Aristotle & The Virtuous Life

A Comprehensive Guide for Philosophy Students

What does this chapter focus on?

Virtue Ethics

A theory that doesn't ask “What should I do?”

BUT

“What kind of person should I be”

Interactive: Role Models

Think of someone you think is highly Virtuous

Meet Aristotle

Aristotle time frame:

384-322 BCE

Aristotle was a student of?

Plato

Aristotle was a teacher of?

Alexander the Great

Aristotle was a?

Polymath

• Studied bio, physics, and logic, alongside ethics.

His ethical system is preserved in?

The Nicomachean Ethics, names after his son (or father) Nicomachus

THE FOUNDATION

What are the 3 points of “THE FOUNDATION”

1) Nature

2) Change

3) Learning

Nature

Are we born good, bad, or neither?

Change

Can a “bad” person become “good”?

Learning

How do we learn Morality? Books or practice?

THE GOAL OF LIFE

Everything we do aims at some…?

“good”

What does Aristotle argue?

There must be a Highest Good —something we want for its own sake, not to get something else.

What does Aristotle call this Highest Good?

Eudaimonia

EUDAIMONIA

“More than happy” is often translated as happiness, but it’s really?

“Human Flourishing”

How can you think of “Human Flourishing”?

Think of it as:

• A plant blooming perfectly

• The plant isn’t just happy—It’s fulfilling its full potential as a plant.

LIFE AS AN ACTIVITY