The Nicomachean Ethics

by Aristotle (Author), Aristotle (Author), Terence H. Irwin (Translator)

• Used

  Paperback
  1985

  $8.33

  Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics is perhaps one of the most influential treatise on moral philosophy. It is a central text in Greek ethics, a primary source of medieval ethics, and a stimulus to thought about morality. Questions discussed include: human happiness and welfare; the nature of a good person; the psychology of action and character; the virtues of character and intellect; praise, blame, and moral resposibility; practical reason; weakness of will; self-interest and the interests of others; the role of friendship in the good life; and the relation between pleasure and goodness.

• Used

  Paperback
  2000

  $16.85

  Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, based on lectures that he gave in Athens in the fourth century BCE, is one of the most significant works in moral philosophy, and has profoundly influenced the whole course of subsequent philosophical endeavour. It is soundly located within a philosophical tradition, but its argument differs markedly from those of Plato and Socrates in its emphasis on the exercise - as opposed to the mere possession - of virtue as the key to human happiness, offering seminal discussions of ethical issues that are practical in their intent. Topics covered include the role of luck in human wellbeing, moral education, responsibility, courage, justice, moral weakness, friendship and pleasure. This accessible new translation by Roger Crisp follows the Greek text closely and also provides a non-Greek-reader with the flavour of the original. The volume also includes a historical and philosophical introduction and notes on further reading.

• New

  Paperback
  2004

  $13.57

  Previously published as Ethics, Aristotle's The Nicomachean Ethics addresses the question of how to live well, and originates the concept of cultivating a virtuous character as the basis of his ethical system. This Penguin Classics edition is translated from the Greek by J.A.K. Thomson with revisions and notes by Hugh Tredennick, and an introduction and bibliography by Jonathan Barnes. 'One swallow does not make a summer; neither does one day. Similarly neither can one day, or a brief space of time, make a man blessed and happy'. In The Nicomachean Ethics , Aristotle sets out to examine the nature of happiness. He argues that happiness consists in 'activity of the soul in accordance with virtue', for example with moral virtues, such as courage, generosity and justice, and intellectual virtues, such as knowledge, wisdom and insight. The Ethics also discusses the nature of practical reasoning, the value and the objects of pleasure, the different forms of friendship, and the relationship between individual virtue, society and the State. Aristotle's work has had a profound and lasting influence on all subsequent Western thought about ethical matters. Aristotle (384-22 BC) studied at the Academy of Plato for 20 years and then established his own school and research institute, The Lyceum . His writings, which were of extraordinary range, profoundly affected the whole course of ancient and medieval philosophy and are still eagerly studied and debated by philosophers today. If you enjoyed The Nicomachean Ethics , you might like Plato's The Symposium , also available in Penguin Classics .