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Nichomachean Ethics. Book 6, with Essays, Notes, and Translation
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.
- GenresPhilosophyClassics
232 pages, Paperback
First published September 7, 2010
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About the author
Aristotle
4,346 books5,583 followersAristotle (Greek: Αριστοτέλης; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, and the arts. As the founder of the Peripatetic school of philosophy in the Lyceum in Athens, he began the wider Aristotelian tradition that followed, which set the groundwork for the development of modern science.
Little is known about Aristotle's life. He was born in the city of Stagira in northern Greece during the Classical period. His father, Nicomachus, died when Aristotle was a child, and he was brought up by a guardian. At 17 or 18, he joined Plato's Academy in Athens and remained there until the age of 37 (c. 347 BC). Shortly after Plato died, Aristotle left Athens and, at the request of Philip II of Macedon, tutored his son Alexander the Great beginning in 343 BC. He established a library in the Lyceum, which helped him to produce many of his hundreds of books on papyrus scrolls.
Though Aristotle wrote many treatises and dialogues for publication, only around a third of his original output has survived, none of it intended for publication. Aristotle provided a complex synthesis of the various philosophies existing prior to him. His teachings and methods of inquiry have had a significant impact across the world, and remain a subject of contemporary philosophical discussion.
Aristotle's views profoundly shaped medieval scholarship. The influence of his physical science extended from late antiquity and the Early Middle Ages into the Renaissance, and was not replaced systematically until the Enlightenment and theories such as classical mechanics were developed. He influenced Judeo-Islamic philosophies during the Middle Ages, as well as Christian theology, especially the Neoplatonism of the Early Church and the scholastic tradition of the Catholic Church.
Aristotle was revered among medieval Muslim scholars as "The First Teacher", and among medieval Christians like Thomas Aquinas as simply "The Philosopher", while the poet Dante Alighieri called him "the master of those who know". His works contain the earliest known formal study of logic, and were studied by medieval scholars such as Pierre Abélard and Jean Buridan. Aristotle's influence on logic continued well into the 19th century. In addition, his ethics, although always influential, gained renewed interest with the modern advent of virtue ethics.
Little is known about Aristotle's life. He was born in the city of Stagira in northern Greece during the Classical period. His father, Nicomachus, died when Aristotle was a child, and he was brought up by a guardian. At 17 or 18, he joined Plato's Academy in Athens and remained there until the age of 37 (c. 347 BC). Shortly after Plato died, Aristotle left Athens and, at the request of Philip II of Macedon, tutored his son Alexander the Great beginning in 343 BC. He established a library in the Lyceum, which helped him to produce many of his hundreds of books on papyrus scrolls.
Though Aristotle wrote many treatises and dialogues for publication, only around a third of his original output has survived, none of it intended for publication. Aristotle provided a complex synthesis of the various philosophies existing prior to him. His teachings and methods of inquiry have had a significant impact across the world, and remain a subject of contemporary philosophical discussion.
Aristotle's views profoundly shaped medieval scholarship. The influence of his physical science extended from late antiquity and the Early Middle Ages into the Renaissance, and was not replaced systematically until the Enlightenment and theories such as classical mechanics were developed. He influenced Judeo-Islamic philosophies during the Middle Ages, as well as Christian theology, especially the Neoplatonism of the Early Church and the scholastic tradition of the Catholic Church.
Aristotle was revered among medieval Muslim scholars as "The First Teacher", and among medieval Christians like Thomas Aquinas as simply "The Philosopher", while the poet Dante Alighieri called him "the master of those who know". His works contain the earliest known formal study of logic, and were studied by medieval scholars such as Pierre Abélard and Jean Buridan. Aristotle's influence on logic continued well into the 19th century. In addition, his ethics, although always influential, gained renewed interest with the modern advent of virtue ethics.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 1, 2023
While I agree with some points in Aristotle's work, I don't agree with many things (like his stance on change).
Interesting read, but one I felt like I was trudging through.
