This essay is a critical interpretation of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, as it attempts to reconcile the tension between moral virtue and intellectual virtue, the two virtues which Aristotle deems characteristic of man. This paper looks to include both moral and intellectual virtue in Aristotle’s conception of the happy life, through the summarization and analyzation of David Keyt, J.L Ackrill, John Cooper and Daniel Devereux’s modern interpretations of the ethics.

The purpose of this thesis is to deepen the understanding of our contemporary description of digital literacy using the perspective on knowledge from the Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle. I have chosen to deal with the problem using a hermeneutic approach. The method of inquiry is based on close reading of the selected literature. The selection itself has been made after a strategic selection regarding perspective on knowledge and digital literacy. It appears in the thesis that there are substantial differences but also similarities between our contemporary description of digital literacy from Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 on key competences for lifelong learning and the perspective on knowledge from the Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle.Still, the result has been possible to use for the purpose of the thesis since the problem has an answer and a deepened impression of the understandings of digital literacy.

In a famous argument at the beginning of the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle argues that the function and good of the human being is the "actuality of the soul in accordance with virtue". Presenting a view critical of the widespread intellectualist reading of Aristotle's Ethics, in this thesis I argue that the characteristic function of the human being is constitutive of a distinctly human life as a dynamic formal cause teleologically operative in human awareness. I argue for the validity of my own view in a preliminary way in the introduction by way of Aristotle's critique of the Platonic forms. In the second chapter, I argue that the processes of the non-rational part of the soul are acquired and actively operate once acquired independently of singular dictates of active reason within the individual. By this I mean that the virtues do not obey reason in the sense that they receive individual commands from discursive reason to desire or feel in certain ways. Rather, although the moral virtues are formed gradually by repeated acts of choice, as affective states, they are activated by being affected from without by external stimuli. These external stimuli produce impulses in the soul which are conducive to virtuous action, including a cognitive element: primarily, non-rational and non-discursive evaluative judgments of phantasia, which supply a human agent immediately with the ends of his action and the beginning-points of deliberation. These judgments are the awareness of sensible particulars as pleasant. In the third chapter, I turn to the De Anima in order to illuminate the cognitive conditions of human praxis. Following on the arguments contained in the second chapter, I argue that there are two primary cognitive moments which are necessary conditions of action. While the ends of desire are immediate objects of awareness and move humans as unmoved movers, motivational desires, which move as efficient causes, are initiated by a distinct cognitive power: proclamations to pursue or avoid.

[pt] Adotando como fonte principal de nossa investigação a Ética a Nicômaco, discorreremos, na presente dissertação, acerca dos dois tratados sobre o prazer existentes na obra em questão, a saber, nos capítulos 11, 12, 13 e 14 do livro VII e nos capítulos 1, 2, 3, 4 e 5 do livro X. A primeira parte de nossa pesquisa consistirá em uma breve introdução aos escritos éticos do filósofo de Estagira, seguida de um minucioso mapeamento de nossa autoria dos capítulos há pouco mencionados, onde o tema do prazer é abordado por Aristóteles de maneira mais aprofundada. A segunda parte corresponderá ao exame do pensamento contido no livro VII; mais especificamente, concentrar-nos-emos no tradicional debate em torno da associação feita pelo Estagirita entre os conceitos de hedoné e enérgeia, isto é, entre as noções de prazer e atividade. Por fim, a terceira e última parte desta dissertação abordará a discussão a respeito do prazer localizada no livro X, a qual esclarecerá melhor os posicionamentos apresentados em VII; ademais, nesta última parte, investigaremos também as possíveis contribuições dos debates acerca da felicidade, presentes nos livros I e X, para as investigações acerca do prazer. / [en] Adopting the Nicomachean Ethics as the main source of our investigation, we will discuss, in this dissertation, about the two treatises on pleasure existent in the work in question, namely, in chapters 11, 12, 13 and 14 of book VII and in chapters 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of book X. The first part of our research consists of a brief introduction to the ethical writings of the Stagirite, followed by a detailed mapping of the chapters just mentioned, where pleasure is approached by Aristotle in more depth. The second part corresponds to the examination of the thought contained in book VII; more specifically, we will focus on the traditional debate around the association made by Aristotle between the concepts of hedoné and enérgeia, that is, between the notions of pleasure and activity. Finally, the third and last part of this dissertation consists of the discussion about pleasure located in book X, which will better clarify the positions exposed on book VII; moreover, in this last part, we will also investigate the possible contributions of the debates about happiness, present in books I and X, to the investigations about pleasure.

