The Nicomachean Ethics Introduction

Get Happy

Of all the things that Aristotle spoke and wrote about—and there are a lot, from politics to the arts and sciences—he's best known by modern audiences for his answer to a basic human question: what does it mean to be happy?

Good question, right? We all want to know the answer to that one.

And Aristotle pondered this question long and hard. In fact, his many, many (many) theories about human happiness would fill about a bajillion scrolls' worth of lecture notes—and become the raw material for his Nicomachean Ethics.

Let's back up a minute and make sure we understand each other. Most translators use the word "happiness" to describe the state of being at the heart of Aristotle's Ethics. The word in Greek, however, is eudaimonia—which scholars say means something more like "flourishing" or "thriving." (And we always believe the scholars.)

So the work of Ethics is to show that the greatest thing for human beings is to be happy, flourishing, or thriving—and to suggest a pathway for getting there. It's the original self-help book.

But Aristotle doesn't suggest the KonMari Method or getting the latest mindfulness app. For Aristotle, the best way is through the development of arête, or virtue. That's the good news.

Here's the harder news: while we might be disposed toward certain virtues by nature, we have to work pretty dang hard to develop them and turn them into action. This is where the ethics part comes in, since we have to actively cultivate and nurture our better qualities through hexis (habit-building, practice) and action.

Ugh. This sounds a lot like our very ripped, very scary spin instructor telling us to "move it or lose it."

But there's some really uplifting stuff in ol' Aristotle's Ethics. For one thing, he says that happiness can't be achieved in solitude. This is Aristotle's way of telling us that girls' nights and bro hangs aren't just fun—they're basically mandatory.

And that's just where it starts. Aristotle knows that humans are political creatures—and by that he means not that we love to rock an "I Voted" sticker on election days, but that we live in communities and rely on common laws and exchange to thrive. So it's not just friendships that are important to cultivating virtue, but also business transactions, lawmaking, and governance.

Doing the Right Thing

We know from experience that behaving virtuously is pretty challenging—from the first time we pinched our baby brother just to hear him squeak, to that time when lying to get out of that speeding ticket just seemed like the best course of action ("But officer—our dog is at an emergency vet appointment!").

And Aristotle's work confirms this. And while doing the right thing gives us pleasure and can bring affirmation from the people around us (you know you feel good when you give a truly excellent birthday present) it can also be a thankless job that causes us serious pain.

This is where balance comes in. Aristotle says that the person who finds the right balance between the extremes of their character traits—or the "golden mean"—will be a good and just person. And such a person gets an extra perk, even if the work is hard and thankless: he gets to see what's beautiful or noble in reality.

Please, Please Me. Oh Yeah.

Don't be fooled: Aristotle may be old, but he isn't a curmudgeon. He understands that in order to be happy, humans really do need to have some fun. In his world, pleasure is tops. And he's not being stodgy and talking about, say, the pleasure of feeling virtuous. He's talking pleasure-pleasure: that includes leisure time, fun, and good friends. It also (yes) includes sex and eating Flamin' Hot Cheetos. In moderation.

But don't turn off your brain. Because in the end, the thing that makes us fully human—and therefore, the thing that's the best at making us happy—is thinking.

Basically, the point of acting virtuously is to become more like ourselves. Aristotle calls the origin of virtues our "characteristics," and by helping those virtues shine, we're actually awakening our proper nature as human beings.

And the thing that marks us out as human, in Aristotle's theories, is rational perception. Being able to contemplate our own existence and know that it's awesome is a great pleasure reserved only for us. Cultivating our inner philosopher, then, is the key to a rewarding and happy life.

You heard it here first (and we heard it from Aristotle)—enjoy your buddies, your doughnut holes and your bubbles baths…but don't forget to get your philosophy on.

 

What is The Nicomachean Ethics About and Why Should I Care?

Why should you care? Two words:

Aristotle. Happiness.

Okay, we're done here.

You didn't actually believe we were done, did you? If we've learned anything from ol' Aristotle (and we have, because we live in a society based, in many ways, on his thoughts and teachings), it's that a two-word answer never suffices.

So why care about Aristotle and what he has to say on the subject of happiness?

Well, besides being the #1 Name For Cats In Our Household (who doesn't like saying "Aristotle got into the catnip again"?), Aristotle has name recognition like few other luminaries in the history of Western Civ. And this is for good reason. Not only did he revolutionize systematic thinking back in the 4th Century B.C.E., but his conversations about "human affairs" have remained timely and pertinent through the ages.

Yeah; his thoughts have stayed relevant for 2,500 years. Top that. We dare you.

His observations of human interaction and behavior are insanely, stunningly perceptive—his work prompts us to think about the overarching systems of thought that rule the way we perceive our place in the universe.

And in terms of Ethics, Aristotle couldn't have picked a topic that would resonate with Western culture more profoundly than the pursuit of happiness. We're obsessed with things like personal fulfillment, life balance, and finding our bliss. We ask if we can "have it all." Our media is peppered with articles on how to be happier, polls that show us which country is the happiest, and surveys that determine the happiest time of week. We go to happy hours. We go to happiness seminars. We still listen to Pharrell's "Happy" on repeat.

Turns out, Aristotle gave us some pretty excellent tips on the subject of happiness two and a half millennia ago. We're not saying that the Nicomachean Ethics is going to make you a blissful person in five easy steps…but we're also saying that, in our Shmoopinion, it's one of the best self-help guides out there.

Sure, there's some super-outdated and cringe-worthy stuff in here (his thoughts on slaves, women, poor people, and democracy are more than iffy), but at the heart of it, Aristotle is, with characteristic genius and insight, telling humans that the path to joy is:

  1. Dependent on friendship
  2. Dependent on choice
  3. Dependent on pleasure
  4. Dependent on being a good citizen of the world

Of course, ol' Mr. A goes into a whole lot more than that. He ruminates long and hard on the nature of virtue and justice and systems of government. But even as he proves himself to be worthy of the (totally kick-butt) nickname "The Philosopher," he's also cracking wise, being entertaining…and making you feel a little joie de vivre in the process.

That's right. You'll actually probably crack a smile as you read a literally ancient work of Greek philosophy.

But that's not actually surprising. After all, the lessons in Nicomachean Ethics are coming from a dude that taught his students while taking long, idyllic walks in sunny Athenian gardens. He knew a thing or two about living life right.