The aims of life

In this chapter I shall conduct a quick tour of a central work by Aristotle (384–323 bce): Nicomachean Ethics. This book is not primarily about morality as we understand it today. What Aristotle means by “ethics” may be discerned if we consider the ancient Greek root of the term: ethos. This term refers to the customs of a society, including the characteristic outlook on life that is held by most members of that society. To speak about ethics in this sense is to speak about the customary behaviour of a people, the standards of human excellence they hold themselves bound to, and the attitudes through which they express their character as a people. These will include the attitudes that they have to one another. What kind of person do people in a particular society admire? What kinds of actions do they praise and what kinds of actions do they despise? Further, Aristotle is offering us a theory about human beings and what it is for them to flourish: a theory that will ground sound advice on how to live life well. He does not take himself to be laying down the moral law for his fellow citizens of ancient Athens. He takes it for granted that everyone understands what actions are wrong and that no one would be tempted to think that murdering someone, for example, could be any part of an answer to the question of how we should live our lives.