Revaluing Ethics

Thomas W. Smith is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Villanova University.

• AbbreviationsPreface Introduction The Return to AristotleProtrepticDialectic: A Brief Overview PART I: THE AUDIENCE 1. The Political Character of Aristotle's Pedagogy Formation and RegimesThe Political Dimensions of the Pedagogy 2. The Audience of the Nicomachean Ethics The Problem of AudienceWhere the Action IsThe Love of Honor and the Love of ActivityThe Ambiguous Results of the Pursuit of HonorPolitical Effects of the Culture of HonorPlato's Case against Virtue-as-Equity in the RepublicThe Appearance of VirtuePedagogical Problems: How Love or Honor Leads to ComplacencyPedagogical Strategies: Virtue-as-EquityPedagogical Problems: PhilosophyQuestioning Aristotle's Pedagogical Strategy PART II: REVALUING THE VIRTUES 3. Approaching the Virtues Does Aristotle Accept his Culture's Notions of the Virtues?Bifurcating the Soul; Bifurcating Virtue Moral ParalysisThe Devaluation of ReasonSlicing and Dicing the VirtuesConclusion 4. Criticizing the Moral Virtues QuestionsManlinessModerationGenerosityMagnificenceThe Mean with Respect to AngerSocial RelationsIrony 5. Greatness of Soul Aristotle on Greatness of SoulThe Iliad on Human LimitsConclusion 6. Justice, Injustice, and Equity Different Starting PointsComfortable Risk Minimizers versus Needy Risk TakersThe Problem with LawThe Partiality of LawEquityConclusion 7. Turning Reputable Opinion Upside Down Reassessing the Relation of Thought to PracticeThought as an ActionAristotelian Rationality, the Human Good, and Life PlansA New StartMoral WeaknessNew DistinctionsStanding Virtue on Its Head PART III: FRIENDSHIP AND PHILOSOPHY 8. Analogous Communities IntroductionFrom Having to Being: Equal versus Unequal RelationshipsInterdependence and Human FlourishingMore in the Nature of ThingsAnalogical CommunitiesThe Common Good in Aristotelian ThoughtTheory Informing PracticeWhy Bother?Virtue-as-Equity, Virute-as-FairnessThe Negative Way to Vurtue-as-Equity 9. Hortatory Conclusions Aristotle Tips his Pedagogical HandThe Accounts of PleasureThe Fulfillment of DesireSo Why Won't He Talk about Contemplation Conclusion: Contemplation, Action, and the Limits of Aristotelian Political Philosophy The Missing QuestionInterpretive ProblemsThe Way the Problem Appeared to Aristotle's AudiencePractical WisdomContemplationContemplation and Its Effects on Practical WisdomPractical Wisdom and Providing for ContemplationHuman Limits and the Limits of Aristotelian Political Philosophy NotesBibliographyIndex

"Smith does an incredible job of unlocking the hidden riches of Aristotle's thought. He provides us with a new and worthwhile perspective in his elucidation of Aristotle's dialectical approach, a perspective that fruitfully questions many standard views about the Nicomachean Ethics." — William A. Welton, Xavier University