The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics
Cambridge Companions to Philosophy Series

Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics is the first and arguably most important treatise on ethics in Western philosophy. It remains to this day a compelling reflection on the best sort of human life and continues to inspire contemporary thought and debate. This Cambridge Companion includes twenty essays by leading scholars of Aristotle and ancient philosophy that cover the major issues of this text. The essays in this volume shed light on Aristotle's rigorous and challenging thinking on questions such as: can there be a practical science of ethics? What is happiness? Are we responsible for our character? How does moral virtue relate to good thinking? Can we act against our reasoned choice? What is friendship? Is the contemplative life the highest kind of life? Covering all sections of the Nicomachean Ethics and selected topics in Aristotle's Eudemian Ethics and Protrepticus, this volume offers the reader a solid foundation in Aristotle's ethical philosophy.

1. Introduction: ethics as practical science Ron Polansky; 2. Beginning with eudaimonia C. D. C. Reeve; 3. Happiness and the external goods T. D. Roche; 4. Why is Aristotle's virtue of character a mean? Taking Aristotle at his word (NE II.6) Lesley Brown; 5. Choice and moral responsibility (NE III.1–5) Susanne Bobzien; 6. Courage and temperance Giles Pearson; 7. The social virtues (NE IV) Helen Cullyer; 8. Giving justice its due Ron Polansky; 9. The book on wisdom Carolo Natali; 10. Phronesis and the virtues (NE VI.12–13) Daniel Russell; 11. Was Aristotle a Humean? A partisan guide to the debate Jessica Moss; 12. Aristotle's analysis of akratic action Hendrik Lorenz; 13. Philosophical virtue: in defense of the grand end Kristen Inglis; 14. The Nicomachean Ethics on pleasure Verity Harte; 15. Finding oneself with friends Patrick Miller; 16. Competing ways of life and ring-composition (NE X.6–8) Thornton Lockwood; 17. The relationship between Aristotle's ethical and political discourses (NE X.9) Rachana Kamtekar; 18. Protreptic aspects of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics D. S. Hutchinson and Monte Ransome Johnson; 19. The Eudemian Ethics and its controversial relationship to the Nicomachean Ethics Lawrence Jost; 20. Topical bibliography to Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics Thornton Lockwood.

Ronald Polansky is Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Department of Philosophy at Duquesne University. He has been editor of the journal Ancient Philosophy since its beginning in 1980. Polansky is the author of Aristotle's 'De anima': A Critical Commentary (Cambridge, 2007) and Philosophy and Knowledge: A Commentary on Plato's 'Theaetetus' (1992), and co-editor of Bioethics: Ancient Themes in Contemporary Issues (2002).