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Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics is devoted to the topic of human happiness. Yet, although Aristotle's conception of happiness is central to his whole philosophical project, there is much controversy surrounding it. Hope May offers a new interpretation of Aristotle's account of happiness - one which incorporates Aristotle's views about the biological development of human beings. May argues that the relationship amongst the moral virtues, the intellectual virtues, and happiness, is best understood through the lens of developmentalism. On this view, happiness emerges from the cultivation of a number of virtues that are developmentally related. May goes on to show how contemporary scholarship in psychology, ethical theory and legal philosophy signals a return to Aristotelian ethics. Specifically, May shows how a theory of motivation known as Self-Determination Theory and recent research on goal attainment have deep affinities to Aristotle s ethical theory. May argues that this recent work can ground a contemporary virtue theory that acknowledges the centrality of autonomy in a way that captures the fundamental tenets of Aristotle s ethics.
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Aristotle’s Ethics
Continuum Studies in Ancient Philosophy Series Editor: James Fieser, University of Tennessee at Martin, USA Continuum Studies in Ancient Philosophy is a major monograph series from Continuum. The series features first-class scholarly research monographs across the field of Ancient Philosophy. Each work makes a major contribution to the field of philosophical research. Aristotle and Rational Discovery, Russell Winslow Aristotle’s Metaphysics, Jeremy Kirby Aristotle’s Theory of Knowledge, Thomas Kiefer The Enduring Significance of Parmenides, Raymond Tallis Happiness and Greek Ethical Thought, M. Andrew Holowchak The Ideas of Socrates, Matthew S. Linck Parmenides and To Eon, Lisa Atwood Wilkinson Plato, Metaphysics and the Forms, Francis A. Grabowski III Plato’s Stepping Stones, Michael Cormack Pleasure in Aristotle’s Ethics, Michael Weinman Pythagoras and the Doctrine of Transmigration, James Luchte The Socratic Method, Rebecca Bensen Cain Stoic Ethics, William O. Stephens Stoic Virtues, Christoph Jedan
Aristotle’s Ethics Moral Development and Human Nature
Hope May
Continuum International Publishing Group The Tower Building 80 Maiden Lane 11 York Road Suite 704 London SE1 7NX New York NY 10038 www.continuumbooks.com © Hope May 2010 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN:
HB: 978-0-8264-9110-7
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data May, Hope. Aristotle’s Ethics: moral development and human nature/Hope May. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index. ISBN 978-0-8264-9110-7 1. Aristotle. Nicomachean ethics. 2. Moral development. 3. Happiness. I. Title. B430.M39 2009 171'.3–dc22
Typeset by Newgen Imaging Systems Pvt Ltd, Chennai, India Printed and bound in Great Britain by the MPG Books Group
2009016262
To Jeffrey Wigand Beloved husband, esteemed mentor, cherished friend
We are masters of our actions from the beginning right to the end. Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics 1114b)
He who lets the world, or his own portion of it, choose his plan of life for him has no need of any other faculty than the ape-like one of imitation. He who chooses his plan for himself employs all of his faculties. He must use observation to see, reasoning and judgment to foresee, activity to gather materials for decision,