Reason and Character
The Moral Foundations of Aristotelian Political Philosophy
Reason and Character
The Moral Foundations of Aristotelian Political Philosophy
A close and selective commentary on Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, offering a novel interpretation of Aristotle’s teachings on the relation between reason and moral virtue.
What does it mean to live a good life or a happy life, and what part does reason play in the quest for fulfillment? Lorraine Smith Pangle shows how Aristotle’s arguments for virtue as the core of happiness and for reason as the guide to virtue emerge in response to Socrates’s paradoxical claim that virtue is knowledge and vice is ignorance.
Against Socrates, Aristotle does justice to the effectual truth of moral responsibility—that our characters do indeed depend on our own voluntary actions. But he also incorporates Socratic insights into the close interconnection of passion and judgment and the way passions and bad habits work not to overcome knowledge that remains intact but to corrupt the knowledge one thinks one has. Reason and Character presents fresh interpretations of Aristotle’s teaching on the character of moral judgment and moral choice, on the way reason finds the mean—especially in justice—and on the relation between practical and theoretical wisdom.
336 pages | 6 x 9 | © 2020
Philosophy: Political Philosophy
Political Science: Classic Political Thought
Reviews
Table of Contents
1. The Task and the Puzzle of Reason in the Nicomachean Ethics (NE 1 and 2)
2. Knowledge, Choice, and Responsibility for Character (NE 3.1–5)
3. Reason and Purpose in the Moral Virtues (NE 3.6–4.9)
4. Justice and the Rule of Reason (NE 5)
5. Wisdom and Active Wisdom: The Intellectual Virtues (NE 6)
6. Problems of Self-Control (NE 7.1–10)
Epilogue: The Philosophic Life (NE 10.6–8)
Notes
Bibliography of Modern Works and Editions
Index
Be the first to know
Get the latest updates on new releases, special offers, and media highlights when you subscribe to our email lists!