Notes on Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle

Book 2, Chapter 1: Introduction to Virtue

• Two Kinds of Virtue
  • Intellectual virtue: Arises from teaching, requires experience and time.
  • Moral virtue: Results from habit, not from nature.
• Nature vs. Habit
  • Moral virtues are not innate; they develop through habit, not contrary to nature.
  • Natural potentiality precedes activity, such as in the senses.
• Learning by Doing
  • Virtues and skills are acquired through practice, e.g., builders by building.
  • Legislators aim to make citizens virtuous through habituation.
  • Virtues are developed through habitual actions which mirror the virtues themselves.

Chapter 2: The Nature of Actions

• Aim of Inquiry
  • Not theoretical knowledge, but to become good.
  • Right actions determine the nature of character.
• Right Rule
  • Actions should follow a 'right rule,' later to be defined.
  • Conduct lacks absolute precision; it depends on circumstances.
• Effect of Excess and Defect
  • Actions and virtues can be destroyed by too much or too little.
  • Courage and temperance are maintained by avoiding extremes.
• Pleasure and Pain
  • Actions are influenced by pleasure and pain, which shapes our character from youth.

Chapter 4: Just and Temperate Acts

• Becoming Virtuous
  • Virtue is achieved by acting in ways that align with virtuous people.
  • Knowledge of virtues is less important than acting upon them.

Chapter 5: Defining Virtue

• Components of the Soul
  • Passions: Feelings accompanied by pleasure or pain.
  • Faculties: Capacities to feel these passions.
  • States of Character: Tendencies to react well or poorly to passions.
• Virtue as a State of Character
  • Not passions or faculties but states of character define virtue.

Chapter 6: The Nature of Virtue

• Virtue as Excellence
  • Virtue makes a person and their actions good, akin to excellence in arts.
  • The mean is virtuous, between excess and defect.
  • Virtue is an intermediate aligned with rational principle.

Chapter 7: Mean and Extremes in Virtue

• Application to Conduct
  • Courage is a mean between rashness and cowardice.
  • Temperance is a mean between self-indulgence and insensibility.
  • Other virtues relate similarly to their respective extremes.

Chapter 9: Challenges of Finding Mean

• Moral Virtue as a Mean
  • Moral virtues balance between two vices (excess and deficiency).
  • Finding the mean requires effort and understanding.
• Practical Application
  • Recognize personal tendencies and adjust behaviors accordingly.
• Conclusions
  • The intermediate state is praised, but slight deviations are acceptable.

Final Remarks

• Moral education involves habituation in youth to align pleasure and pain correctly.
• Virtue involves acting rightly, not just knowing what is right.