Essential Passages · 5 selections
Ideas worth
reading firsthand.
These selections move from Aristotle's account of the human good to virtue, friendship, and contemplation. Bekker references are retained so the passages can be located in any scholarly edition. The framing is by Ergo; Ross's translated text is unchanged.
Aristotle · c. 340 BCE
Translated by W. D. Ross (1925)
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01
Book I · 1094a–b · 3 min
Every Action Aims at Some Good
Aristotle opens by observing that every craft, inquiry, and deliberate action aims at something regarded as good. Because some ends organize and outrank others, he asks whether there is a highest end that gives practical life its direction. This is the question that governs the entire work.
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02
Book I · 1097b–1098a · 2 min
The Human Function
Calling happiness the highest good is not yet informative unless we can say what human flourishing consists in. Aristotle's function argument connects the good human life with rational activity performed well and over a complete life. The passage supplies the working definition of happiness used throughout the Ethics.
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03
Book II · 1106b–1107a · 2 min
Virtue and the Mean
Moral virtue aims at what is appropriate between excess and deficiency, but Aristotle is not recommending bland moderation or a numerical average. The mean is relative to the person and situation, determined by reason and practical wisdom. Hitting it is difficult because failure is possible in many directions.
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04
Book VIII · 1155a–1156b · 8 min
Perfect Friendship
Friendship is not an optional ornament to a flourishing life: Aristotle says no one would choose to live without friends. He distinguishes relationships based on utility or pleasure from the enduring friendship of people who value one another's character. The latter is rare because it takes time and shared life to establish.
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05
Book X · 1176b–1178a · 5 min
The Contemplative Life
Near the end of the Ethics, Aristotle identifies the highest happiness with contemplation: the sustained activity of the best element in us toward the best objects of knowledge. He knows the conclusion sounds almost superhuman, yet urges us not to limit our aspirations to what is merely mortal. The passage creates a productive tension with the book's rich account of ethical and political life.