Definitely a firey topic of conversation, however. Keep it in your back pocket for when a party starts getting boring. (lol definitely don't do that.)
Interesting read, but one I felt like I was trudging through.
Definitely a firey topic of conversation, however. Keep it in your back pocket for when a party starts getting boring. (lol definitely don't do that.)
March 23, 2023
hell. i’m so excited aristotle is already dead so i don’t need to go to jail for homicide. bc i would murder him.
August 20, 2015
I like to tell students in my undergraduate ancient philosophy class that Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics is a sort of self-help book. I think this is a fair description given that the major thrust of Aristotle’s ancient text is to help its readers understand what happiness means and just what is required in order to obtain it in our lifetimes. On the other hand, my description is a bit of a stretch in the sense that the Nicomachean Ethics is a notoriously densely argued and poorly edited text. It just doesn’t seem suitable for the audience that most self-help books are meant to reach. Reeve’s Aristotle on Practical Wisdom can help some make better sense of Aristotle’s work.
C.D.C. Reeve is an accomplished scholar. His commentaries on and translations of ancient classics are often cited and well-respected. I often choose to use his translations in my ancient philosophy course because of their balance between readability and scholarship. Readers of this review should make no mistake about it. Aristotle on Practical Wisdom is not meant for a general reading audience. Reeve is a philosopher’s philosopher, a scholar’s scholar. This book is a masterful work of scholarship. Reeve’s claim that the aim of the book is to make Book VI of the Nicomachean Ethics “accessible to a wide range of readers” (ix) requires qualification. The range of readers that might find this book accessible would likely be limited to those readers who have some substantial experience reading philosophy, ancients texts in general, and in particular those who have some experience with and interest in Aristotle. I believe students would require some assistance with this book from an experienced guide.
Reeve describes this book as a “companion volume” to his earlier Action, Contemplation, and Happiness: An Essay on Aristotle. The current 280-page book is divided into three main parts. First, there is a general introduction which offers an overview of the whole work as well as some helpful context by which one can situate the Nicomachean Ethics within Aristotle’s broader scholarly concerns. Second, there is a “translation and analysis” of Book VI of the Ethics. Third, making up the bulk of the Reeve’s book, is the more or less line by line “commentary” on Book VI of the Ethics.
Aristotle’s approach to ethics is at odds with much modern and contemporary thinking. To oversimplify matters, many non-philosophers believe that ethics is all about emotion, with rationality have little to do with it. Many philosophers, in contrast, believe just the opposite, that ethics has everything to do with rationality while emotion can just muddle things. Aristotle is famous for his third way, that reason and emotion are both intimately intertwined in ethical decision-making. Just as mathematics or medicine, for example, utilizes certain kinds of reason, ethics, too, according to Aristotle, needs a certain sort of reason. As Reeve says, the “major aim of Nicomachean Ethics VI is to define the relevant type of correct reason (orthos logos)” (1), required by ethical thinking.
As I said, Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics makes for a difficult read. And Book VI of that work might be the most difficult part of that difficult work. So it’s fitting that Reeve dedicates an entire volume that tries to sort things out. Some of the questions that arise in Book VI that scholars debate include just what sort of reason is practical wisdom (the type of reason that Aristotle claims is required of ethical thinking)? In other words, what sets this kind of reason apart from other types of reason (like that used in the sciences, for example)? Is Aristotle’s ethical thinking concerned only with means and not ends (thereby rendering it susceptible to charges of relativism of one sort or another)? Does Aristotle’s ethics abandon the notion of the use of action-guiding principles in favor of the cultivating an appropriate emotional demeanor or virtues of character? Reeve’s extensive discussion Aristotle’s understanding and use of the syllogism is a significant contribution to the settling of this latter issue.
