This course will become read-only in the near future. Tell us at community.p2pu.org if that is a problem.

Read/discuss Book I of The Ethics. [Aug. 24, 2011, 12:42 p.m.]


Time to dig into the material. For this task, I suggest reading through The Ethics at least twice, with copious note-taking ;-) Once you reconstruct the main ideas you can join in on the discussions and contribute your thoughts on what you found most relevant or interesting. 

I should mention that each of the thirteen chapters is meant to advance a single argument; that the end of human life is happiness (eudaimonia, sometimes translated as a floroushing, or supremely blessed life), and that this can defined as a rational principle displayed in a virtuous life.

It is also important to note that the Nicomachean Ethics is a collection of lecture notes, and has therefore been thought as incomplete, or lacking a clear line of reasoning. However, I would strongly recommend reading The Ethics with the assumption that there is in fact an intelligent structure behind the text. I think Aristotle's views will come through most clearly if we set ourselves up to understand what he has to say in a charitable frame of mind.