Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- Chapter 1 From the Dilemmatic Problem to the Conjunctive Problem of Happiness
- Chapter 2 Theoretical and Practical Wisdom
- Chapter 3 Are There Two Kinds of Happiness?
- Chapter 4 Is Contemplation Proper to Humans?
- Chapter 5 Solving the Conjunctive Problem of Happiness
- Bibliography
- Glossary
- Index of Passages
- Index of Authors
- Index of Terms
Chapter 1 - From the Dilemmatic Problem to the Conjunctive Problem of Happiness
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 June 2023
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- Chapter 1 From the Dilemmatic Problem to the Conjunctive Problem of Happiness
- Chapter 2 Theoretical and Practical Wisdom
- Chapter 3 Are There Two Kinds of Happiness?
- Chapter 4 Is Contemplation Proper to Humans?
- Chapter 5 Solving the Conjunctive Problem of Happiness
- Bibliography
- Glossary
- Index of Passages
- Index of Authors
- Index of Terms
Summary
Interpreters have long recognized that there is a problem about determining what kind of activity Aristotle thinks happiness is. Some of his remarks appear to favor a single best kind of activity, intellectual contemplation. Other evidence suggests that it is an overarching activity that has various virtuous activities, ethical and intellectual, as parts. Interpreters typically view these as incompatible theses and try to show that one or the other apparent thesis is merely apparent. The problem of determining which of two incompatible theses Aristotle believes is the Dilemmatic Problem of Happiness. But the arguments that rival interpretations amass exert pressure to think that Aristotle really is committed to both of the allegedly incompatible claims. The problem of showing how he can coherently endorse both is the Conjunctive Problem of Happiness. Any dialectically satisfactory interpretation of Aristotles theory of happiness must solve it. None has done so. It cannot be solved while laboring under the weight of three common assumptions. Chapters 2–4 argue for the falsity of those assumptions and provide materials for constructing a solution to the Conjunctive Problem.
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- Aristotle on Happiness, Virtue, and Wisdom , pp. 1 - 30Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023