Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics and the Good Life

Vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts, Greek terms, and definitions from Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, including eudaimonia, virtue, happiness, and the good life.

Aristotle

Ancient Greek philosopher whose work spans from natural philosophy to logic and political theory, who attempted to define what the good is in the Nicomachean Ethics.

The Good

According to Aristotle, that at which all things aim; every art, human inquiry, action, and pursuit is thought to aim at some good.

The Good Life

A condition characterized by happiness that springs from living and doing well; it cannot exist in a bubble where only one person is flourishing, but must involve others.

Sensate Pleasure

A sensory form of pleasure that Aristotle contrasts with true happiness, the latter of which comes from living a life of virtue and excellence manifested on a personal to global scale.

Happiness

That which is chosen always for itself and never for the sake of something else; it is controlled by activities that express virtue and equates to living well and doing well.

Eudaimonia

The ancient Greek concept of "living well and doing well," generally referring to the good life marked by happiness and excellence.

Eu

The Greek word meaning "good," forming the root prefix of eudaimonia.

Daimon

The Greek word meaning "spirit," which combines with eu to form the word eudaimonia.

Ponder

To engage in reflective contemplation regarding fundamental ethical questions, such as why people do the things they do.

Intellectual Virtue

A category of virtue that in the main owes its birth and growth to teaching, for which reason it requires experience and time.

Moral Virtue

A category of virtue that comes about as a result of habit, cultivated through discipline rather than arising solely from instruction.

Virtue

The excellence of character that empowers one to do and be good; it is cultivated through habit and discipline as a constant, consistent series of actions rather than a one-time deed.

Addiction

A compulsive habit or behavior often tied to sensate pleasure, standing in contrast to the disciplined exercise and habituation of virtue required for flourishing.