Aristotle and Ethics

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer notes that in the second book of the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle defines the relation between character and virtue as being mediated by or depending on the two antagonist feelings of pleasure and pain. The writer then points out that Aristotle's proposition that virtue is about pleasure and pain implies that goodness is inevitably related to the feelings that accompany an action. In this way, one sees that, for Aristotle, the optimal actions of a certain human being are the result of the virtuous character, which is in fact, a state of the soul. The writer notes that the virtuous character is in its turn, determined by the other states, or the feelings of pleasure and pain experienced in a certain situation or when performing a particular action. The writer concludes that Aristotle's implication is that no action is good of itself, unless supported by the proper feelings, and that this would be the essence of ethics.

From the Paper:

"Thus, it is imperative to discriminate between, for example, an individual who abstains and enjoys abstaining, and an individual who is equally abstinent, but does this with great pain. The distinction between these two apparently identical and good actions is, according to Aristotle, precisely one of virtue of character."
"This is why, in his view the reaction of either pleasure or pain to a certain situation or state of facts always determines the character of a certain person. However, to attain virtue is not at all simple, given the fact that, as Aristotle asserts we are used to indulging in wrong actions that provide us with pleasure."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 1985
• Hursthouse, Rosalind. On Virtue Ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999

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