- 01The Chief Good as the end of action
- 02Political science and the Good of Man
- 01Method and precision in moral inquiry
- 02Who should study moral philosophy
- 03Happiness as the highest good
- 01The Chief Good and the three modes of life
- 02Critique of the universal Good and the Forms
- 01The Chief Good as the end of action
- 02Happiness as the final and self-sufficient good
- 01Happiness as the final and self-sufficient good
- 02The work of man and the rational activity of the soul
- 01Method for studying first principles
- 02Arguments for happiness as virtuous activity
- 03External goods needed for happiness
- 01Happiness as virtue, not chance
- 02Whether happiness can be called complete in life
- 01Happiness, virtue, and external fortune
- 02The effect of descendants and friends on the dead
- 01Happiness as a precious and final good
- 02Excellence and the statesman’s inquiry
- 01The statesman’s concern with human excellence
- 02The soul’s irrational and rational parts
- 03Intellectual and moral excellence
Nicomachean Ethics
by Aristotle · c. 340 BCE · 10 chapters · 24/7 tutor
Virtue, flourishing, habit, and practical wisdom.
10Chapters
111Lessons
240Topics
Certificate of completion included
This course was produced by Cavua from a public-domain text.
Skills this course leaves you with.
- Explain Aristotle's account of virtue and human flourishing
- Distinguish voluntary from involuntary action in moral responsibility
- Analyze moral choice, deliberation, wish, and the role of reason
- Apply the doctrine of the mean to virtues such as courage, liberality, and meekness
- Interpret the relationship between habit, self-control, and vice
- Summarize the role of practical wisdom and right reason in ethical life
About Nicomachean Ethics.
Read the Nicomachean Ethics as Aristotle's answer to one practical question, what the best life for a human being is, and treat it like dense lecture notes: slowly, a few chapters at a time, with your own glossary of key terms. Master Book I's account of happiness and Book II's doctrine of the mean first, because everything else builds on them. This Nicomachean Ethics study guide maps the ten books, explains the mean with Aristotle's own examples and compares translations.
The Nicomachean Ethics is Aristotle's major work on how to live well, written in the fourth century BCE and probably connected with his teaching at the Lyceum in Athens. It reads like lecture material rather than a polished book, which explains its compressed style, its restarts and its habit of surveying other people's views before giving its own. The name is traditionally linked to Aristotle's son Nicomachus, though exactly why is uncertain.
Its question is practical: what is the best life for a human being, and what kind of person must you become to live it? Aristotle's answer centers on eudaimonia, usually translated happiness or flourishing. Unlike Plato in the Republic, he grounds ethics less in knowledge of abstract Forms than in habit, character and good judgment about particular situations.
It is still read because it shaped how people talk about character. Modern virtue ethics, one of the main approaches in moral philosophy, starts from this book, and its accounts of habit, friendship and practical wisdom are discussed well beyond philosophy departments.
What the book is really about.
Aristotle returns to a handful of themes from different angles. Each one below names the books where you can watch it develop.
- Happiness is an activity, not a feeling. Book I says one good day no more makes a happy life than one swallow makes a spring, and admits that fortune and a complete life still matter.
- Character is made, not born. Book II argues that we become just by doing just acts, as builders become builders by building, which is why upbringing and law matter so much.
- Ethics cannot be reduced to rules. Book I warns that the subject allows only rough precision, and Book VI makes practical wisdom, not a formula, the judge of what each situation requires.
- Humans are social. Books VIII–IX insist that even a happy person needs friends, and Book X hands the inquiry over to politics and lawmaking.
- Pleasure is not the enemy. Books VII and X tie it closely to activity, and Book X says pleasure completes an activity, so the good person enjoys acting well.
- Contemplation crowns the good life. Book X ranks the life of the intellect highest and the life of practical virtue second, which has long puzzled readers of the earlier books.
Questions to ask as you read.
- 1Does the function argument work? Is there really one function that belongs to humans as such?
- 2If the mean is relative to us, does it give practical guidance, or does it only say to do the right thing?
- 3How can you become good by habit if choosing good acts already requires being good?
- 4Is greatness of soul, as Aristotle describes it, a virtue or a refined kind of pride?
- 5Does Book VII's account of weakness of will really answer Socrates?
- 6Why does a book about virtue spend two whole books on friendship?
- 7Can a person be happy without good fortune, health or friends, on Aristotle's view? Do you agree?
- 8How does Book X's praise of contemplation fit the earlier focus on action and character?
- 9Which parts depend on the world Aristotle wrote for, a small class of free male citizens, and which apply more widely?
Curriculum
The full table of contents.
Every chapter, every lesson, every topic — laid out before you enroll. Click any chapter to expand it.
