This multi-day class examines the virtue ethics of Aristotle (384-322 BCE) and his philosophy of friendship.  It builds on my one-time class on virtue ethics.  But this class can be taken separately.  No background knowledge or prerequisites required.  We start from scratch !   

The foundation of all ethics, according to Aristotle, is friendship.  We are social beings, he wrote, and find our happiness in our relationships to family, friends, and in society.  Ethics is what unites us all harmoniously, and enables everyone to reach their full potential.  To do this, he wrote, we must know and be able to distinguish between our blameworthy and praiseworthy actions. This way can we become true friends.   

This multi-day course explores Aristotle’s views on friendship through his great work, Nicomachean Ethics.  This class will reveal how Aristotle shows that our own personal development is achieved in social personhood through friendship (Greek: philia) between individuals, in families, and in communities.  These relationships allow us to practice the personal virtues of bravery, temperance, mildness, truthfulness, generosity, and justice.  By practicing these virtues, he wrote, we achieve true happiness (Greek: eudaimonia) and self-fulfillment.

Class 1 – Friendship and Happiness

We begin with Aristotle’s view on political science.  He observes that every person desires happiness.  Yet true happiness can only be realized with friends by harmoniously living together in society.  Only in this way can we express our true character through personal virtue.  This way we can become our best selves.  In this way, virtue ethics allow for all people to “be well” and “do well” in their lives throughout society.  

Key lesson: Virtue ethics as the key to happiness.

Class 2 – Bravery and Temperance 

These are the virtues of a person who can control their own bodily needs.  A temperate person, he wrote, is not given to excess in to food, drink, or leisure.  Likewise, a brave person is not overly confident or fearful; a brave person does not flee when they should instead stay calm and clear-thinking.  Thus, a person who is both brave and temperate will not be rash or fainthearted when careful considered action is required – like in an emergency.  This, Aristotle’s writes, is foundation of personal character.  

Key lesson: Plato’s charioteer of the soul (Greek: psyche) and Aristotle’s doctrine of the mean.  

Class 3 – Mildness and Truthfulness 

Mildness is when a person is neither given to excessive anger or indifference.  Rather, he writes: “The [mild] person who is [only] angry at the right things and toward the right people, and also in the right way, at the right time, and for the right length of time, is praised” (NE 5 §3).  But they are not mean-spirited.  Likewise, a truthful person is neither boastful nor self-deprecating; they are honest and plain-speaking without deception.  By this, they exhibit their moral character and personal excellence in socially acceptable ways that also merits praise (NE 8 §4).    

Key lesson: moral responsibility in blameworthy and praiseworthy actions.  

Class 4 –Generosity and Justice 

A generous person is neither wasteful nor miserly.  Aristotle writes that wealth is an expression of social power, and so a person should be generous in helping others, whether monetarily or in terms of their talents.   This way a person’s social power (Greek: exousia) will be expressed in ways that will create a strong society through philia.   This is what is called philanthropy (Greek: philia + anthropos), which is helping people become self-sufficient through one’s generosity.  The aim in generosity is social justice, for this is the supreme virtue: “in justice all virtue is summed up” (NE 5 §15).      

Key lessons: Aristotle’s doctrine of money, economic exchange, and personal wealth.  We will also compare his views in relation to modern capitalism for similarities and differences. Also, the qualities of a good ruler or leader will be discussed.  

Class 5 – The Three Types of Friendship

Aristotle describes the three forms of friendship: utility (mutual usefulness), leisure (mutually enjoyable), and true excellence (true friends with excellent character).  The first two, he writes, tends to be transient yet still warm and heartfelt friendships; the last one is the rarest of all—a true lifelong friend who wants the best for you and gains great satisfaction with your successes in life, as you do too for them.   This kind of friendship is called “agape” (selfless love).  It is the most praiseworthy friendship too.  

Key lesson: Aristotle’s virtue ethics and the “blessed life" (Greek: makarios) of the true friend

Class Structure

This class is presented as an interactive lecture -- lots of questions and discussion (with me and with other students) is encouraged but not required.  Listening is participation too.  I will lecture on the Aristotelian concepts and give the key ideas from Nicomachean Ethics.  I will also have ethical problems for students to discuss, applying the ideas from virtue ethics in real-life scenarios.   

Topics covered include: virtue ethics, excellence, self-actualization, social personhood, the types of friendship, and the specific virtues of: bravery, temperance, mildness, truthfulness, generosity, and justice.