ARISTOTLE, BOOKS 9

& 10

Pleasure and the Good

REVIEW
What is the good life for a human being, according to Aristotle?
How do we go about cultivating the good life?
Why does Aristotle bring up the topic of friendship in the ethics?
What are the different kinds of friendships he discusses? What sorts
of friendships should we cultivate?

SIGNIFICANCE OF PLEASURE
Aristotle says that being good involves taking pleasure as well as
pain in the right sorts of things.
Think of things we should definitely NOT take pleasure in. Why
shouldnt we? What would it suggest about our overall character if
we did take pleasure in them?

ARGUMENT OF EUDOXUS
Pleasure is the supreme good because we desire it in and of itself
and it makes other goods more desirable.
But this shows it to be A good, not THE good. Further, not all
pleasures ARE good and some goods (like intelligence) make
pleasure more desirable.

PRUDENTLY PURSUED
PLEASURES
If pleasure was the good, then we wouldnt be able to add anything
to it to make it better. But it seems that pleasure mixed with
prudent living actually makes life more pleasant.
Why is pleasure best when pursued prudently? Why dont you want
the maximum amount of pleasure all of the time?
The capacity for pleasure is found in animals as well as in children.
Children can be disciplined through rewards and punishments,
suggesting that pleasure plays a role in the good life but is not,
strictly speaking, the good.

PLEASURE AS AN ELEMENT
OF THE GOOD LIFE
Pleasure is not a process, since it is not movement from an incomplete
state to a complete state.
Rather, pleasure is an accompaniment of other activities. Happiness is an
activity of the soul which serves as an end in itself. Pleasure accompanies
the activity constituting a happy life.
Pleasure is not identical amusement. Why not?
Things that are truly pleasant are things enjoyed by virtuous people.
Things that are unpleasant are things that virtuous people take pain in.

WE CAN BE MISTAKEN
ABOUT OUR OWN PLEASURE
Just as we can be mistaken about what happiness is, we can be
mistaken about what is pleasant.
What kinds of things are pleasant to a criminal? To a child?
Examples of antiheros: Frank Underwood, Tony Soprano, the
protagonist of Breaking Bad, Dexter. What kinds of things do these
people find pleasurable? What does this tell us about their
character?

HAPPINESS AND THE LIFE OF

CONTEMPLATION
A life spent in contemplation constitutes the best and highest sort of
existence for a human being, since it is the most god-like. However,
the contemplative life is not a possibility for most of us. The
second-best sort of existence is the life of political activity, and this
type of life can be virtuous and happy. Thus, the good life is still
achievable for most.
Learning about the good life is not sufficient for being able to lead a
good life. People are not usually virtuous by nature. Virtue must be
cultivated through learning/habituation.

ROLE OF THE STATE IN

MAKING PEOPLE VIRTUOUS
If a state is to have virtuous citizens, it must educate them properly
from earliest youth.
This is implies that public education is a public good, and that the
state has a responsibility to give its youth the best education
possible. Is this true? What sort of public education is needed to
create virtuous citizens?

ASSIGNMENT FOR NEXT

TIME
Read Books 2, 3, and 4 from the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius