Nicomachean Ethics · Chapter
The Three Lives and the Search for the Good explained
Aristotle resumes the inquiry into the good, examining the three most conspicuous kinds of life: the life of enjoyment (pleasure), the life of the statesman (honor), and the contemplative life.
What happens
Aristotle resumes the inquiry into the good, examining the three most conspicuous kinds of life: the life of enjoyment (pleasure), the life of the statesman (honor), and the contemplative life. He critiques the life of pleasure as slavish, the life of honor as too superficial and dependent on others, and notes that virtue alone seems incomplete because it can coexist with inactivity or misfortune. He dismisses the moneymaking life as contrary to nature, since wealth is only a means. Pleasure and virtue are chosen for their own sake, but neither is the ultimate end.
Themes in this chapter
The Good and Happiness
Central theme: Aristotle examines different conceptions of the good based on the lives people lead, critiquing pleasure and honor as inadequate.
Pleasure and Pain
The life of enjoyment is identified with pleasure, which Aristotle dismisses as slavish and brutish, though pleasure is acknowledged as chosen for its own sake.
Characters to notice
- Aristotle
Author and primary voice; resumes the discussion of the good and examines the three lives.
- Sardanapalus
Mentioned as an example of those in high places with tastes for pleasure, illustrating the life of enjoyment.
Key passages
“It seems that men not unreasonably take their notions of the good or happiness from the lives actually led, and that the masses who are the least refined suppose it to be pleasure, which is the reason why they aim at nothing higher than the life of enjoyment.”
People naturally derive their ideas of happiness from the lives they live; the unrefined majority identify happiness with pleasure and pursue a life of mere enjoyment.
Aristotle introduces the empirical basis for ethical inquiry, grounding the search for the good in observable human behavior.
“But this seems too superficial to be the good we are seeking: for it appears to depend upon those who give rather than upon those who receive it; while we have a presentiment that the good is something that is peculiarly a man’s own and can scarce be taken away from him.”
Honor is too shallow to be the ultimate good because it relies on others' opinions rather than being an intrinsic possession that cannot be lost.
Aristotle critiques the life of honor, emphasizing that the good must be self-sufficient and stable.
“But virtue or excellence also appears too incomplete to be what we want; for it seems that a man might have virtue and yet be asleep or be inactive all his life, and, moreover, might meet with the greatest disasters and misfortunes; and no one would maintain that such a man is happy, except for argument’s sake.”
Virtue alone is insufficient for happiness because a virtuous person could be inactive or suffer great misfortunes, and no one would call such a person happy.
Aristotle argues that virtue must be accompanied by activity and favorable circumstances to constitute happiness.