Source edition
Aristotle. Aristotelis Quae Feruntur Magna Moralia. Susemihl, Franz, editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1883
Source data
Open Greek and Latin · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cloned and adapted by Humanitext, with ongoing edits.
Summary
This work is a systematic ethical and political treatise that explores the essence of "happiness" (eudaimonia) as the ultimate human goal and the "virtues" (arete) that constitute it. The author begins by defining the highest good achievable for humans in political science, positioning happiness as an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue. By dividing the soul into rational and irrational parts, the work demonstrates that character virtues are maintained through the "mean" (mesotes), avoiding both excess and deficiency, as illustrated through specific virtues like courage, justice, and liberality. It further analyzes the voluntary nature of actions, the mechanism of deliberate choice, the importance of intellectual virtues such as prudence and wisdom, and the conflicts of self-control, incontinence, and the value of pleasure. In its final sections, the treatise examines the relationship between luck and happiness, introduces the ideal of "nobility and goodness" (kalokagathia), and concludes with an extensive inquiry into "friendship" (philia), discussing self-love and why even a self-sufficient person requires friends to live well.
Contents
71 chunks
Cited by book.chapter.section
- §1.1.1-1.1.10
- §1.1.11-1.1.18
- §1.1.19-1.1.26
- §1.2.1-1.2.11
- §1.3.1-1.3.5
- §1.4.1-1.4.10
- §1.5.1-1.5.5
- §1.6.1-1.6.3
- §1.7.1-1.7.4
- §1.8.1-1.8.3
- §1.9.1-1.9.11
- §1.10.1-1.10.2
- §1.11.1-1.11.5
- §1.12.1-1.12.4
- §1.13.1-1.13.4
- §1.14.1-1.14.3
- §1.15.1-1.15.2
- §1.16.1-1.16.2
- §1.17.1-1.17.11
- §1.18.1-1.18.6
- §1.19.1
- §1.20.1-1.20.12
- §1.21.1-1.21.4
- §1.22.1-1.22.3
- §1.23.1-1.23.2
- §1.24.1
- §1.25.1-1.25.3
- §1.26.1-1.26.3
- §1.27.1
- §1.28.1-1.28.2
- §1.29.1-1.29.2
- §1.30.1-1.30.2
- §1.31.1-1.31.2
- §1.32.1-1.32.2
- §1.33.1-1.33.9
- §1.33.10-1.33.16
- §1.33.17-1.33.23
- §1.33.24-1.33.30
- §1.33.31-1.33.36
- §1.34.1-1.34.12
- §1.34.14-1.34.23
- §1.34.24-1.34.32
- §2.1.1
- §2.2.1
- §2.3.1-2.3.8
- §2.3.9-2.3.17
- §2.4.1-2.4.3
- §2.5.1-2.5.3
- §2.6.1-2.6.9
- §2.6.10-2.6.17
- §2.6.18-2.6.25
- §2.6.26-2.6.35
- §2.6.36-2.6.44
- §2.7.1-2.7.8
- §2.7.9-2.7.15
- §2.7.16-2.7.23
- §2.7.24-2.7.30
- §2.8.1-2.8.12
- §2.9.1-2.9.5
- §2.10.1-2.10.7
- §2.11.1-2.11.12
- §2.11.13-2.11.23
- §2.11.24-2.11.32
- §2.11.33-2.11.44
- §2.11.45-2.11.53
- §2.12.1-2.12.13
- §2.13.1-2.13.4
- §2.14.1-2.14.3
- §2.15.1-2.15.9
- §2.16.1-2.16.3
- §2.17.1-2.17.2