Aristotle wrote two works on ethics: the Eudemian Ethics and the Nicomachean Ethics.
Aristotle shares Plato’s idea of the Good, which is a state of perfect happiness.
The first book of his Nicomachean Ethics starts in a very similar way to his Politics:
Aristotle writes:
Aristotle shares Plato’s idea of the Good, which is a state of perfect happiness.
The first book of his Nicomachean Ethics starts in a very similar way to his Politics:
- "Every art and every investigation, and likewise every practical pursuit or undertaking, seems to aim at some good: hence it has been well said that the Good is That at which all things aim."
Aristotle writes:
- "…the ends of the master arts are things more to be desired than all those of the arts subordinate to them; since the latter ends are only pursued for the sake of the former."
- Virtue is a state of character that makes the person make good choices.
- A virtuous person does just the right amount of certain actions, such as eating, sleeping, working, talking, etc.
- This rule of the perfect middle ground applies not only to actions, but also to a person’s emotions and desires.