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This will be divided into multiple posts because of the 20,000 character limit.
I got through what is considered one of the foundation texts for all of Western philosophy. It is also a foundational texts for politics, theology. 2400 years after it was first written, it is still relevant and profound.
It is, however, a very dense text. It is written in such a way that requires full attention. I often found myself having to re-read paragraphs in order to understand just what Aristotle was trying to communicate. Sometimes, out of laziness I admit, if I didn't understand after re-reading several times in a row I would give up and move on.
I used this audio course as a study guide:
This audio course helps clarify some of the denser arguments and ties it to later philosophers.
As I was reading, I often found myself thinking, "That makes sense.' or even 'that's pretty obvious.' After letting everything about this dense book sink in, it is pretty mind-blowing if only because of how it forms an intricate web of common sense that is actionable and applicable.
Here are my notes. Take them with a grain of salt, as I admit that I might have missed the point at times, and may even have a few errors:
Book I: Happiness
Happiness is the ultimate goal in life. All that we do, all our choices, actions, we do in order to increase our happiness.
Happiness, in the context of this book, is a direct translation from the ancient Greek word eudaimonia. A definition from Sparknotes: Eudaimonia - Normally translated as “happiness,” eudaimonia also carries connotations of success and fulfillment. For the Greeks, happiness is not an inner, emotional state, but the activity, or energeia, of a successful person. The Greeks did not share our sharp distinction between the public and the private, so for them, happiness is a public matter that can be evaluated just as accurately by an observer as by the person being observed.
Many believe that happiness is a product of pleasure, honor, and wealth. But these goods should instead be viewed as products of an end(said end being lasting and sustainable fulfillment) instead of ends themselves.
These are goods that are subordinate to actions and circumstances. Aristotle suggests we aim at a good that creates a happiness that is based on universality and objectivity.
It isn't to say that we should be without good things like reasonable health, material prosperity, friends, family, etc. But, once again, these should be by-products in our pursuit of fulfillment.
For happiness does not lack anything, but is self-sufficient.
We must look to human nature in order to properly identify human fulfillment. Humans make choices and acquire practical wisdom(or prudence); happiness is closely tied to our choices and our knowledge.
It is only through the proper development of rationality that humans will find fulfillment and happiness.
For it is the mark of an educated man to look for precision in each class of things just as far as the nature of the subject admits; it is evidently equally foolish to accept probable reasoning from a mathematician and to demand from a rhetorician scientific proofs.
Happiness isn't just for ourselves, but for our community. Aristotle viewed ethics as a part of politics and social life. Happiness, as a goal, must be pursued in accordance with humans' social nature.
Therefore, we derive our happiness not just from ourselves and our own pursuit of excellence and glory, but from other human beings. A modern approach would involve balancing the demands of individual life with the (legitimate) demands of a larger community.
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