Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics

Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics

The Nicomachean Ethics does not focus on calling some actions right and others wrong: it is not a book of rules. It’s purpose is to organize the life in virtue for someone who is already disposed to practice that life and needs to get clearer on what it is. This paper addresses one of the issues that arise in the discussion of moral education.
The paper will be based on Book 2 Chaper 3 of the Nicomachean Ethics (pp. 20-21), although you should also first read all of Book 1 (1-18) and especially Chapter 8 of Book 1( 10-11). Read the relevant sections two or three time through; then write a paper addressing the following question.
In some ways, Book 2 chapter 3 makes the life of virtue appear difficult. Identify the difficulties and explain them as straightforwardly and clearly as you can, as if you were summarizing the point to someone who hadn’t read Aristotle. Where do the difficulties of virtue lie? What specifically makes such a life such a challenge?
Then address what seem to contradict this claim of the difficulty of virtue. How can the beginning of the chapter seem to associate the life of virtue with pleasure? Book 1 chapter 8 makes the same point, and should be read in connection with your discussion. Is Aristotle associating virtue with happiness, as Plato does, or isn’t he? Explain your answer.