The aim of the diploma theses "Logos in Aristotle Ethics" is to interpret meaning of the term "logos" in Aristotle's work "Nicomachean Ethics". The basic methodical guideline is the structuralist assumption, that a meaning of a term is determined by its relations to other terms contained within the text, and the related assumption of unity of the meaning of the term "logos". The interpretation itself first analyzes structure of several crucial terms, most importantly the relation of a human individual to the society, the concepts of the good, the reality and the possibility, the true and the illusory, and the concept of the natural. The structure of use of the term "logos" is then analyzed in relation to these concepts. These investigations are completed by analysis of the terms of virtue and action. By the means of the structural analysis of these terms, the existence of a distinctive level of reality is established, which is captured by the term "humanity". The existence of humanity is the central point of interest in Aristotle's ethics. In the horizontal regard, there are two poles of humanity - the individual human and the society. In the vertical regard, the humanity is situated between divinity, to which it is related, and bestiality, to which it threatens to fall. Logos is then a kind of...

O objetivo deste trabalho é investigar a teoria da ação humana presente na Ética Nicomaqueia de Aristóteles e, em particular, os elementos que constituem os critérios para a determinação da noção de responsabilidade do agente moral e identificar se tais critérios se encontram presentes na teoria sobre a imitação da ação humana na tragédia grega, apresentada na Poética. Para ilustrar essa possível relação, utilizar-se-á o mito de Édipo, paradigma da discussão sobre a virtude na ação heroica, presente na tragédia de Sófocles, Édipo-Rei. / The aim of this master degree dissertation is to investigate the theory of human action available in Aristotles Nicomachean Ethics. The aim is particularly to investigate the elements that constitute the criteria to determining the notion of responsibility of the agent and to identify if these criteria can be found in the theory about the imitation of human action in Greek tragedy available in Aristotles Poetics. In order to ilustrate this possible relation, it will be used Oedipus myth, as a paradigm of the discussion about virtue in heroic action, available in Sophocles tragedy, Oedipus-Rex.

