Topic Philosophy & Subtopic Intellectual History Ancient Philosophy The Ethics of Aristotle Course Guidebook Professor Joseph W. Koterski Fordham University PUBLISHED BY: THE GREAT COURSES Corporate Headquarters 4840 Westfi elds Boulevard, Suite 500 Chantilly, Virginia 20151-2299 Phone: 1-800-832-2412 Fax: 703-378-3819 www.thegreatcourses.com Copyright © The Teaching Company, 2001 Printed in the United States of America This book is in copyright. All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of The Teaching Company. Joseph W. Koterski, S.J., Ph.D. Associate Professor of Philosophy, Fordham University Joseph Koterski, S.J., received the H.A.B. degree in Classics from Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1976. As a Danforth Fellow, he completed a Doctorate in Philosophy in 1982 at St. Louis University, where he wrote a dissertation on Truth and Freedom in Karl Jasper’s Philosophy of Science under the direction of the late James Collins. After teaching Ancient Philosophy for two years at the Center for Thomistic Studies of the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas, Professor Koterski joined the Maryland Province of the Society. Ordained a priest in 1992, after taking the M. Div. and S.T.L. degrees from the Weston School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he began teaching philosophy at Fordham University, where he now directs the M.A. program in Philosophical Resources and specializes in the history of medieval philosophy and natural law ethics. At Fordham, Professor Koterski serves as the editor-in-chief of International Philosophical Quarterly and as chaplain and tutor for the Queens Court Residential College for Freshmen. In 1998, he received the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching, and in 2000, he received the Graduate Teacher of the Year Award. In addition to the many articles and reviews he has written, Professor Koterski is the co-editor of Prophecy and Diplomacy: The Social Teaching of Pope John Paul II and the editor of the annual proceedings of the University Faculty for Life organization, Life and Learning. ©2001 The Teaching Company. i Table of Contents The Ethics of Aristotle Professor Biography....................................................................................i Course Scope...............................................................................................1 Lecture One The Philosopher of Common Sense...................3 Lecture Two What Is the Purpose of Life?.............................8 Lecture Three What Is Moral Excellence?..............................12 Lecture Four Courage and Moderation..................................16 Lecture Five The Social Virtues............................................19 Lecture Six Types of Justice................................................23 Lecture Seven The Intellectual Virtues....................................27 Lecture Eight Struggling to Do Right.....................................32 Lecture Nine Friendship and the Right Life..........................37 Lecture Ten What Is Friendship?.........................................40 Lecture Eleven Pleasure and the Right Life..............................44 Lecture Twelve Attaining True Happiness................................48 Glossary.....................................................................................................52 Bibliography..............................................................................................61 ii ©2001 The Teaching Company. The Ethics of Aristotle Scope: This course focuses on the views of Aristotle (387–321 B.C.) about morality by means of a careful study of his Nicomachean Ethics. Often called “the philosopher of common sense,” Aristotle offers an extremely balanced account of many ethical questions. The goal of this course will be to present his ideas clearly and to suggest ways in which the thought of a philosopher from so long ago still bears tremendous relevance for our own age. After providing some important background about Aristotle’s general approach to philosophy, this course will turn to the text of his main work on ethics. In the first book (and then again in the tenth), he argues that the chief goal of human life must be something desirable for itself and not merely as a means to something else. He then reviews the perennial candidates for this goal, including pleasure, wealth, and honor, before arguing that the only satisfactory answer to the question is happiness. Everything else, including pleasure, wealth, and honor, may contribute to a happy life and may even be necessary conditions for it, but only a life of genuine virtue will make one truly happy. Given this concentration on virtue, Aristotle devotes much of the earlier part of his treatise to defining moral virtue, then illustrating it by example. In the effort to be wisely commonsensical, he stresses that virtue consists of a steady disposition to choose the golden mean between responses that would be excessive or deficient. But, he insists, this mean should be understood not as the average or the mediocre, but as the very peak of excellence, whether in regard to our actions or our feelings. His case studies of virtue feature the traditional set of four cardinal virtues: courage, temperance, justice, and prudence. The categories within which Aristotle sets out the notion of justice have been especially significant for all the subsequent history of thinking about the subject. He distinguishes between legal justice (what is right because laid down by civil authority) from natural justice (what is right independently of whether it ever becomes embodied in civil law). From the latter notion, the entire tradition of natural law ethics arises. With regard to the many possible instances that involve the exchange of goods and services, whether by voluntary agreements, such as contracts, or by ©2001 The Teaching Company. 