Skip to Main Content

Aristotle on the Sources of the Ethical Life

Online ISBN:
9780191876561
Print ISBN:
9780198835004
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Book

Aristotle on the Sources of the Ethical Life

Sylvia Berryman
Sylvia Berryman
Associate Professor of Philosophy, The University of British Columbia
Find on
Published online:
17 April 2019
Published in print:
13 March 2019
Online ISBN:
9780191876561
Print ISBN:
9780198835004
Publisher:
Oxford University Press

Abstract

This work challenges the common belief that Aristotle’s virtue ethics is founded on an appeal to human nature, an appeal that is thought to be intended to provide both substantive ethical advice and justification for the demands of ethics. It is argued that it is not Aristotle’s intent, but the view is resisted that Aristotle was blind to questions of the source or justification of his ethical views. Aristotle’s views are interpreted as a ‘middle way’ between the metaphysical grounding offered by Platonists and the scepticism or subjectivist alternatives articulated by others. The commitments implicit in the nature of action figure prominently in this account: Aristotle reinterprets Socrates’ famous paradox that no one does evil willingly, taking it to mean that a commitment to pursuing the good is implicit in the very nature of action. This approach is compared to constructivism in contemporary ethics.

Contents
Close
This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

Close

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

View Article Abstract & Purchase Options

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

Close