- Chapters
- 10
- Lessons
- 111
- Topics
- 240
- 01Virtue as habituation, not nature
- 01Habit formation through repeated actions
- 02Virtue as a mean between excess and defect
- 03Pleasure and pain as tests of virtue
- 01Virtue’s concern with pleasure and pain
- 02Why virtuous actions require the right state
- 03Habit, knowledge, and becoming good
- 01Virtue as a state of the mind
- 02Virtue as the mean in feelings and actions
- 01Virtue as a mean state
- 02Particular virtues and vices by sphere
- 01Opposition of the mean and extremes
- 02Why one extreme is more contrary
- 01How moral virtue is a mean state
- 02Practical rules for aiming at the mean
- 03Difficulty of judging particular cases
- 01Voluntary and involuntary action
- 01Compulsory actions and external causes
- 02Ignorance, regret, and involuntary action
- 03Acting because of ignorance versus with ignorance
- 01Ignorance of particulars and involuntary action
- 02Voluntary action and actions from anger or lust
- 01Moral choice and voluntary action
- 01Moral choice versus opinion
- 02Objects of deliberation
- 03Means, search, and choice after deliberation
- 01Wish as the end and the good
- 01Vice, character, and voluntary action
- 01Courage as a mean state and its proper object
- 02False forms of courage: citizenship, compulsion, skill, and animal spirit
- 03False forms of courage
- 04Courage as endurance of fear and pain
- 01Courage and the pain of noble action
- 02Bodily pleasures and self-mastery
- 03Natural desire, excess, and the mean
- 01Voluntary character of self-control failure
- 02Childlike appetite and obedience to reason
- 01Liberality as the mean in giving and receiving wealth
- 02Right giving, proper receiving, and the liberal character
- 01The liberal man's proper giving and receiving
- 02Prodigality as excess in giving and receiving
- 03Stinginess as defective giving and base gain
- 01Magnificence as fitting large-scale expenditure
- 02Vulgar Profusion and Meanness
- 01Definition of great-mindedness and related character types
- 02Great-mindedness as the ornament of virtue
- 01Traits of the great-minded man
- 01Small-mindedness and vanity
- 02The mean state in regard to honour
- 01Meekness as the mean between anger and angerlessness
- 02Forms of excess in anger: passionate, choleric, bitter-tempered, and cross-grained
- 01Anger and the moral mean
- 02Social intercourse and the amiable mean
- 01Truthfulness
- 01Jocularity
- 01Shame
- 01Justice and injustice as moral states
- 02Lawful, equal, and unjust meanings
- 03Grasping desire for good things
- 01Chapter II.
- 01Particular injustice and grasping gain
- 02Lawful and equal justice
- 01Chapter V.
- 01Corrective justice as arithmetical equality
- 01Reciprocity in exchange and proportionate equality
- 02Justice and injustice as moral states
- 01Chapter X
- 01Chapter XI
- 01Deliberate injustice and involuntary harm
- 02Being unjustly dealt with and voluntary consent
- 01Chapter XIII
- 01Chapter XIV
- 01Equity as a correction of universal law
- 01Equity as a corrective of strict law
- 02Why a man cannot wrong himself
- 01Unjustly dealt by versus dealing unjustly
- 02Metaphorical justice within the soul
- 01Right Reason and the mean states
- 02The rational soul: knowing and calculating
- 03Truth, will, and moral choice
- 01Definition of knowledge as demonstrable truth
- 02Art as a state of mind apt to make
- 01Practical wisdom as deliberation about the good
- 02Practical wisdom, self-mastery, and moral principles
- 01Intuition as the grasp of first principles
- 01Practical wisdom versus scientific knowledge
- 02Practical wisdom in deliberation and action
- 03Political wisdom, legislation, and individual affairs
- 04Experience, youth, and practical judgment
- 05Practical wisdom, intuition, and the ultimate particular
- 01Nature of good counsel
- 01Judiciousness and practical wisdom
- 02Right judgment and equitable allowance
- 01Practical intuition and moral particulars
- 02Objections to the usefulness of practical wisdom
- 03Practical wisdom, cleverness, and moral virtue
- 01Knowledge through demonstration and prior knowledge
- 01Vice, brutishness, and superhuman virtue
- 02Imperfect self-control, softness, and endurance
- 01Common views on self-control and practical wisdom
- 02Socrates’ denial of imperfect self-control
- 03Opinion, knowledge, and the role of desire
- 04Practical wisdom versus imperfect self-control
- 05Self-control and perfected self-mastery
- 01Difficulties in defining self-control and lack of self-control
- 02Knowledge, opinion, and practical syllogism in failure of self-control
- 03The next question about the incontinent character
- 01Necessary bodily pleasures and excess
- 02Non-necessary objects of choice and added qualifiers
- 03Softness and the ranking of self-control states
- 04Excess in honourable and indifferent desires
- 01Excess in noble desires and analogical self-control
- 02Brutish and morbid pleasures
- 01Brutish and morbid imperfection of self-control
- 02Why anger is less disgraceful than lust
- 01Lust, anger, and brutish pleasures
- 02Self-control and its opposites in bodily pleasures