1 involuntary acts of force, such as crimes, Aristotle argues that justice will be served by arranging for an exact equality in the amounts exchanged. In certain spheres, however, an exact equality in amounts would be unjust; therefore, Aristotle also articulates a notion of distributive justice, in which the goal is a proportionate equality that takes into consideration such factors as the difficulty of the labor, the danger faced, the ability to contribute, or the needs of those to be served. Finally, Aristotle even envisions a need for a judge to be able to correct an injustice that would be done by too strict an implementation of the law for a situation the legislator could not have foreseen, and this he calls “equity.” In the second half of the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle takes up three issues that are crucial to the moral life. Alert to the fact that many people will see pleasure rather than happiness as the goal of human life, he tries to point out the contradictions implied in this position. He also makes an extended study of well-ordered and badly ordered pleasures, in an effort to show that an inclination to take pleasure in the right sort of things can well be an indicator that one has really achieved a solid virtue. In Books VI and VII, we find Aristotle’s account of the rational component of ethics. He offers a classification of the intellectual virtues to match his earlier list of specifically moral virtues. He also offers his own account of moral weakness in an effort to solve the problem Socrates had raised about how a person could deliberately do what he or she knows to be wrong. Perhaps the most charming part of the entire text is Aristotle’s account of friendship in Books VIII and IX. Using a threefold distinction based on the precise object of affection prominent in various relationships, Aristotle distinguishes the best sort of friendship (friendship of character) from friendships of pleasure and friendships of utility. By the study of this classical text in ethics, we can learn an ethical wisdom that has stood the test of time and can offer valuable insight for our own day. 2 ©2001 The Teaching Company. Lecture One The Philosopher of Common Sense Scope: Aristotle is often called “the philosopher of common sense.” As in his works on logic, being, and nature, so too in ethics, he worked by sifting the wide range of existing opinions on a topic for insights that could serve as cornerstones of a broad, well-balanced theory. At the core of his own moral theory we find the idea of virtue, understood as human excellence. The very structure of the ten books of the Nicomachean Ethics (modern readers might well think of them as “chapters”) emphasizes two sets of virtues: virtues of character (especially the cardinal virtues of justice, courage, temperance, and prudence) and virtues of mind (including both speculative wisdom and practical wisdom). Aristotle argues that these virtues are important in themselves, as well as constituents of a happy life. This lecture will provide a survey of this course and an overview of Aristotle’s thought, with a special emphasis on the place of his moral theory in the history of philosophy. By contrast with, say, the dialogues Plato wrote about Socrates, the form of this work is a treatise, a well-polished presentation of ideas discussed in the school Aristotle founded, the Lyceum. Outline I. However diverse their own concerns, generation after generation has returned to the Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle (387–321 B.C.) for ethical insights about how to live well and about what the meaning of human life is. A. Aristotle was one of Plato’s brightest students. 1. After long years in the Academy, Aristotle founded his own school, the Lyceum. 2. Here, he conducted teaching and research in his own highly empirical manner, which focused on comparison and contrast in order to find the common form in any group of items. 3. This commonality then gave that group (called a “species”) its proper definition and placed it correctly in the larger scheme of things (that is, identified its “genus”). ©2001 The Teaching Company. 3 4. Aristotle wrote on a vast number of topics, including physics and biology, political constitutions and theatrical drama, as well as more technically philosophical topics, such as logic, metaphysics, and ethics. 5. His followers in this highly experiential approach that seeks for the “essence” of anything (that is, for the form that is common to all members of a group) are usually called “Aristotelians.” 6. Among Aristotle’s most famous students was Alexander the Great, who used to ship new plant and animal specimens back to his teacher from his military expeditions! 