One way to judge the success of a scholarly book is to measure its accomplishments against the author’s own stated aim. To this point, Reeve says, this “book is a presentation and discussion of the account of practical wisdom (phronêsis) that Aristotle gives in Nicomachean Ethics Book VI. Its aim is to make this important but rather complex and opaque text accessible to a wide range of readers” (ix). I’ve already mentioned above how this claim must be qualified. But more importantly, I believe Reeve is exactly right when he says that what he has provided with Aristotle on Practical Wisdom “is one—as I hope—credible and intelligible guide to this astonishing text. The guide, like the key to all mythologies, will never exist” (x). Anyone with a serious interest in Aristotle’s approach to ethics should all of Reeve’s work in this area, including this book.
C.D.C. Reeve is an accomplished scholar. His commentaries on and translations of ancient classics are often cited and well-respected. I often choose to use his translations in my ancient philosophy course because of their balance between readability and scholarship. Readers of this review should make no mistake about it. Aristotle on Practical Wisdom is not meant for a general reading audience. Reeve is a philosopher’s philosopher, a scholar’s scholar. This book is a masterful work of scholarship. Reeve’s claim that the aim of the book is to make Book VI of the Nicomachean Ethics “accessible to a wide range of readers” (ix) requires qualification. The range of readers that might find this book accessible would likely be limited to those readers who have some substantial experience reading philosophy, ancients texts in general, and in particular those who have some experience with and interest in Aristotle. I believe students would require some assistance with this book from an experienced guide.
Reeve describes this book as a “companion volume” to his earlier Action, Contemplation, and Happiness: An Essay on Aristotle. The current 280-page book is divided into three main parts. First, there is a general introduction which offers an overview of the whole work as well as some helpful context by which one can situate the Nicomachean Ethics within Aristotle’s broader scholarly concerns. Second, there is a “translation and analysis” of Book VI of the Ethics. Third, making up the bulk of the Reeve’s book, is the more or less line by line “commentary” on Book VI of the Ethics.
Aristotle’s approach to ethics is at odds with much modern and contemporary thinking. To oversimplify matters, many non-philosophers believe that ethics is all about emotion, with rationality have little to do with it. Many philosophers, in contrast, believe just the opposite, that ethics has everything to do with rationality while emotion can just muddle things. Aristotle is famous for his third way, that reason and emotion are both intimately intertwined in ethical decision-making. Just as mathematics or medicine, for example, utilizes certain kinds of reason, ethics, too, according to Aristotle, needs a certain sort of reason. As Reeve says, the “major aim of Nicomachean Ethics VI is to define the relevant type of correct reason (orthos logos)” (1), required by ethical thinking.
As I said, Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics makes for a difficult read. And Book VI of that work might be the most difficult part of that difficult work. So it’s fitting that Reeve dedicates an entire volume that tries to sort things out. Some of the questions that arise in Book VI that scholars debate include just what sort of reason is practical wisdom (the type of reason that Aristotle claims is required of ethical thinking)? In other words, what sets this kind of reason apart from other types of reason (like that used in the sciences, for example)? Is Aristotle’s ethical thinking concerned only with means and not ends (thereby rendering it susceptible to charges of relativism of one sort or another)? Does Aristotle’s ethics abandon the notion of the use of action-guiding principles in favor of the cultivating an appropriate emotional demeanor or virtues of character? Reeve’s extensive discussion Aristotle’s understanding and use of the syllogism is a significant contribution to the settling of this latter issue.
One way to judge the success of a scholarly book is to measure its accomplishments against the author’s own stated aim. To this point, Reeve says, this “book is a presentation and discussion of the account of practical wisdom (phronêsis) that Aristotle gives in Nicomachean Ethics Book VI. Its aim is to make this important but rather complex and opaque text accessible to a wide range of readers” (ix). I’ve already mentioned above how this claim must be qualified. But more importantly, I believe Reeve is exactly right when he says that what he has provided with Aristotle on Practical Wisdom “is one—as I hope—credible and intelligible guide to this astonishing text. The guide, like the key to all mythologies, will never exist” (x). Anyone with a serious interest in Aristotle’s approach to ethics should all of Reeve’s work in this area, including this book.
April 16, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews