is also not the “good” as money is only a means for getting something else.

vi. There cannot be a universal good such as Plato held to be the

culmination of his theory of forms.
Good is not a common characteristic corresponding to one idea.

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 The Doctrine of Categories - a theory generated by Aristotle to counter Plato’s Theory
of forms. Aristotle argues that there cannot be a universal good, as goodness can be
placed in a variety of categories.

1. Substance (member of species) e.g. horse or man

2. Quality e.g. white or cold

3. Quantity e.g. three-foot or ten-litre

4. Relations e.g. dear to or bigger than

5. Time e.g. in spring or at noon

6. Place e.g. home or in Athens

7. Position/Disposition (Temporary) e.g. sitting or pleased

8. State (Permanent) e.g. crippled or educated

9. Activity e.g. cutting

10. Passivity e.g. being cut

Things can be called good in two senses:

1. Good in their own right

2. Means to do good

Honour, intelligence, and pleasure, the definitions of these characteristics are different
and distinct in respect of goodness.

vii. What is the good of man? It must be the ultimate end or object
of human life: something that is in itself completely satisfying.
Happiness fits this description.
Happiness is the supreme good, we always choose it for itself.

The idea of a perfect good must be anchored on the concept of “self-sufficient”

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 Self-sufficient - situation/status that makes life desirable and not deficient, e.g. having a
family, good friends, and good community.

“…for man is by nature a social being”

Happiness - something perfect and self-sufficient, being the end to which our actions
are directed.

What is the function of man? To conduct activities of the soul that are in accordance with
virtue.

viii. Our view of happiness is supported by popular belief

The popular definition of happiness is either: virtue; prudence; and wisdom (pleasure is
also always added to these three).

Those who act rightly win the honours and rewards in life.
Actions define who a man is.
A good man who delights in fine actions is a good man, and a man who is acting justly is
a just man.

Happiness needs the addition of external goods for it is difficult to do fine deeds without
any resources:

Good ancestry/children

Beauty

Good Friends, etc.

ix. How is Happiness acquired?

Happiness is an activity acquired through moral goodness by virtue of study or training.

Happiness is a kind of virtuous activity of the soul, where all other goods and
preconditions of happiness serve as its instruments/means.
Happiness demands not only complete goodness but a complete life.

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 The end of Political science is the highest good. It aims to endue citizens with virtue and
the readiness to do fine deeds.

x. Is it only when life is completed that a man can rightly be called

happy?
The happy man is a sort of ‘chameleon’

Virtuous activity determines our happiness, and opposite acts of virtue produce the
opposite effect.

The happy man will be happy throughout his life; because he will spend all his time in
virtuous conduct and contemplation.

No man who is truly happy can become miserable; because he will never do hateful and
mean things. He will not be dislodged from his happiness easily.
A happy man has:

Complete virtue

Furnished w/ External Goods throughout a complete life

happiness as a way of life

happiness as an end

remember: ‘human’ happiness will still be subject to human imperfections

xi. Are the dead affected by the fortunes of those who survive
them?
Yes. But the effects are not so great to make the happy [dead] unhappy.

xii. Is happiness to be praised as a means or valued as an end?

To be praised involves a reference to something and implies that the thing being praised
requires improvement.

The Nicomachean Ethics (340 BC)- Book I 5

 To be “blessed” is higher than to be praised” since to be blessed refers to the divine.

Therefore, happiness is that which is precious and perfect/divine.

xiii. To understand what moral goodness is we must study the soul

of man.
Since happiness is an activity of the soul in accordance with perfect virtue, we must
examine the nature of virtue.

A true statesman studies the nature of virtue, for he wants to make his fellow citizens
good and law-abiding people.

Since human goodness is meant to be the goodness of the soul and happiness as an
activity of the soul, the statesman ought to be familiar with psychology. The statesman
must study the soul.

Politics is a better and more honourable science than medicine since politics is the
supreme practical science.

Parts of the Soul

A. Rational part
- Receptive to reason. Urges the person in the right direction and encourages them to
take the best course.

[Scientific]

[Calculative]

B. Irrational part
- That which opposes and runs counter to reason.

Vegetative - the cause of nutrition and growth; most active during sleep.

Appetitive

The Nicomachean Ethics (340 BC)- Book I 6