Table Of ContentHappiness as Actuality in
Nicomachean Ethics
An Overview
Happiness as Actuality in
Nicomachean Ethics
An Overview
Sorin Sabou
~PICKWICK Publications • Eugene, Oregon
Happiness as actuality in nicomacHean etHics
an overview
copyright © 2018 sorin sabou. all rights reserved. except for brief quotations in
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paperback isbn: 978-1-5326-5990-4
hardcover isbn: 978-1-5326-5991-1
ebook isbn: 978-1-5326-5992-8
Cataloguing-in-Publication data:
names: sabou, sorin, author.
title: Happiness as actuality in nicomachean ethics : an overview / sorin sabou.
Description: eugene, oR: pickwick publications, 2018 | includes bibliographical refer-
ences.
identifiers: isbn 978-1-5326-5990-4 (paperback) | isbn 978-1-5326-5991-1 (hardcover) |
isbn 978-1-5326-5992-8 (ebook)
subjects: lcsH: aristotle—nicomachean ethics | aristotle—contributions in concept of
happiness | ethics, ancient | aristotle | Happiness—History
classification: B430.a5 number 2018 (paperback) | B430.a5 (ebook)
manufactured in the u.s.a. 09/27/18
for Simona, Andra, and Dora
Contents
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION | 1
CHAPTER 2
ARISTOTLE’S ETHICAL INQUIRY
AND THE SCHOLARLY DEBATES | 6
CHAPTER 3
A NEW READING OF ARISTOTLE’S ETHICAL INQUIRY
ABOUT HAPPINESS | 33
CHAPTER 4
THE PERIMETER OF THE GOOD | 56
CHAPTER 5
THE IMPRINT OF HAPPINESS COMPLETED
IN CONTEMPLATION | 103
CHAPTER 6
HAPPINESS AS ACTUALITY IN NICOMACHEAN ETHICS | 141
Bibliography | 145
CH APTER 1
IntRoDUCtIon
1.1 The Topic
this project is an inquiry into the meaning of happiness [εὐδαιμονία] in
aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics (EN). it seeks to offer a correct interpreta-
tion of aristotle’s virtue ethic as found in EN. as such, it is not an inquiry
in various contemporary developments of aristotelian virtue ethics, so i
will restrict my interlocutors to those scholars who focus on exegeting EN.
The conceptual background of my argument is given by the whole
work of EN and all other works of aristotle.1 every major concept and idea
found in EN will be interpreted in the context of the text read as a whole
and then will be explored within the context of in the entire aristotelian
corpus for acquiring a better understanding of how aristotle2 used and in-
tegrated that particular concept. Based on this method, then i will argue for
a particular interpretation of the concept under investigation. in this way, i
will try to allow aristotle to speak for himself.
it is irrelevant whether i agree with aristotle or not; what matters, for
my argument, is to elucidate what aristotle says about the matter under
1. For the historical background of aristotle’s life in relation to EN see crisp, “ar-
istotle: ethics and politics,” 110–13, pakaluk, Nicomachean Ethics, 16–22, Bobonich,
“aristotle’s ethical treaties,” 14–15, cooper, “political community,” 212–24, Hughes,
Nicomachean Ethics, 3–8.
2. For the most recent biography of aristotle see natali, Aristotle, 5–71.
1
Happiness as Actuality in Nicomachean Ethics
investigation. it is essential for the interpreter to be as aware as possible of
his/her own framework of thought and not try to impose it on the subject
of his/her research. For example, i am a pauline scholar doing research in
the Graeco-Roman world of antiquity. so, i am not an aristotelian philoso-
pher, but i will try as hard as possible to keep my own convictions away,
and let aristotle speak for himself. This book is not a dialogue between my
ideas and aristotle’s ideas about happiness.
This point is important because, as i will show later in this project,
the vast majority of contemporary scholarly research on aristotle’s ethics
is done within a secular perspective, and because of this, it tries hard to
eliminate everything in aristotle that does not fit a secular reading of his
writings. This is my major criticism towards my interlocutors: even if they
say that their work is about what aristotle wrote about a particular topic,
they offer an interpretation of aristotle through their own secular lenses,
without letting all the aristotelian available data to speak for itself. my
point is that every major concept used by aristotle, like “final end”/τέλος,
“function of man”/ἔργον ἀνθρώπου, “contemplation”/θεωρία, “imprint”/
τύπος, “intellect”/νοῦς, etc., has to be interpreted in the larger aristotelian
worldview. Thus, the conceptual background argued for in this book in-
cludes everything that we have from aristotle about various topics relevant
for my specific focus, which is the meaning of happiness in EN.
The ancient Greek conceptual background on εὐδαιμονία is presented
in detail in a separate section: 3.3—From sappho to lycurgus: pre-aristo-
telian literature on εὐδαιμονία.
1.2 The Thesis
my thesis about the meaning of happiness in EN is that aristotle under-
stands εὐδαιμονία as “actuality.” He uses two main metaphors to explain it:
1) the perimeter of the good, and 2) the imprint of happiness. These two
metaphors are found in aristotle’s argument in EN at two major signposts:
i.7 1098a22 and X.9 1179a35.
i will argue that the “perimeter of the good” is a political metaphor
used by aristotle to delineate the perimeter of his inquiry. This delineation
is achieved with the help of two distinct criteria: the criterion of finality
and the criterion of the function. aristotle understands happiness as the
ultimate aim [τέλος] and as the function of man [ἔργον ἀνθρώπου]. These
2
