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arimayo's review against another edition
mid.
jk I understand hes the one who made the blueprint of the way we think and how society is organized but hes a freak.
jk I understand hes the one who made the blueprint of the way we think and how society is organized but hes a freak.
makalakm's review against another edition
Well, it was better than Plato's "Republic."
greden's review against another edition
5.0
I picked up this book in a library, with no expectations of understanding it. The book's title was not very attractive, nor its front cover. The book was barely in one piece. This gave the experience of reading this book a special feeling as if it was whispering its words of wisdom on its death-bed, after a long, brutal life, passed on all the way from Ancient Greece.
I was pleasantly surprised to find it was insightful and practical.
In the immensely influential work Nichomachean Ethics, the pupil of Plato, councilor of Alexander the Great, and the original scientist Aristotle, questions how to lead a good, happy life. Aristotle's focus is on developing a virtuous character to achieve the good life.
He says, for example, that virtue is the ability to hit the mean between two vices. And the reason why virtue is more difficult than vice is that it's easier to either have too much anger or insufficient anger than it is to have the appropriate amount.
Aristotle introduces many intriguing ideas like these, ranging from responsibility, true knowledge, self-restraint, and friendship. Some of the writing may seem a little dry, a bit excessive in its explanations, "well, duh," but this work is responsible for so much we take for granted today.
The writing doesn't exactly exhibit a very engaging style, has some ancient pop culture references, and some parts were simply confusing, but I believe that is because of the lack of context of the society and its values Aristotle lived in. and due to translation. I think the most important thing to note is that their view of "Happiness" in their culture was deeply embedded in their status and honor in society. So happiness is really Happiness/Status/Success I suppose.
Overall, a remarkable work and I agreed with almost everything. One thing to keep in mind is that Aristotle came from a wealthy aristocracy, which may have influenced his opinions of virtue somewhat. But I am willing to forgive Aristotle at any moment, especially since he is the only known philosopher until very recent times who did see the value of humor. And when he wasn't busy inventing science, counseling Alexander the Great, he was out in the woods chopping up Hieyanas to check out the insides of their genitals. Really cool guy!
I was pleasantly surprised to find it was insightful and practical.
In the immensely influential work Nichomachean Ethics, the pupil of Plato, councilor of Alexander the Great, and the original scientist Aristotle, questions how to lead a good, happy life. Aristotle's focus is on developing a virtuous character to achieve the good life.
He says, for example, that virtue is the ability to hit the mean between two vices. And the reason why virtue is more difficult than vice is that it's easier to either have too much anger or insufficient anger than it is to have the appropriate amount.
Aristotle introduces many intriguing ideas like these, ranging from responsibility, true knowledge, self-restraint, and friendship. Some of the writing may seem a little dry, a bit excessive in its explanations, "well, duh," but this work is responsible for so much we take for granted today.
The writing doesn't exactly exhibit a very engaging style, has some ancient pop culture references, and some parts were simply confusing, but I believe that is because of the lack of context of the society and its values Aristotle lived in. and due to translation. I think the most important thing to note is that their view of "Happiness" in their culture was deeply embedded in their status and honor in society. So happiness is really Happiness/Status/Success I suppose.
Overall, a remarkable work and I agreed with almost everything. One thing to keep in mind is that Aristotle came from a wealthy aristocracy, which may have influenced his opinions of virtue somewhat. But I am willing to forgive Aristotle at any moment, especially since he is the only known philosopher until very recent times who did see the value of humor. And when he wasn't busy inventing science, counseling Alexander the Great, he was out in the woods chopping up Hieyanas to check out the insides of their genitals. Really cool guy!