In The Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle sets out to examine the nature of happiness. He argues that happiness consists in the soul acting in accordance with virtue, which encompasses moral (courage, generosity, justice) and intellectual (knowledge, wisdom, insight) virtues. The Ethics also discusses the nature of practical reasoning, the value and the objects of pleasure, the different forms of friendship and the relationship between individual virtue, society and the State. Aristotle's thought has profoundly influenced Western philosophy and ethics, as careful study of this volume is sure to demonstrate.
J.A.K. Thomson's translation has been revised by Hugh Tredennick and is accompanied by a new introduction by Jonathan Barnes. This edition also includes an updated bibliography and a new chronology of Aristotle's life and works.