Chama a atenção o fato de uma obra como O Senhor dos Anéis, de J. R. R. Tolkien, envolver não apenas um herói, mas muitos personagens com um objetivo comum: a destruição do Anel do Poder. Eles criam laços e revelam sentimentos que nós encontramos no dia a dia, na jornada de nossa vida: se tornam amigos. Este projeto busca analisar como a amizade na obra tolkieniana colabora para o desenvolvimento de seus personagens, bem como contribui para o sucesso de seu objetivo final. Para tanto, tomaremos como base teórica o livro Ética a Nicômaco de Aristóteles, obra que se propõe essencialmente a estudar a felicidade, ou seja, o bem último do homem (eudaimonía). Ao aniquilarem o Anel, os heróis da saga tolkieniana realizam seu grande desejo, e ocorre então o que Tolkien chama de eucatástrofe, o final feliz, essencial nas histórias de fada. Ainda no pensamento aristotélico, a amizade seria tanto um sintoma da felicidade do ser humano quanto uma necessidade para que ele alcance essa realização plena. Por conta de Tolkien ter o seu entendimento de imaginário baseado, entre outras questões, no pensamento religioso, buscaremos também apoio na teologia, especialmente na Suma Teológica de São Tomás de Aquino, enxergando, na amizade, uma relação direta com a caridade cristã. Por entendermos que, na contemporaneidade, a centralidade do livro dá espaço para outras produções artísticas, nos apoiaremos também nas adaptações fílmicas de O Senhor dos Anéis, dirigidas pelo neozelandês Peter Jackson. Tal análise comparativa visa trazer mais elementos para o estudo sobre a amizade na narrativa de Tolkien, visto que o homem contemporâneo, especialmente o jovem, se mostra, cada vez mais, apoiado no universo do audiovisual, muitas vezes partindo dele para o da literatura. Acreditamos que nosso projeto chega em boa hora, visto que tanto o livro quanto o filme em questão envolvem e fascinam seu público leitor e espectador, contribuindo para a formação de seu pensamento ético e de seu caráter, servindo de referência a muitas obras do gênero fantasia, em diversas plataformas. / It draws our attention the fact that a work like The Lord of The Rings, by J. R. R. Tolkien, involves not only a single hero, but many characters with a common goal: the destruction of the Ring of Power. They connect with each other and reveal feelings we find day by day in our lives journey: they become friends. This project aims, therefore, to analyze how friendship in the Tolkienian work collaborates for the characters development, as well as it contributes for the success of their final goal. To achieve this, we will take as theoretical basis the book Nicomachean Ethics, by Aristotle, a work that essentially proposes to study happiness, in other words, the ultimate purpose of man (eudaimonia). By annihilating the Ring, the Tolkienian saga heroes achieve their great desire, and what happens then is what Tolkien calls the happy ending, which is essential to fairy stories. Still within the Aristotelian line of thought, friendship would be both a symptom of a human beings happiness and a requirement to reach this full achievement. Since Tolkiens imaginary understanding is based on, among other issues, the religious mindset, we will take theology as support, especially Summa Theologica, by Thomas Aquinas, by seeing, in friendship, a direct association with the Christian charity. Since we understand that, in our present days, the centrality of the book allows other artistic productions, we will also base this study on The Lord of The Rings movie adaptations, directed by the New Zealander filmmaker Peter Jackson. Such comparative analysis aims to bring more elements to the study of friendship in Tolkiens narrative, since the contemporary man, especially the young one, shows an increasing interest in the audiovisual universe, often starting with it and then moving on to literature. We believe that this is a timely project, since both the book and the movies in question involve and fascinate their readers and spectators, contributing to the development of their ethical thinking and character, acting as a reference to many fantasy gender works, in many platforms.

O objetivo deste trabalho é investigar a teoria da ação humana presente na Ética Nicomaqueia de Aristóteles e, em particular, os elementos que constituem os critérios para a determinação da noção de responsabilidade do agente moral e identificar se tais critérios se encontram presentes na teoria sobre a imitação da ação humana na tragédia grega, apresentada na Poética. Para ilustrar essa possível relação, utilizar-se-á o mito de Édipo, paradigma da discussão sobre a virtude na ação heroica, presente na tragédia de Sófocles, Édipo-Rei. / The aim of this master degree dissertation is to investigate the theory of human action available in Aristotles Nicomachean Ethics. The aim is particularly to investigate the elements that constitute the criteria to determining the notion of responsibility of the agent and to identify if these criteria can be found in the theory about the imitation of human action in Greek tragedy available in Aristotles Poetics. In order to ilustrate this possible relation, it will be used Oedipus myth, as a paradigm of the discussion about virtue in heroic action, available in Sophocles tragedy, Oedipus-Rex.

