Aristotle on Living Well

A Lecture Course

by Peter Saint-Andre

Last Updated: 2020-03-27

What follows is a rough outline for a lecture course about Aristotle's views on the good life. This is a work in progress.

Lecture 1: Flourishing / εὐδαιμονία

Who was Aristotle? See biographical sketch.
Isn't Aristotle's philosophy hopelessly out of date? Although it's true that ancient Greek society was very different from ours and that scientific knowledge has progressed enormously since then, the fundamentals of human nature have remained constant and it is here that Aristotle's insights are most useful.
Why study Aristotle's writings on ethics? Not just to learn what Aristotle thought, but to live better.
Who can benefit from such study? Good people with life experience who want to further improve.
However, there are difficulties...
1. Few people today can read ancient Greek, so we depend on translators and interpreters, who can be unreliable.
2. Because Aristotle's popular works (such as his dialogues) did not survive the collapse of classical civilization, we are left only with his scholarly works, which are not always easy to understand.
3. Aristotle's writings on the good life are not fully consistent: there are subtle and not-so-subtle differences among Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, Eudemian Ethics, and Politics.
4. Ancient Greek society is very foreign to us (their economy was based on slavery, they had little respect for craftsmanship or productive work, women were second-class citizens, etc.); as a result, it can be challenging to get beyond the surface differences.
5. Aristotle's philosophical assumptions are very different from ours (for instance, he did not believe in duty and sin and other post-Christian concepts, nor even in morality or ethics in the modern sense of rule-bound constraints on action); this too can make it hard to understand and appreciate his core ideas.
Aristotle considered ethics to be the art of character and personal excellence, and his ethical writings are focused on one core concept: eudaimonia
Although the term is often translated as "happiness", it is much more than just a feeling
Eudaimonia is practical, rational activity grounded in excellence of character and decision-making
Another way to look at it: eudaimonia is an enjoyable combination of eupraxia (successful action) and euboulia (successful reflection)
Thus eudaimonia is a matter of actualizing your potential: it is an achievement, a completion or perfection of human nature - like hitting the target (skopos) in archery or reaching the finish line (telos) in a footrace
Eudaimonia as "having a good daimon" or guiding spirit
Successful living is not merely good, but also beautifully right (kalos)
It's true that the experience of successful living is enjoyable, but this enjoyment is grounded in human nature and the circumstances and singularity of your own life
What are the causes of success or failure in both action and reflection? Aristotle discusses the relative roles of nature, nurture, and choice (which open up big questions of personal responsibility!), but he lacked scientific knowledge of the relevant biological and psychological factors - not that we moderns fully understand these matters yet, either.
According to Aristotle, there are several ways to go astray or miss the mark in life...
1. As a simple matter of biology, a small percentage of people utterly lack the capacity for forethought and reflection, and thus are limited to a kind of animal existence (the so-called "natural slave")
2. Altogether the worst are people who, whether through upbringing or choice, experience a thorough corruption of character (mochtheria) and thus pursue bad and repulsively wrong (as opposed to good and beautifully right) goals in life - and who do so without regrets or remorse
3. Less imperfect are those who understand what's good, but who lack the self-restraint to do the right thing because they are swayed by unnatural or unbounded impulses and desires for wealth, fame, power, or unworthy pleasures; these impulsive people (akrates) have regrets, but nevertheless they cannot help themselves; we might call them self-indulgent except that they indulge their lower selves and are not true to their higher self or best potential
4. Better than such people are those who do what is good despite having the same sorts of impulses and desires; such people reluctantly or even heroically exercise self-restraint (enkrateia), but doing so is painful and thus they do not fully enjoy life or live the best kind of human life
By contrast, those who live most successfully (eupraxia) and truly thrive (aretao) do what is good because it is beautifully right (kalos), they do not have unnatural or unworthy impulses and desires in the first place, they experience inner harmony, and they enjoy life to the fullest. This is true and lasting eudaimonia.
A difficult truth: some people are better than others - not innately, but they become so through their own efforts (ethos is daimon).

