Revaluing Ethics

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

• AbbreviationsPreface IntroductionThe Return to AristotleProtrepticDialectic: A Brief OverviewPART I: THE AUDIENCE1. The Political Character of Aristotle's PedagogyFormation and RegimesThe Political Dimensions of the Pedagogy2. The Audience of the Nicomachean EthicsThe 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 StrategyPART II: REVALUING THE VIRTUES3. Approaching the VirtuesDoes Aristotle Accept his Culture's Notions of the Virtues?Bifurcating the Soul; Bifurcating Virtue Moral ParalysisThe Devaluation of ReasonSlicing and Dicing the VirtuesConclusion4. Criticizing the Moral VirtuesQuestionsManlinessModerationGenerosityMagnificenceThe Mean with Respect to AngerSocial RelationsIrony5. Greatness of SoulAristotle on Greatness of SoulThe Iliad on Human LimitsConclusion6. Justice, Injustice, and EquityDifferent Starting PointsComfortable Risk Minimizers versus Needy Risk TakersThe Problem with LawThe Partiality of LawEquityConclusion7. Turning Reputable Opinion Upside DownReassessing the Relation of Thought to PracticeThought as an ActionAristotelian Rationality, the Human Good, and Life PlansA New StartMoral WeaknessNew DistinctionsStanding Virtue on Its HeadPART III: FRIENDSHIP AND PHILOSOPHY8. Analogous CommunitiesIntroductionFrom 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-Equity9. Hortatory ConclusionsAristotle Tips his Pedagogical HandThe Accounts of PleasureThe Fulfillment of DesireSo Why Won't He Talk about ContemplationConclusion: Contemplation, Action, and the Limits of Aristotelian Political PhilosophyThe 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 PhilosophyNotesBibliographyIndex

"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