why nicomachus?

Posted on December 13, 2004 
Filed Under philosophy

At some point people usually ask me who Nicomachus is, or what Nicomachus means. Nicomachus is the name of both Aristotle’s father and his son. Not that his father and son were the same person, they just shared the same name. It’s the latter with whom I’m concerned. Nicomachus Jr. was one of Aristotle’s best students, and like all good students, Nico took great notes. In fact, the most systematic record of Aristotle’s moral theory is a revised set of notes Nico took in class. The Nicomachean Ethics remains one of the greatest philosophical works in moral theory and outlines the classical theories of normativity and moral psychology with which I agree most.

Basically, the idea is that our moral character is just the constellation of the morally relevant habits that we cultivate. A morally just person is a person who has cultivated the right sort of habits. How do you know what sort of habits you ought to cultivate? Think about a person you admire… what would she do in this situation? What kinds of habits does she have? How can I adopt similar habits?

Obviously, you can develop the wrong habits, and a sound virtue theory needs to say more about the difference between morally good habits and morally bad habits in order to satisfy the rationalistic demands of contemporary moral evaluation . So, a lot of students are frustrated by Aristotle’s virtue theory because they think that it’s not especially instructive. But, I don’t think Aristotle meant for this theory to be a prescription for determining right and wrong action, good and bad moral behavior. It is more an outline for understanding what makes a life meaningful. Understood in this way, I think he’s right.

Comments

One Response to “why nicomachus?”

  1. robbie on March 24th, 2008 8:57 am

    I am confused.

    I consider myself reasonably moral and yet I get slammed by people who don’t think I measure up.

    I even move snails off the path so they don’t get squashed.

    What am I doing wrong?

    I don’t even own a car…

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