Aristotle
Philosopher · 384-322 BC · Philosophy, stage 3: Meet the thinkers
Grounded ethics in habit and character rather than rules, and argued that the good life means flourishing through reason and virtue.
Overview
Aristotle studied under Plato at the Academy for twenty years before founding his own school, the Lyceum, and his work covers nearly every field known in antiquity, from biology to logic to politics. In ethics, his most accessible and still widely read area, he argues that the highest human good, eudaimonia, comes from living in accordance with reason and developing virtues of character through habit and practice rather than through instruction alone. The Nicomachean Ethics, likely compiled from his lecture notes, is the standard starting point, and its account of virtue as a mean between extremes remains the foundation of virtue ethics today. Aristotle's Politics extends the same framework to the community, arguing that humans are by nature social animals who can only fully flourish within a well-ordered state.
Where to start reading
Nicomachean Ethics c. 340 BC
His central work on ethics, arguing that the good life comes from virtuous activity in accordance with reason, developed through habit rather than pure theory.
Politics c. 335-323 BC
An analysis of the best forms of political community, building on the Ethics with the claim that humans are naturally social and political animals.
Metaphysics c. 350 BC
A wide-ranging investigation into being, substance, and causation that gave the field of metaphysics its name and much of its early vocabulary.
Part of
Sources
- Aristotle Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Aristotle's Ethics Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Aristotle Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
