Aristotelian Virtue Ethics

Review Questions

 

1.  Terms:   telos, eudaimonia, arete, habit

 

2.  Objective Questions: 

When and where was Aristotle born?  Who was his intellectual mentor?  Who was Aristotle the teacher of?  What is the Lyceum?  Why was Aristotle forced to flee Athens in 323?  What is his most famous work on ethics called?

3.  Text-Based Questions  (Nicomachean Ethics I and II)

        a)  What does Aristotle means when he says that all our actions aim at eudaimonia?

        b)  What is the Golden Mean?

        c)  How does Aristotle believe that virtue is acquired?

        d)  Give Aristotle's definitions of the following virtues:  courage, temperance, generosity, pride, good   temper, wittiness.

 

     
 

Reflection Questions

[for contemplation only; these questions do not have to be written out]

 

In his discussion of happiness, Aristotle suggests that virtue alone is not sufficient to make one happy and that certain external good are also necessary (health, wealth, family, friends, etc).  Do you agree with him or do you think that a morally good person could remain happy despite the loss of some---or even most---of these goods?