Instructions for Essay on Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics
for PHIL 350: Ethical Theory
For questions contact Dr. Jan Garrett
Latest revision: September 18, 2007 Due Dates: First draft of anchor section: Tuesday, September 25, class time
Complete paper: Tuesday, October 2, class timeLength: about 1200 words (roughly 4 pages double spaced, with one-inch margins, using 10-12 point type in a common font, e.g., Times Roman).
Citations, drawings, notes and/or bibliographical data may be appropriate or even necessary, but they do not contribute toward the length total. You will need a total of at least 3600 words on this paper and the papers related to the Kymlicka anthology.Please give me a word-count for your paper not including the excluded material.
The paper should be typed or produced with a word-processor (preferably with spelling checker). Let me concentrate on giving you feedback on matters other than spelling!
When making claims about Aristotle's views, document them by reference to particular passages using the Bekker page, column, and line indicators, e.g., 1107a1-3, for the location of his concise definition of virtue.
I strongly recommend that, before organizing and drafting your essay, you work through the study questions that correspond to the relevant books of the Nicomachean Ethics. See Aristotle Study Questions.
Anchor Section
By "anchor section" I mean the part of the topic indicated by the boldface words or phrases in the list of topics below. (If you take the Self-Generated Alternative, there will be a second stage before the complete paper is turned in: I will try to give you same-day feedback on the acceptability of your substitute topic. If I approve your substitute topic, I will indicate the anchor issue for your project. You will need to turn your anchor section as soon as possible so you do not fall much behind others in the class.)Recommended Topics for the Essay1. How are the discussions of the voluntary and related concepts in N.E. III, chapters 1-5, related to Aristotle's concern with character (moral virtue and vice) throughout the Ethics (and especially in Book II). What does he have to say about voluntary conduct, ignorance, duress, overstraining human nature, deliberation, wish, decision, in the first half of N.E. III? Is Aristotle addressing the issue of moral responsibility in these passages? Explain.Self-Generated Alternative2. Given what Aristotle says about the good for the human being, or happiness, in N.E. I, chapters 7-12, and his focus in most of the N.E. on the morally and politically active life, many have found what he says about happiness in Book X, chapters 6-8, to be in tension if not at odds with what he has said about it earlier. Explain Aristotle's views on the good life and address this issue, drawing on your knowledge of books I and X (and other parts of the N.E. as appropriate).
3. How does Aristotle define moral virtue in N.E. II, 1107a1-3? Explain the various parts of this definition? Then discuss his treatment of a specific virtue and the associated vices, relating it back at appropriate points to the context provided by his general definition of moral virtue. What do we learn about Aristotle's method from such a study? (For the specific virtue to discuss, choose one of: Bravery or Temperance in N.E. III, chapters 6-12, or Generosity or Mildness or Magnanimity in Book IV. For a general comment that reveals one aspect of his method, see N.E. VII, 1145b2-8)
4. How does Aristotle distinguish prudence (phronesis) from scientific knowledge, craft, and understanding in N.E. VI. Relate it to deliberation, cleverness, and perception. How does he distinguis prudence from and relate it to moral virtue (see book VI and definition of virtue in book II, 1107a1-3)? What gives prudence its starting point? Is it true that for Aristotle one cannot be happy without also being prudent? Explain your claims.
If you have a special interest in a topic discussed in part of the N.E. other than those on which the Recommended Topics focus, you may formulate a set of questions of approximately equal depth related to that topic and show them to me. If I determine that your alternate topic can be counted as equivalent of the others for grading purposes, you may write on that. (If you wish to do topic 3 but discuss a Virtue and set of Vices treated in Book IV but not mentioned under topic 3, we can make that decision right after class and you can proceed as you would have under topic 3.)