Aristotle's Ethical Concepts

Last Updated: 2023-10-27

Note: this page has been replaced by a more descriptive glossary.

One reason people find it difficult to understand Aristotle's thinking about the good life is that translators often miss the mark in rendering his key concepts into English. I've spent a long time pondering how to let the original Greek sense of Aristotle's thinking shine through. Here's what I've come up with so far.

• ἀγαθός (agathos) = beneficial, good [opposed to κακός]
• ἄγνοια (agnoia) = ignorance [opposed to σοφία]
• ἀθλιότης (athliotes) = misery [opposed to εὐδαιμονία]
• αἵρεσις (hairesis) = pursuit, preference
• αἱρετά (haireta) = valuable, preferable (not "choiceworthy")
• αἰσχρός (aischros) = wrong, ugly, ignoble; thus repulsively wrong [opposed to καλός]
• αἰτία (aitia) = ground (not "cause")
• ἀκολασία (akolasia) = self-indulgence, lack of moderation [opposed to σωφροσύνη]
• ἀκόλαστης (akolastes) = wild, self-indulgent
• ἀκρασία (akrasia) = impulsiveness, lack of restraint (not "incontinence") [contrasted with ἐγκράτεια]
• ἀκριβής (akribes) = finished, precise (not "perfect")
• ἀλλότριος (allotrios) = foreign (not "improper") [opposed to οἰκείος]
• ἁμάρτημα (hamartema) = error, mistake
• ἁμαρτία (hamartia) = missing the mark; error (not "sin")
• ἀναισθησία (anaisthesia) = insensibility [opposed to σωφροσύνη]
• ἀνδρεία (andreia) = manliness, courage
• ἀνόητος (anoetos) = thoughtless, lacking in insight
• ἀπάτη (apate) = deception [opposed to σοφία]
• ἁπλῶς (haplos) = simply, plainly (not "simpliciter")
• ἀπόδειξις (apodeixis) = showing (not "demonstration")
• ἀπορία (aporia) = impasse, perplexity (not "puzzle")
• ἀρετή (arete) = thriving, excellence (not "virtue") [opposed to μοχθηρία]
• ἀρχή (arche) = source, origin, principle
• ἀσχολία (ascholia) = unease, preoccupation [opposed to σχολή]
• αὐτάρκεια (autarkeia) = wholeness (not "self-sufficiency")
• ἀφροσύνη (aphrosune) = foolishness [opposed to σωφροσύνη or φρόνησις]
• βίος (bios) = way of life
• βουλεύεσθαι (bouleuesthai) = to take counsel with oneself, to reflect
• βούλησις (boulesis) = resolution, wish (not "conation")
• γνώμη (gnome) = sensitivity
• δεῖ (dei) = should, need to, bound to (not "ought to")
• δεινότης (deinotes) = know-how, cleverness
• διαγωγή (diagoge) = lifestyle
• διάθεσις (diathesis) = arrangement, disposition
• διάνοια (dianoia) = thinking through (not "intellection")
• διωκτά (diokta) = worth seeking
• δύναμις (dunamis) = ability, capacity (not "potentiality")
• ἐγκράτεια (enkrateia) = self-restraint (not "continence") [contrasted with ἀκρασία]
• ἐθίζειν (ethizein) = enculturate (not "habituate")
• εἶδος (eidos) = way of being, identity (not "species" or "form")
• ἐνέργεια (energeia) = working at a task; activation of a capacity; activity (not "actuality")
• ἐντελέχεια (entelecheia) = achieving a goal; completion (not "actuality")
• ἕξις (hexis) = acquired trait (not "habit")
• ἐπιείκεια (epieikeia) = reasonableness, fairness, humaneness
• ἐπιθυμία (epithumia) = need, craving
• ἐπιστήμη (episteme) = understanding (not "knowledge" or "science")
• ἔργον (ergon) = task, work (not "function")
• εὐβουλία (euboulia) = success at reflection; deliberating well
• εὐήθεια (euetheia) = foolishness [opposed to φρόνησις]
• εὐδαιμονία (eudaimonia) = fulfillment (not "happiness")
• εὐπραξία (eupraxia) = success at taking action; conducting oneself well