- 03Forms and degrees of imperfect self-control
- 01Self-Control and true moral choice
- 02Positive character and false resemblance
- 03Pleasure, noble motives, and imperfect self-control
- 04Self-Control as the mean between excess and deficiency
- 01Self-Control and Perfected Self-Mastery
- 02Imperfect Self-Control, Practical Wisdom, and Habit
- 01Arguments against pleasure as the chief good
- 02Defense of pleasure as good and choice-worthy
- 01Violent pleasures and self-mastery
- 02Pleasure as relief from pain
- 03Natural pleasure, simplicity, and change
- 01Why friendship is necessary and honorable
- 02Disputed theories of friendship
- 01Physical theories of contrariety and likeness
- 02Object-matter of friendship: the good and the pleasurable
- 03Kindliness and reciprocal goodwill
- 01Mutual knowledge as the completion of friendship
- 02Three kinds of friendship: utility and pleasure
- 03Instability of utility friendships and youthful pleasure friendships
- 01Perfect friendship among good people
- 02Pleasure, utility, and lesser friendships
- 01Friendship in action and companionship
- 02Friendship between good men
- 01Imperfect friendships and their limits
- 02Equal friendships and unequal friendships
- 03Honor, affection, and stability in friendship
- 01Friendship and justice in communities
- 01Three political constitutions and their corruptions
- 02Domestic analogies of political rule
- 01Friendship in households and constitutions
- 01Communion as the basis of friendship
- 02Friendship of kindred and family bonds
- 01Friendship in family and marriage
- 02Equality, fault-finding, and kinds of advantage friendship
- 01Requital in friendships of utility and goodness
- 02Unequal friendships and proportional return
- 03Paternal and filial obligations
- 01Proportionate exchange in unequal friendships
- 02Broken friendships from unmet expectations
- 03Fixing the rate of payment in teaching and sophistry
- 01Requital for services and voluntary dealings
- 02Conflicting claims of duty and gratitude
- 01Proportionate duties to relatives and benefactors
- 02Dissolving friendships when motives change
- 01Friendship as self-directed goodwill
- 01Self-friendship and the wicked
- 02Kindly feeling as the beginning of friendship
- 01Kindly Feeling and dormant friendship
- 02Unity of Sentiment as social friendship
- 01Why benefactors seem more friendly than beneficiaries
- 01Self-love and benefaction
- 02True and false self-love
- 01Friends as Objects of Benefaction
- 02The Happy Man and the Need for Friends
- 03Good Friends, Shared Activity, and Self-Perception
- 01Friends as a second self and necessary for happiness
- 02How many friends one should have
- 01Friends in prosperity and adversity
- 01Calling on friends in good and bad fortune
- 02Intimacy as the aim of friendship
- 03How friendship shapes character
- 04Conclusion and transition to pleasure
- 01Why Pleasure merits discussion
- 02Eudoxus’s case for Pleasure as the Chief Good
- 03Replies to objections against Pleasure
- 01Pleasure as not the chief good
- 02Pleasure as a complete activity, not a movement
- 01Pleasure distinguished from movement and generation
- 02Pleasure as the completion of perception and thought
- 03How pleasures differ by the work they perfect
- 01Pleasures of the good man
- 02Happiness as self-sufficient activity
- 03Amusement, rest, and bodily pleasures
- 01Contemplative activity as perfect happiness
- 02Human and divine life in pure intellect
- 03Moral virtue and external goods
- 01Contemplative speculation as happiness
- 02External prosperity and moderate goods
- 03The man of science dearest to the gods
- 04Knowledge versus practice in moral action
- 01Virtue, habit, and legal regulation
- 02Law as compulsory guidance
- 03Learning legislation from political practice
- 01The science of society and civil government
- 02Exhaustive division of goods and faculties
- 01Virtue as regulated habit and moral responsibility
- 02Quantity, proportion, and the measure of virtue
- 01Moral discipline, responsibility, and ignorance
- 02Deliberation, choice, and will
- 01Moral declension, habit, and courage
- 02Justice, equality, and reciprocal proportion
- 01Practical wisdom and moral choice
- 02Induction, scientific knowledge, and first principles
- 03Practical wisdom in action, art, and government
- 04Practical wisdom, good counsel, and judgment
- 01Practical view of virtue and vice
- 01How pleasure overrules right reason
- 01Friendship and reciprocity
- 02Movement, pleasure, and happiness
01How many chapters are in the Nicomachean Ethics course?
The Nicomachean Ethics course has 10 chapters, each with its own lessons and topics.
02How many lessons are in the Nicomachean Ethics course?
There are 111 lessons across the course, and you can ask your 24/7 tutor about any of them.
03Can I see what the Nicomachean Ethics course covers before I start?
Yes. The full curriculum is listed on this page, beginning with "Book I".
04Do I get a certificate for the Nicomachean Ethics course?
Yes. Finishing the course earns a personal Cavua certificate of completion.
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