Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Thursday, I said that I think a big part of what seems strange and unsettled in Kohelet<\/em> is that Kohelet doesn\u2019t seem to have the felt need we do to justify things for us, or show that things are for the best for us. In our Christian-centric culture, we sort of want to say that \u2018everything will be repaid\u2019 or \u2018it\u2019s all for the best in the end,\u2019 and the idea of an afterlife is a big part of that. In the early Jewish traditions, at least, there\u2019s a G-d but no afterlife. This is it, and we die. And with being wise\u2014there\u2019s no \u201cbut it\u2019ll be worth it!\u201d claim. Nope: being wise is hard. Being a fool is easier. That\u2019s it; that\u2019s how things are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Articulating that again now, I see a self-centeredness there that I should have drawn out too\u2014maybe an influence from our capitalism. So it might have been more to the point for me to emphasize that we expect things to be for the best for us<\/em><\/strong> in the end, or for us <\/strong><\/em>all things considered. But Kohelet doesn\u2019t share our unconscious and enculturated background assumption that the universe is about us and should be measured by our fortunes and preferences haha. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There is uncertainty about when, where, and who wrote Kohelet, but the main scholarly (non-faith-based) views place it between 450 and 180 BCE. This week, we remain in the area both geographically and historically, turning to Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics<\/em>, which was written some time around 350\u2013330 BCE. The earlier date is around the time that Aristotle’s teacher, Plato, died, and Aristotle left Athens for Macedonia to tutor Prince Alexander of Macedon. The later date is after Aristotle had returned to Athens, and after Alexander ascended to the Macedonian throne (in which role he became known as “Alexander the Great”), and after Alexander of Macedon began a military campaign that would eventually conquer and unify Persia, Egypt, and the Greek city-states. These were busy and tumultuous years, but that’s not a reason to stop teaching and writing about the meaning and purpose of life. On the contrary! <\/p>\n\n\n\n We’ll be reading the first Chapter of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics<\/em> split across Tuesday and Thursday. The chapter is about “eudaimonia” (\u03b5\u1f50\u03b4\u03b1\u03b9\u03bc\u03bf\u03bd\u03af\u03b1), which is here translated as “flourishing” and “being blessed.” He talks about a bunch of different views of what it is to flourish and live a blessed life, and he thinks they all identify something real and useful, but in a rough sketch, he thinks the best answer is that flourishing is realizing the best possibilities (the “arete” [\u1f00\u03c1\u03b5\u03c4\u03ae, virtues]) for your nature (for humans, our three “psyche” [\u03c8\u03c5\u03c7\u03ae, souls]). We’ll spend this week figuring out what that means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Please wait until after Thursday to do the Activity this week\u2014it’ll be best to do it when you have Aristotle’s full theory together, and it shouldn’t take a long time so you should be able to fit it into the end of the week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book 1, \u00a71\u20137 Reading+Response<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Read this selection<\/a> and listen to the commentary when indicated by the black arrow on the side, then submit your Response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your Response should have three parts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n a. Words: Write down three words you learned (or learned more about) from the reading. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book 1, \u00a78\u201313 Reading+Response<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Read this selection <\/a>and listen to the commentary when indicated by the black arrow on the side, then submit your Response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your Response should have three parts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n a. Words: Write down three words you learned (or learned more about) from the reading. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Aristotle Activity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In at least 400 words:<\/p>\n\n\n\n What does Aristotle mean by ‘a virtue’ (\u1f00\u03c1\u03b5\u03c4\u03ae; arete, excellences) according to what you read and what we discussed? Think of two or three \u1f00\u03c1\u03b5\u03c4\u03ae that you feel like you need to work on, and that you feel like you’re\u00a0ready<\/em>\u00a0to work on. What can you do to develop habits (\u1f15\u03be\u03b9\u03c2; hexis) of virtuous action in these areas? Think of concrete activities and exercises, and maybe a daily or weekly routine of self-development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Back<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n “Spring in Greece Epirus”<\/a> by massonth<\/a> is licensed under CC0 1.0<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics On Thursday, I said that I think a big part of what seems strange and unsettled in Kohelet is that Kohelet doesn\u2019t seem to have the felt need we do to justify things for us, or show that things are for the best for us. In our Christian-centric culture, we sort of want to… <\/p>\n
b. Ideas: Write down three ideas or concepts you learned about (or learned more about) from the reading
c. Prompt: Write a short response (100\u2013200 words, minimum 100 words required) to the prompt in the reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
b. Ideas: Write down three ideas or concepts you learned about (or learned more about) from the reading
c. Prompt: Write a short response (100\u2013200 words, minimum 100 words required) to the prompt in the reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n