What does it mean to live well as human beings? In this course we will explore this question through engagement with Aristotle’s classic work, the Nicomachean Ethics. This text is arguably the greatest philosophical account of the ethical life. Interestingly, however, it begins not with a discussion of our moral duties but with a reflection on the human quest for happiness. Aristotle says that everything we do seems to seek some ultimate end, and most people would agree that what we seek is happiness, and they “suppose that living well and doing well are the same as being happy” (I.4, 1095a18-19). But people disagree in their understandings of happiness. Some think it consists in pleasure, others in honor or social status, others in wealth or in some combination of these elements. Aristotle’s bold thesis is that true happiness is found rather in the life of virtue, where this includes both the virtues of character (courage, temperance, generosity, justice, etc.) and the virtues of intellect (practical wisdom, theoretical wisdom, etc.). More specifically, the claim is that virtue is constitutive of our happiness (that is, virtue is its own reward), where happiness is understood as a normatively higher, noble, more fulfilling form of life.
We will consider Aristotle’s argument for this thesis, known as the “function argument,” which maintains that the good of something is found in performing its function or characteristic activity well, and for human beings this means that our good is found in living well as rational social animals, which Aristotle fills out through his accounts of the virtues of character and the virtues of intellect. We will explore these accounts and how he thinks these virtues can be acquired. We will also consider the role of luck in human well-being, examining Aristotle’s view that while virtue is necessary for happiness it may not always be sufficient. Furthermore, we will explore the problem of weakness of will (or lack of self-control) and how this can be addressed. Additionally, we will explore how our good is tied to the good of others through examining Aristotle’s account of the role of justice and friendship in human well-being. Finally, we will examine and assess what to many contemporary readers seems like Aristotle’s most controversial claim, namely, that contemplation is the best, most fulfilling activity in human life. In exploring all of these ideas, we will be concerned to consider their relevance for our lives today.
David McPherson is Professor of Philosophy in the Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida. He has previously held positions at Creighton University and the University of Colorado Boulder. McPherson works in the areas of ethics (especially virtue ethics), political philosophy, meaning in life, and philosophy of religion. He is the author of The Virtues of Limits (Oxford University Press, 2022) and Virtue and Meaning: A Neo-Aristotelian Perspective (Cambridge University Press, 2020), as well as the editor of Spirituality and the Good Life: Philosophical Approaches (Cambridge University Press, 2017).