7. Aristotle spent most of his life in Athens, but just before his own death, he had to flee from Alexander’s enemies after news of Alexander’s death. B. Aristotle used a “biological” model in his approach to ethics. Looking for the common elements in the lives of culturally diverse individuals and the organization of diverse governments, he attempted to characterize what led to excellence in the life of an individual and in the life of a community. II. There are many theories of ethics. A. The utilitarian theory of ethics (as originally propounded by John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham) restricts its consideration to weighing costs and benefits. 1. Utilitarian ethics is still practiced today, for example, in medical ethics and government funding. 2. But this theory has no respect for the intrinsic value of anything, including human life and human dignity. B. A second type of ethics is based on the concepts of duty and right, or the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” 1. This theory is associated with the philosopher Immanuel Kant, who gave it a more technical statement in his “categorical imperative.” 2. It is an approach that emphasizes the way in which we, as free human agents, need to make our choices and to make them responsibly. 3. This theory also emphasizes the importance of certain things, such as human rights. 4 ©2001 The Teaching Company. C. A third kind of ethics attempts to go deeper by relying on insights into human character and is associated with nature and the tradition of natural law. 1. It has its basis in the works of Greek philosophers, such as Socrates, Plato, and especially, Aristotle. 2. Socrates approached it by asking people to define the virtues. 3. Plato continued Socrates’s effort through his Dialogues. D. Aristotle follows the same pattern of looking at human nature but with a biological or anthropological slant. In contrast to the sorts of principles that are prominent in other ethical theories (such as utilitarianism, deontology, or divine command theory), Aristotle tends to offer ethical principles rooted in human nature and the virtues that constitute excellence in human life. III. The Nicomachean Ethics consists of ten books, each divided into “chapters.” A. In contrast to Plato’s highly imaginative Dialogues between Socrates and various characters, Aristotle uses the systematic approach of a treatise. B. This format dispenses with the interesting but sometimes meandering give-and-take of conversation to give the reader a clearer statement about specific questions and answers. C. Aristotle’s concentration on basic questions, such as identifying a suitable goal for human life and distinguishing the means from the end, keeps his argument clear. IV. The Nicomachean Ethics presents a moral theory focused on happiness and virtuous character that largely transcends the cultural world in which it was composed. A. Aristotle lays out at the very beginning of his Ethics what he believes is the general game plan for human life, its purpose and its goal: that all people act for what they think will make them happy. (He argues that what constitutes happiness is where people disagree.) B. In the rest of his Ethics (Books II–X), Aristotle takes up other subjects, including his central notion of ethics: virtue. 1. For Aristotle, virtue implies excellence at a particular function. ©2001 The Teaching Company. 5 2. He looks for common patterns of excellence in a diversity of individuals, regardless of their cultural or social backgrounds. 3. He uses this notion of excellence to organize the content of most of the rest of the Ethics. 4. The scope of Aristotle’s concern with virtues in human life includes both “internal” states of emotion and desire and “external” relations to other individuals and to the community (under the topic of justice). 5. One of the most important parts of the Nicomachean Ethics comes toward the end, where two books are devoted to the subject of friendship. V. The Nicomachean Ethics is a study based on experience that aims to find clear principles that will help us to distinguish good from bad and right from wrong. A. In accordance with a maxim from jurisprudence (“hard cases make bad law”), he offers relatively clear cases of virtue and vice, rather than complicated, borderline cases, from which to draw principles. B. While searching for answers to practical questions about living a good life, Aristotle often tries to offer general principles, not just solutions to particular problems. VI. The Nicomachean Ethics uses several key terms. A. Aristotle is concerned with seeking various “goods.” 1. Aristotle uses the term “good” to refer to what is desirable, as opposed to what is merely good. 2. We must distinguish between a genuine good and an apparent good (e.g., healthy food and junk food). B. He constantly returns to the theme of happiness (eudaimonia = having a good spirit). 1. Happiness is something that involves a life of activity. 2. It is an end in itself, not a means to an end. C. Aristotle also likes to use the term “mean,” as in golden mean. 1. This is probably the most important of the key terms in the Nicomachean Ethics. 2. For Aristotle, a mean is a point of excellence lying between two extremes: excess and defect. 6 ©2001 The Teaching Company.