The Eudemian Ethics of Aristotle

432 Pages·2013·3.07 MB·English

by  Aristotle

Copyright © 2013 by Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Con-
ventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording,
or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in
writing from the publisher. All inquiries should be addressed to Transaction
Publishers, Rutgers—The State University of New Jersey, 35 Berrue Circle,
Piscataway, New Jersey 08854-8042. www.transactionpub.com
This book is printed on acid-free paper that meets the American National
Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library M aterials.
Library of Congress Catalog Number: 2012018214
ISBN: 978-1-4128-4969-2
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Aristotle.
[Eudemian ethics. English]
The Eudemian ethics of Aristotle / translated with explanatory comments
and accompanying translation of Aristotle’s On Virtues and vices [by] Peter
L. P. Simpson.
p. cm.
1. Ethics. 2. Virtues. 3. Vices. I. Simpson, Peter, 1951– II. Aristotle. De
virtutibus et vitiis. English. III. Title.
B422.A5S56 2012
171’.3–dc23
2012018214
To my Students and Colleagues at the City
University of New York

Contents
Introduction ix
Analytical Outline 1
Translation of the Eudemian Ethics
Book One 7
Book Two 21
Book Three 49
Book Four 67
Book Five 91
Book Six 109
Book Seven 137
Book Eight 175
Translation of On Virtues and Vices 189
Commentary on the Eudemian Ethics
Book One 195
Book Two 233
Book Three 287
The Common Books in General 305
Book Four 307
Book Five 321
Book Six 327
Book Seven 335
Book Eight 379
Bibliography 395
Index 401

Introduction
Reason for the Translation and the Accompanying Commentary
Of the works on ethics in the Aristotelian corpus that have come down to us
from antiquity there is now no significant dispute among scholars that the
Nicomachean Ethics [NE] and Eudemian Ethics [EE] are authentic.1 Of these
the best known and most read and studied, by scholars as well as by general
readers, is the Nicomachean. The Eudemian has, at least in recent years,
come to be read and used by scholars as a helpful support and confirmation
and sometimes foil for NE.2 However, for all the attention recently paid to it,
EE remains a largely neglected work in the study of Aristotle’s ethics, both
among scholars and among moral philosophers. Reasons are not far to seek.
EE is more concentrated, even crabbed, in style and argumentation, and it is
less adorned with engaging descriptions or enlarged by leisurely explanations.
More, and worse, the Greek text is plagued with problems both of grammar
and translation, whereas the text of NE is relatively free of them. Recent
scholarly work has done much to help clear up these problems but more
needs to be done. Further, translations of EE (in any language) are few and
largely incomplete. For EE shares three books in common with NE (Books
4–6 of the former being the same as Books 5–7 of the latter), and these com-
mon books are usually found in translations only of NE and not in those of
EE.3 Finally, the particularities of doctrine in EE, because its argumentation
is so concentrated and elliptical, are not easy to decipher, especially in com-
parison with the more expansive NE. Further, because the work as a whole
has attracted less attention, these particularities have remained without the
extensive commentary and explanation that NE has long enjoyed and that
have rendered its doctrine and argumentation more open to view.
The translation and commentary offered here are meant to contribute
toward rectifying this state of affairs. To begin with, the translation includes
the common books. Second, it provides an analytical outline of the whole,
together with summaries (not Aristotle’s, of course, but the translator’s) of
each individual section, so as to make the overall structure and the detailed
ix