Aristotle's Ethics as First Philosophy

353 Pages·2008·3.13 MB·English

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Aristotle’sEthicsasFirstPhilosophy
In Aristotle’s Ethics as First Philosophy, Claudia Baracchi demonstrates
the indissoluble links between practical and theoretical wisdom in
Aristotle’sthinking.ReferringtoabroadrangeoftextsfromtheAris-
toteliancorpus,Baracchishowshowthetheoreticalisalwaysinformed
byasetofpracticesand,specifically,howone’sencounterwithphe-
nomena,theworld,ornatureinthebroadestsenseisalwaysamatter
ofethos.Sucha“modern”intimationisshowntobefoundattheheart
ofGreekthought.Baracchi’sbookopensthewayforacomprehen-
sivelyreconfiguredapproachtoclassicalGreekphilosophy.
Claudia Baracchi is associate professor of philosophy at the New
SchoolforSocialResearch,NewYork.TheauthorofOfMyth,Life,and
WarinPlato’s Republic,sheistheco-founderoftheAncientPhiloso-
phySociety.
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Aristotle’s Ethics as First Philosophy
CLAUDIA BARACCHI
NewSchoolforSocialResearch
iii
CAMBRIDGEUNIVERSITYPRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB28RU, UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521866583
© Claudia Baracchi 2008
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of
relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place
without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published in print format 2007
ISBN-13 978-0-511-36756-4 eBook (NetLibrary)
ISBN-10 0-511-36756-2 eBook (NetLibrary)
ISBN-13 978-0-521-86658-3 hardback
ISBN-10 0-521-86658-8 hardback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls
for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not
guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
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Levicendetrovanolasoluzione
leipotesitaglianoiltraguardo
lestrategierilancianolaluce
imeccanismiconservanoleali
isecolisonovivi
–RobertoAlperoli
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Contents
Acknowledgments page ix
Introduction 1
1. OnEthicsasFirstPhilosophy 1
2. OnInterpretingAristotle:Episte¯me¯asFirstPhilosophy? 3
1 Prelude:BeforeEthics.MetaphysicsAand
PosteriorAnalyticsB.19 16
1. MetaphysicsA:On“Metaphysics”andDesire 17
2. PosteriorAnalytics:OnNous andAisthe¯sis 28
3. ArchitectureasFirstPhilosophy 38
2 MainSection.E¯thiko¯nNikomakheio¯nAlphatoEta 53
1. HumanInitiativeandItsOrientationtotheGood 55
2. OnHappiness 79
3. OntheSoul 109
4. OnJustice 143
5. TheVirtuesoftheIntellect 170
3 Interlude.MetaphysicsGamma 220
1. AporiaioftheScienceof“BeingquaBeing” 222
2. ThePrinciple“ByNature” 225
3. Reiterations 245
4. Teleology,IndefinableandIndubitable 251
5. ThePhenomenonofTruthandtheActionofThinking 255
4 ConcludingSection.E¯thiko¯nNikomakheio¯nThetatoKappa 260
1. FriendshipandJustice:InceptiveRemarks 261
2. PerfectionofFriendship 267
3. AgainonFriendshipandJustice 282
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4. OnHappinessortheGood 295
5. AgainonLogosandPraxis 305
5 Kolophon 308
SelectedBibliography 311
IndexofPassages 331
IndexofSubjectsandNames 337
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Acknowledgments
Ibeganwritingthisworkduringtheacademicyear2003/4.Theproject
was generously supported by an American Council of the Learned
Societies/AndrewW.MellonFellowship.
I wish to thank wholeheartedly my colleagues and students at the
NewSchoolforSocialResearchfortheirtrust,enthusiasticsupport,and
tireless inspiration. In particular, I am grateful to Ben Grazzini, Fanny
So¨derba¨ck,andChrisRobertsfortheircarefulassistanceatvariousstages
oftheelaborationofthemanuscript.
MygratitudegoesalsotoBeatriceRehl,atCambridgeUniversityPress,
forbelievinginthisworkfromthestart,andtoStephanieSaksonforher
editorialcontribution.
Dulcisinfundo,thankstoMichaelSchober,forhisfantasticfriendship.
Castelvetro(Modena,Italy)
January2007
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