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4th century BCE

Aristotle — Activity across a life, not a passing mood

Is a good life a happy feeling, or a life of acting well in accordance with excellence?

AristotleNicomachean Ethics

Evidence-backed account

Aristotle established his school at the Lyceum in Athens and taught there, but that activity evidence does not establish the exact composition place of the Nicomachean Ethics.

Open evidence

This is an evidence-linked editorial paraphrase, not a direct quotation.

  • Aristotle’s Lyceum

    Hellenic Heritage

    Locator: Athens Lyceum teaching activity

    Open source

Eudaimonia is discussed not as a merely subjective mood but as the evaluative end of living well pursued for its own sake.

Open evidence

This is an evidence-linked editorial paraphrase, not a direct quotation.

  • Nicomachean Ethics

    Aristotle · H. Rackham edition and historical English translation; Perseus Digital Library

    Locator: Book I.4 and I.7

    Open source

  • Aristotle’s Ethics

    Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

    Locator: Section 2

    Open source

Book I.7 describes the human good as activity in accordance with excellence and requires the scope of a complete life rather than one good day.

Open evidence

This is an evidence-linked editorial paraphrase, not a direct quotation.

  • Nicomachean Ethics

    Aristotle · H. Rackham edition and historical English translation; Perseus Digital Library

    Locator: Book I.7

    Open source

Books II.1–2 explain that ethical virtue arises through repeated action and habituation and that ethical inquiry aims at acting better in practice.

Open evidence

This is an evidence-linked editorial paraphrase, not a direct quotation.

  • Nicomachean Ethics

    Aristotle · H. Rackham edition and historical English translation; Perseus Digital Library

    Locator: Book II.1–2

    Open source

The self-sufficiency discussed in I.7 includes relations with family, friends, and fellow citizens rather than an isolated individual alone.

Open evidence

This is an evidence-linked editorial paraphrase, not a direct quotation.

  • Nicomachean Ethics

    Aristotle · H. Rackham edition and historical English translation; Perseus Digital Library

    Locator: Book I.7

    Open source

Aristotle holds that severe deficits in external conditions such as friends, resources, and fortune can impede excellent activity and living well.

Open evidence

This is an evidence-linked editorial paraphrase, not a direct quotation.

  • Nicomachean Ethics

    Aristotle · H. Rackham edition and historical English translation; Perseus Digital Library

    Locator: Book I.8–10

    Open source

  • Aristotle’s Ethics

    Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

    Locator: Sections 2 and 8

    Open source
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