• ἡδονή (hedone) = joy, enjoyment, pleasure
• ἠθική (ethike) = having to do with character (not "moral")
• ἦθος (ethos) = character
• θεραπεία (therapeia) = cultivation (not "service")
• θεωρία (theoria) = awareness, consciousness (not "contemplation")
• θυμός (thumos) = want, ardor
• καθ' αὑτὸ (kath' auto) = in itself, central, essential (not "per se") [opposed to κατὰ συμβεβηκός and roughly equivalent to ἁπλῶς (cf. 1151b2-3)]
• κακός (kakos) = harmful, bad (not "evil") [opposed to ἀγαθός]
• καλός (kalos) = right, beautiful, noble; thus beautifully right [opposed to αίσχρός]
• κατὰ συμβεβηκός (kata sumbebekos) = by the way, peripheral, incidental (not "per accidens") [opposed to καθ' αὑτὸ]
• κοινωνία (koinonia) = sharing, fellowship
• λογίζομαι (logizomai) = to figure out, to reason (not "to ratiocinate" or "to calculate")
• μεγαλοψυχία (megalopsuchia) = greatness of soul (not "pride")
• μέσον (meson) = mid-point, balance-point (not "the mean")
• μεσότης (mesotes) = state of balance (not "the mean")
• μοχθηρία (mochtheria) = corruption (not "vice") [opposed to ἀρετή]
• νοῦς (nous) = thought, insight (not "intellect")
• οἰκεῖος (oikeos) = native (not "proper") [opposed to ἀλλότριος]
• ὁμόνοια (homonoia) = likemindedness
• ὄρεξις (orexis) = reaching, yearning, desire (not "appetition")
• ὀρθός (orthos) = straight as contrasted with wayward (not "right")
• ὀρθός λόγος (orthos logos) = straight thinking, correct reasoning (not "right reason" or "right rule")
• ὀρθός ὄρεξις (orthos orexis) = straight yearning, correct reaching
• ὅρος (horos) = standard
• οὐσία (ousia) = thinghood, entity, being (not "substance")
• πάθος (pathos) = reaction, experience, feeling (not "passion") [contrasted with πρᾶξις]
• πανουργία (panourgia) = cunning [opposed to φρόνησις]
• πέρας (peras) = bound or boundary
• πλεονεξία (pleonexia) = avarice, greed
• ποίησις (poiesis) = making [contrasted with πρᾶξις]
• πόλις (polis) = society (not "city")
• πολιτική (politike) = social, societal (not "political")
• πρᾶξις (praxis) = taking action [contrasted with πάθος and with ποίησις]
• πρέπον (prepon) = admirably appropriate; fitting
• προαίρεσις (prohairesis) = commitment or intention to take some kind of action for the sake of some goal (cf. 1227b36-37)
• σκοπός (skopos) = target
• σοφία (sophia) = sagacity [opposed to ἄγνοια and sophistry]
• σπουδαῖος (spoudaios) = serious, worthy, good [opposed to φαῦλος]
• συμφέρων (sumpheron) = benefit, gain, advantage
• σύνεσις (sunesis) = comprehension
• σωφροσύνη (sophrosune) = moderation, self-regulation (not "temperance") [opposed to ἀναισθησία and to ἀκολασία]
• σχολή (schole) = ease, leisure [opposed to ἀσχολία]
• τελεία (teleia) = complete, final (not "perfect")
• τελειώτατον (teleiotaton) = most complete, most final (not "most perfect")
• τέλος (telos) = goal, purpose, completion (not "perfection")
• τέχνη (techne) = craft (not "art")
• τὸ ὄν (to on) = existence, being
• τὸ τί ἦν εἶναι (to ti en einai) = what it is to be a thing (not "essence")
• φαῦλος (phaulos) = unserious, unworthy, bad [opposed to σπουδαῖος]
• φιλία (philia) = love; personal relationship; partnership (not "friendship")
• φιλός (philos) = one who is dear; partner (not "friend")
• φρόνησις (phronesis) = wisdom (not "prudence") [opposed to εὐήθεια/ἀφροσύνη and πανουργία]
• χρῆσις (chresis) = use, exercise, practice
• ψυχή (psuche) = aliveness (not "soul")

Peter Saint-Andre > Writings > Aristotle