Virtue Ethics Study Group

In Books I and II of the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle begins his investigation into what it means to live well. He considers the highest human good, the nature of happiness (eudaimonia), and the role that virtue plays in achieving it. He then turns to how good character is developed through habit and introduces his influential idea of virtue as a mean. In this session, we'll examine these arguments closely and consider what they tell us about becoming a good person and living a flourishing life.

Discussion questions

Book I: Happiness and the Good Life

Aristotle says that every action aims at some good. What does he mean by this?
Why does Aristotle think there must be some highest good that we pursue for its own sake?
What is eudaimonia? How is it different from simply feeling happy?
Why does Aristotle reject pleasure, wealth, and honor as the highest good?
Is Aristotle's function argument convincing? Does being human really have a distinctive function?
Why does Aristotle define the human good in terms of activity, rather than simply possessing virtue?
How important are external goods, such as wealth, friendship, health, and good fortune, to eudaimonia?
Can someone be virtuous but nevertheless fail to live well because of bad luck?

Book II: Becoming Virtuous

Why does Aristotle believe moral virtue comes from habit rather than nature?
If our character is formed by our habits, how do we acquire good habits before we are already virtuous?
What role do pleasure and pain play in determining our character?
Why isn't merely performing a good action enough to make someone virtuous?
What does Aristotle mean when he says virtue is a mean between extremes?
Is the mean simply moderation, or is Aristotle claiming something more complicated?
Why is the appropriate mean different for different people and circumstances?
How can we identify the mean if there is no simple rule for doing so?
Aristotle says we sometimes need to deliberately steer ourselves away from the vice we're naturally inclined toward. Is that a good method for changing character?
Can someone deliberately make themselves into a good person, or must good character largely be formed before adulthood?