Lecture 2: Character / ἦθος

Character and thought together comprise your Identity. Who you are is what you have repeatedly chosen to be through your actions and reactions and reflections; at root you are not your health, strength, youth, looks, job, career, house, car, possessions, wealth, fame, status, power, position, or any other external good
Ethics is the art of character (ethos), not a rigid code of moral rules as in Christianity or modern ethics
Arete is not "virtue" but excellence or thriving (cf. Homeric Greek verb aretao = to thrive or prosper)
A thriving of character is an acquired pattern and practice of beautifully balanced, admirably appropriate action and feeling that steers clear of mindless extremes.
That is: doing a great job of completing the fundamental task (ergon) of a human being
Another way to put it: ethics is a matter of keeping your soul in great shape
The four primary aretai in ancient Greek thought: courage, moderation, justice, wisdom (and often piety)
Justice and pleonexia (avarice) - not a matter of following moral rules or enforcing an abstract notion of fairness, but of taking more than one deserves
Sophrusune as a form of mindfulness
Aristotle’s expanded list: generosity, benevolence, etc.
Aristotle's list of aretai reflects the deeply social nature of personal interactions in ancient Greek communities
Not just acting appropriately but also reacting appropriately; excellence of character also involves feeling and emotion
Differing motivations for good action (avoidance of punishment, shame, decency, love of honor, doing what is beautifully right)
An in-depth exploration of courage as an example of motivations for good action
Note the order of Aristotle’s presentation of the four classical virtues: courage, temperance, justice, wisdom
Courage or valor is necessary in time of war, but war has value only to achieve peace
Temperance and (particular) justice help to preserve peace, but because they only serve to manage animalistic needs (food, drink, sex) and wants (pleonexia is driven by greed for gain and personal advantage), they do not activate the highest human capacities
Even abstract justice has its limits because equity is needed to apply and extend the principles of justice, and equity is a kind of wisdom (phronesis)
The highest intention is taking action for the sake of what is beautifully right (kalos); the graceful balance and beauty of arete
Doing and feeling what is beautifully right and fitting for the occasion and in a particular context
The reason that going astray is not right or fitting is because it veers mindlessly toward acting or reacting too much or too little
Excellence of character is a mindful balance - a midpoint between too much and too little
Yet overdoing it or underdoing it is a matter of missing the mark - not of sinning (which is a post-Aristotelian, Christian concept)
Thus there is always a continuum of behavior: not black and white, not good and evil, but more or less on target in accordance with the particulars of time and place and context
Going astray is usually a matter of being lured by pleasure, of avoiding pain, of succumbing to fear, of giving in to desire or avarice, etc. Example: various ways of straying from frugality
Excellence of character is not all or nothing: we are all familiar with people who have many excellences but miss the mark in a particular area of life
Learning to be good - the roles of education, training, upbringing, etc.
Training of both thoughts and emotions
Aristotle vs. the "seven deadly sins" in Epicurus and Christianity. Example: anger is not always bad, because anger at injustice is appropriate and admirable.
Excellence of character as a mindful practice, not a mindless "habit"
What kind of knowledge is involved in mindful practice?
The integration of character and thought

Lecture 4: Thought / διάνοια

Human beings as rational animals
Logos as "reason-and-speech"
This too is social: learning to speak correctly and learning to act and react correctly both happen in a human context of family and community
Practical wisdom as excellence of thinking and choosing
Orthos logos as "straight thinking"
Orthos orexis as "straight reaching"
What is within the scope of human choice and decision?
Choice as desiderative desire or charged thinking
Here again, pleasure and pain can lead you astray
Balance revisited: choice as a way to guide or counteract your impulses
Choice is contextual and involves insight into particulars
There are no hard-and-fast rules for excellent choice (euboulia) and excellent conduct (eupraxia)
Yet persuasion and counsel play a major role, especially from family, friends, and community
Two aspects of reason: directing and listening
Three phases of maturation: listening to external guidance and to the law; internalizing that external guidance; then guiding yourself
Self-direction as a measure of maturity: reflection as taking counsel with yourself
Applying Aristotelian dialectic to significant decisions (philosophical practice)...
1. reaching an impasse (aporia)
2. asking the right questions
3. understanding the concrete situation
4. analyzing your options
5. synthesizing your insights and values
6. making a choice / coming up with a plan
Once you have made choices and plans, action is not mindless but neither does it require the same depth of reflection
Seeing things through: impulsiveness (akrasia) revisited, or why do some people not do what they understand to be best?
The difference between having knowledge and using knowledge

Lecture 4: Love / φιλία

Human beings as "social" or "political" animals - what does this mean?
A person is born into and raised by a family
Individuals and families are embedded in a community (polis)
The purpose of the community (and the family) is the excellence of the individuals comprising it
At the same time, the excellence of the individual in large measure consists of activities that support the family and community: bravery to defend the community, moderation to preserve family relationships, etc.
For Aristotle, the individual, the family, and the community have a symbiotic relationship; personal excellence is embedded in the social context of community, family, friendships, and other relationships
A glance at Aristotle's Politics
Philia is more important, more free, and more human than justice. Brotherhood (civic friendship) binds a community together more reliably than a societal compact.
The Greek word philia (usually translated as "friendship") covers a wide range of personal relationships: parental care, sibling devotion, marital partnership, chosen friendships, business interactions, civic benevolence, etc.
Aristotle uncovers three different foundations for personal relationships: enjoyment, usefulness, and excellence of character (see report #5)
Relationships among children and young adults are usually based on enjoyment because their characters are not yet well formed
Business and community relationships are based on usefulness
Chosen friendships can be based on all three factors, but the most valuable relationships are based on excellence of character
Philia vs. eros as based on character vs. usefulness
Unequal relationships (parent-child, teacher-student, etc.)
Marriage as a partnership, both ancient and modern (plus: the status of women in ancient society); what is Aristotle's settled view and can it be updated to reflect modern reality?
The continuum of love and justice - note that Aristotle's discussion comes after his discussion of justice - philia is more fundamental, even in a community (civic friendship as brotherhood)
Love of self in Aristotle: are you your own best friend and under what conditions is self-love appropriate?
A friend as "another self"
Love as a source of self-knowledge and self-improvement
Bridging the gap between "individualism" and "altruism"
A personal relationship as a shared project among people of good character

