The Nicomachean Ethics Themes

Aristotle uses the term eudaimonia to talk about happiness in the Ethics. While the word often translates as "happiness," it really means something closer to "flourishing" or "thriving" as human be...

Aristotle's attached to the idea of humans as political creatures (that live in community with each other), so he focuses less on socio-economic status than on our standing as moral beings. Aristot...

A bit of a warning: when we at Shmoop talk about principles, we're heading into moral territory: virtues, codes of honor, that kind of thing. For Aristotle, "principles" may mean the beginning of s...

We know from experience that friendship—true friendship—isn't for everyone: some people are jerks. Aristotle understood this, too. In order to be a good friend, he says, we have to possess the...

Aristotle understands justice in terms of balance. In both "distributive" and "corrective" justice, he says that we have to be concerned with preserving what is both lawful and equal. To be equal,...

When Aristotle talks about community in Nicomachean Ethics, he's got several things in mind at once. (Typical Artistotle.) The basic unit of community is the family, but we also participate in comm...

Spoiler alert: Aristotle thinks that wisdom is the virtue that leads to ultimate human happiness. There. We've said it. As an intellectual virtue, wisdom almost has it all. Aristotle defines it in...

Since the Nicomachean Ethics is a work of philosophy, it's inevitable that we are going to get down to the nitty-gritty of existence. Aristotle asks some basic questions: what does it mean to be hu...

In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle describes choice as characterized by two things: it's voluntary and preceded by deliberation. Without either of these things, we wouldn't be acting on choice, but b...