Chama a atenção o fato de uma obra como O Senhor dos Anéis, de J. R. R. Tolkien, envolver não apenas um herói, mas muitos personagens com um objetivo comum: a destruição do Anel do Poder. Eles criam laços e revelam sentimentos que nós encontramos no dia a dia, na jornada de nossa vida: se tornam amigos. Este projeto busca analisar como a amizade na obra tolkieniana colabora para o desenvolvimento de seus personagens, bem como contribui para o sucesso de seu objetivo final. Para tanto, tomaremos como base teórica o livro Ética a Nicômaco de Aristóteles, obra que se propõe essencialmente a estudar a felicidade, ou seja, o bem último do homem (eudaimonía). Ao aniquilarem o Anel, os heróis da saga tolkieniana realizam seu grande desejo, e ocorre então o que Tolkien chama de eucatástrofe, o final feliz, essencial nas histórias de fada. Ainda no pensamento aristotélico, a amizade seria tanto um sintoma da felicidade do ser humano quanto uma necessidade para que ele alcance essa realização plena. Por conta de Tolkien ter o seu entendimento de imaginário baseado, entre outras questões, no pensamento religioso, buscaremos também apoio na teologia, especialmente na Suma Teológica de São Tomás de Aquino, enxergando, na amizade, uma relação direta com a caridade cristã. Por entendermos que, na contemporaneidade, a centralidade do livro dá espaço para outras produções artísticas, nos apoiaremos também nas adaptações fílmicas de O Senhor dos Anéis, dirigidas pelo neozelandês Peter Jackson. Tal análise comparativa visa trazer mais elementos para o estudo sobre a amizade na narrativa de Tolkien, visto que o homem contemporâneo, especialmente o jovem, se mostra, cada vez mais, apoiado no universo do audiovisual, muitas vezes partindo dele para o da literatura. Acreditamos que nosso projeto chega em boa hora, visto que tanto o livro quanto o filme em questão envolvem e fascinam seu público leitor e espectador, contribuindo para a formação de seu pensamento ético e de seu caráter, servindo de referência a muitas obras do gênero fantasia, em diversas plataformas. / It draws our attention the fact that a work like The Lord of The Rings, by J. R. R. Tolkien, involves not only a single hero, but many characters with a common goal: the destruction of the Ring of Power. They connect with each other and reveal feelings we find day by day in our lives journey: they become friends. This project aims, therefore, to analyze how friendship in the Tolkienian work collaborates for the characters development, as well as it contributes for the success of their final goal. To achieve this, we will take as theoretical basis the book Nicomachean Ethics, by Aristotle, a work that essentially proposes to study happiness, in other words, the ultimate purpose of man (eudaimonia). By annihilating the Ring, the Tolkienian saga heroes achieve their great desire, and what happens then is what Tolkien calls the happy ending, which is essential to fairy stories. Still within the Aristotelian line of thought, friendship would be both a symptom of a human beings happiness and a requirement to reach this full achievement. Since Tolkiens imaginary understanding is based on, among other issues, the religious mindset, we will take theology as support, especially Summa Theologica, by Thomas Aquinas, by seeing, in friendship, a direct association with the Christian charity. Since we understand that, in our present days, the centrality of the book allows other artistic productions, we will also base this study on The Lord of The Rings movie adaptations, directed by the New Zealander filmmaker Peter Jackson. Such comparative analysis aims to bring more elements to the study of friendship in Tolkiens narrative, since the contemporary man, especially the young one, shows an increasing interest in the audiovisual universe, often starting with it and then moving on to literature. We believe that this is a timely project, since both the book and the movies in question involve and fascinate their readers and spectators, contributing to the development of their ethical thinking and character, acting as a reference to many fantasy gender works, in many platforms.

In Book VI of the Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle makes the assumption that there are five states of the soul through which we interact with truth. He continues Book VI with a discussion of his intended meaning of each of these states of the soul. In this study the relevant discussions on each state are extracted from the text to enable a clearer understanding of these states, as Aristotle presents them. Subsequently, the role of each state is studied in the context of the entire Nicomachean Ethics. The primary focus is directed at a clearer understanding of Aristotle’s proposed intellectual virtues, and on their respective roles in the ethical life. Simultaneously, the ethical life that Aristotle presents, and its ultimate end eudaimonia, or happiness, are approached from this perspective. Aristotle argues that reason is the distinguishing feature of humans, and that man’s excellence must include the excellent use of this capacity. This study investigates how Aristotle proposes that the rational intellect should reach its completion, and comes to the conclusion that true mastery of the intellect can only result from the cooperation of the five states of the rational soul. It becomes evident that each state of the soul has a different nature and function, and that through directed cooperation they do not compete with one another, but are mutually enhanced. However, Aristotle repeatedly emphasises the importance of extending thought into action. This makes Aristotle’s ethical theory so attractive: he manages to consolidate his theorizing with the value of experienced reality. This is his essential key to happiness, which is experienced both in perception and in action. By approaching the Nicomachean Ethics from the perspective of the five states of the rational soul, an appreciation is acquired for the fine balance by which action and reason may combine to result in man’s fulfilment of his highest potential. It is in this balance that one finds the secret to eudaimonia. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Ancient Languages / unrestricted