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Aristotles Nicomachean Ethics???

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mel_77777:
So i started reading Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics over the holidays and i have a couple of questions i need to answer on this text, just as an introduction.
BUT i am having so much trouble trying to understand it given the way it's been written!!!

Does anyone know any books or websites that could help?
Thanks :)

Menang:
I'm supposed to read this too! (For holiday homework). :)

I haven't started yet (:P) but yeah, I'd also be interested.

Tobias Funke:
Um, which translation do you have? the one I did last year was fairly easy to read,  but mind you, start with Gorgias, it makes it more chronological, in terms of having to study it and the time both were written.

and unfortunately I can't find a way to log into my school portal, because my teacher kept a written summary of each section

I'll see if i can find it around, I probably printed it enough

Aurelian:
Come exam time, you'll in fact be thankful for the systematic nature of how it's written, even if you aren't now.

I don't know any websites or books that would aid you in reading this text, but I do know me, which is probably better than a wesbite/book (arrogance ftw :D). At least at first, I would in fact advise against looking on the internet or whatever to help you here as it will probably only serve to confuse you (the only exception being if you find an actual summary in dot points of Book I and II).

Very broadly speaking Aristotle moves along like this;

Book I: HAPPINESS
- Investigates our final end; finds that end to be happiness
- Investigates the nature of happiness; excludes pleasure, honour and wealth
- Contemplates the 'function' (this can be a very confusing concept to the first time Aristotle reader) of humans in order to ascertain the nature of our final end.

Book II: VIRTUE
- (Moral) virtue is acquired through habituation and falls under the category of practical reasoning.
- The doctrine of the mean; a definition of (moral) virtue

Obviously that's a fairly broad and scanty outline of Aristotle, leaving out heaps of the particular things, and it probably isn't actually at all useful on the whole.. but I'm not too sure on how to help.

I honestly believe you'll find that even if on your first or second attempt Aristotle (or any philosophers in the course for that matter) makes utterly zero sense, once you reread him a couple of times he will be much clearer.

Menang:

--- Quote from: Aurelian on January 19, 2011, 12:35:48 pm ---Come exam time, you'll in fact be thankful for the systematic nature of how it's written, even if you aren't now.

I don't know any websites or books that would aid you in reading this text, but I do know me, which is probably better than a wesbite/book (arrogance ftw :D). At least at first, I would in fact advise against looking on the internet or whatever to help you here as it will probably only serve to confuse you (the only exception being if you find an actual summary in dot points of Book I and II).

Very broadly speaking Aristotle moves along like this;

Book I: HAPPINESS
- Investigates our final end; finds that end to be happiness
- Investigates the nature of happiness; excludes pleasure, honour and wealth
- Contemplates the 'function' (this can be a very confusing concept to the first time Aristotle reader) of humans in order to ascertain the nature of our final end.

Book II: VIRTUE
- (Moral) virtue is acquired through habituation and falls under the category of practical reasoning.
- The doctrine of the mean; a definition of (moral) virtue

Obviously that's a fairly broad and scanty outline of Aristotle, leaving out heaps of the particular things, and it probably isn't actually at all useful on the whole.. but I'm not too sure on how to help.

I honestly believe you'll find that even if on your first or second attempt Aristotle (or any philosophers in the course for that matter) makes utterly zero sense, once you reread him a couple of times he will be much clearer.

--- End quote ---
+1
You are awesome. :D

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