Lecture 5: Purpose / τέλος

What makes a fitting goal (telos) for life?
Preconditions for eudaimonia (e.g., health) vs. eudaimonia itself
Characteristics of eudaimonia: self-sufficiency, completeness...
Wealth, fame, power (etc.) as inherently unbounded, unnatural, and unstable - there is no natural limit on how much of these is good
Furthermore, these external goods are positively bad when used by a bad person
By contrast, excellence of character and thought are natural activities and actualizations of human potential
Leisure and freedom; leisure as the absence of necessity and freedom as the capacity to choose activities for their own sake
Unleisured activity exists for the sake of leisured activity
Work, play, and what we might call "serious leisure"
What free people do: learning, inquiry, culture, philia, etc.
The enjoyment of free activity
The philanthropic life
The life of inquiry
The essential creativity and humanity of pursuits related to inquiry and culture; in modern terms: the meaning of a calling
Divine activity as a model for human activity?
The differing perspectives of the Nicomachean Ethics and Eudemian Ethics: divine excellence vs. complete human excellence (kalokagathia)
Sagacity as a mindful balance that avoids both (willful) ignorance and self-deception
Wisdom as a mindful balance that avoids both foolishness and cunning
What is Aristotle's settled view on the best life?
Hitting the target is not just a matter of succeeding temporarily or in one area of life, but of crafting a life worth living
Aristotle's "three lives" of pleasure, community involvement, and intellectual inquiry: it's best to view them as a thought experiment about how you would structure your life if you didn't have to work

Lecture 6: Wisdom / σοφία

Aristotle based his philosophical method on doing justice to our most reliable perceptions and judgments about the world
If Aristotle were alive today, would he cling to every opinion he held 2400 years ago? Probably not.
But how would Aristotle adapt his core principles to current realities?
No doubt he would notice that there are enormous differences between life today and life in 350 BC: the lack of endemic warfare, the absence of slaves and servants, the disappearance of aristocracy, the necessity to achieve financial independence on one's own, the centrality of work and career in life, the prevalence of technology, the wonders of modern medicine, the tremendous advance of the sciences, the much more equal status and roles of women and men, the growth of personal liberty and individualism, the global scale of society, the irrelevance of philosophers, and much more
Let's consider a few examples...
As the son of a doctor who used many medical analogies in his writings on ethics, he would be interested in how the craft of medicine is practiced nowadays and in the burgeoning field of decision theory
Although it's a common but silly opinion that Aristotle personally held back the course of science for 2000 years, anyone who has read his biological works knows that he would be overjoyed to have microscopes, telescopes, and the other tools of modern research at his disposal
He would be fascinated by evolutionary biology and its implications for psychology and ethics (e.g., the phenomenon of reciprocal altruism, which isn't all so different from his description of the varieties of philia)
He might observe that relative lack of war has given rise to wider notions of courage (both physical and intellectual) and to a devaluation of military valor as a core virtue in society
He would be struck by the fact that there are no aristocrats and no servants - just about everyone needs to work!
The phenomenon of "making a living" would lead him to conclude that the creation of value through personal productivity is a thriving of character, and contrast it with extremes of being driven or being lazy
The need to save for retirement would lead him to conclude that frugality or financial responsibility is a thriving of character, and to contrast it with the extremes of being cheap or being extravagant
He would observe that women are key members of the workforce in almost every field of endeavor, and thus (we hope) conclude that women are the productive and intellectual equals of men
He might also see that the much more equal status and roles of women and men must modify the relative importance of the caring vs. courageous excellences
He might perceive that marriage is now more of an equal partnership than it was in ancient Greece
He might be surprised at the rise of modern individualism and the decline of more communitarian ways of life, especially in the fraying of community ties and what he called "civic friendship"
He might wonder if the ancient "three lives" still make sense in the modern world, because nowadays other lives are also considered worth living, such as professional achievement and artistic creativity
He might question whether your life needs one central task or focus, and whether instead it might make more sense to cultivate multiple fields of endeavor (such as health and vitality, work and achievement, love and caring, character and personality, wisdom and spirituality, and beauty and aesthetic experience); thus he might take more of a "portfolio management" approach to thriving as a human being
Maturity revisited: providing mentoring and guidance to those who are less proficient at deliberation and action (in Aristotle:, primarily women, children, servants - but also colleagues and friends because they too can go astray, e.g., by yielding to thumos)
Wisdom is rooted in an understanding of the sources and principles of things, and of their fundamental ways of being.
With animate beings, this means understanding an animal’s way of life, including its typical environment, functional adaptations, and characteristic activities.
With humans, it means understanding what it is for a person to not only live, but live well.
Eudaimonia revisited: philosophy begins in wonder; emulation of the divine; theoria as active awareness; capacity and activity
Completing yourself through the highest activities of free culture and personal development.
Knowing yourself and acting on that knowledge.
Philosophy as a way of life.

Peter Saint-Andre > Writings > Aristotle