Briefly: Aristotle's The Nicomachean Ethics: Book I-III, VI and X

by David Mills Daniel

Presents a support resource for students being introduced to philosophical texts and to philosophy in general. This work contains a glossary of terms relating to the philosopher's use of terms.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Classics, College, School

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Hi there.

I am David Mills Daniel, author of the 'Briefly' series.

Over the past few years, a major focus of my life has been developing and writing my 'Briefly' series of guide yo key texts in philosophy, phiosophy of religion, religious studies and ethics. 21 classic texts guides have now been published.

A major aim of the series is to enable school and university/college students to acquire knowledge and understanding of the texts and of the thinking of the philosophers who wrote them. The series is also designed to make the texts, and philosophical ideas generally, more accessible to those who would like to know more about the subject, and to encourage people to discover for hemselves what philosophy has to offer.

One of my greatest pleasures in life is discussing philosophy with those who do not think it has much to offer them. A lot of people believe that philosophy is remote from everyday life, belongs in the study or lecture room, and is for those who are able to devote their lives to thinking, rather than doing.

Well, yes. Philosophy is thinking about things, but that includes all the issues which matter to everyone: the nature of the world we inhabit; our responsibilities to others; how we should live our livves; the sort of priorities we should have; what sort of society we want; our relationships; the values we should hand on to our children; and so on.

So, philosophy is not just a subject for university professors. Indeed, many of the great philosophers, like John Locke, David Hume and John Stuart Mill, were active in the wider world, and earned their living frtom jobs which has nothing to do with philosophy or teaching it. But, all of them thought and wrote about the big issues of life. And, a great deal of what they have to say is stimulating and challenging; some of it is controversial. Furthermore, it is relevant to our lives today.

Through studying philosophy, we can bring the thinking of the geat philosophers to bear on the challenges, issues and questions we face today, as human beings, citizens, members of society and individuals with relationships, responsibilities, conncerns and uncertainties. We can learn from them, and their thoughts and ideas can help us to answrr some of the questions we face. At least, they can help us to understand the questions more clearly.

My 'SCM AS/A2 Ethics and Moral Philosophy', which supports the teaching of AS-level philosophy and religious studies, but which will also be of interest to general leaders who want an easy-to-follow guide to these fascinating and important areas of
philosophy, was published in 2009.

Reviews

[Antonio Kowatsch · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really did not enjoy this book. Aristotle keeps blabbering about friendship and conceptualizes it ad nauseam in the most nonsensical ways imaginable. He made some good points when he distinguished among the types of friendships that exist (especially the differences between the friendships that old and young people tend to form) but eventually he drifted off topic when he tried to draw conclusions between the dynamics of friendship and the government. Those passages were total hokum and do not reflect reality.

[hailey ☆彡 · Rating 3 out of 5]

pros: a more realistic take on the view of citizens and their own happiness & good—and essentially virtue

cons: ...

[Anthony Buckley · Rating 5 out of 5]

"That moral excellence is - - - a mean between two vices, the one involving excess, the other deficiency - - - has been sufficiently stated. Hence also it is no easy task to be good. For in everything it is no easy task to find the middle, e.g. to find the middle of a circle is not for every one but for him who knows; so too, any one can get angry - that is easy - or give or spend money; but to do this to the right person, to the right extent, at the right time, with the right aim, and in the right way, that is not for every one, nor is it easy; that is why goodness is both rare and laudable and noble" 1109a20-29

Wow!

[Mashika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man the amount of times I READ this man. He is kinda valid on a lot of things. I think in a political sense, some of his ideas of the self and etc. get refurbished in the Politics as far as societal/political science. Though very solid base (of the 3) in terms of our idea of ethics. Start within'!

[Sebastian]

This book gave me a hard on

[Margarita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Books 2, 3, and 6

[clairemous · Rating 4 out of 5]

facts honestly but like kinda sexist and disregards disabilities lmao

[Nick Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

What the fuck is a friend? What is love?

[Errol Cavan · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the earliest great works on ethics with a profound influence throughout the ages

[Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

The pursuit of happiness = the pursuit of human development

[Mir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great ideas, not the most exciting read.

[Venessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

"To enjoy the things we ought and to hate the things we ought has the greatest bearing on excellence of character."

This book is great :)

[Don't Look · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, I am not going to say I understand it all, but it holds conversation on everyday arguments we still have today. I recommend reading it in bits and pieces.