Aristotle's Ethica Nicomachea
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- Πᾶσα τέχνη καὶ πᾶσα μέθοδος, á½Î¼Î¿á½·Ï‰Ï‚ δὲ Ï€Ïᾶξίς τε καὶ Ï€ÏοαίÏεσις, ἀγαθοῦ τινὸς á¼Ï†á½·ÎµÏƒÎ¸Î±Î¹ δοκεῖ· διὸ καλῶς ἀπεφήναντο τἀγαθόν, οá½
- EVERY art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and pursuit, is thought to aim at some good; and for this reason the good has rightly been declared to be that at which all things aim.
- διαφοÏá½° δέ τις φαίνεται τῶν τελῶν· Ï„á½° μὲν Î³á½±Ï Îµá¼°ÏƒÎ¹Î½ á¼Î½á½³Ïγειαι, Ï„á½° δὲ παÏá¾½ αá½Ï„á½°Ï‚ (5) á¼”Ïγα τινά. ὧν δ᾽ εἰσὶ τέλη τινὰ παÏá½° Ï„á½°Ï‚ Ï€Ïá½±Î
- But a certain difference is found among ends; some are activities, others are products apart from the activities that produce them. Where there are ends apart from the actions, it is the nature of the products to be better than the activities.
- πολλῶν δὲ Ï€Ïάξεων οá½Ïƒá¿¶Î½ καὶ τεχνῶν καὶ á¼Ï€Î¹ÏƒÏ„ημῶν πολλὰ γίνεται καὶ Ï„á½° τέλη· ἰατÏικῆς μὲν Î³á½°Ï á½‘Î³á½·ÎµÎ¹Î±, ναυπηγικῆς δὲ πλοῖον, στÏ
- Now, as there are many actions, arts, and sciences, their ends also are many; the end of the medical art is health, that of shipbuilding a vessel, that of strategy victory, that of economics wealth. (Book 1a)
- ὅσαι (10) δ᾽ εἰσὶ τῶν τοιούτων ὑπὸ μίαν τινὰ δύναμιν, ÎºÎ±Î¸á½±Ï€ÎµÏ á½‘Ï€á½¸ τὴν ἱππικὴν χαλινοποιικὴ καὶ ὅσαι ἄλλαι τῶν ἱππικῶν á½€Ïγάνων ε
- But where such arts fall under a single capacity- as bridle-making and the other arts concerned with the equipment of horses fall under the art of riding, and this and every military action under strategy, in the same way other arts fall under yet others- in all of these the ends of the master arts are to be preferred to all the subordinate ends; for it is for the sake of the former that the latter are pursued.
- διαφέÏει δ᾽ οá½Î´á½²Î½ Ï„á½°Ï‚ á¼Î½ÎµÏγείας αá½Ï„á½°Ï‚ εἶναι Ï„á½° τέλη τῶν Ï€Ïάξεων á¼¢ παÏá½° ταύτας ἄλλο τι, ÎºÎ±Î¸á½±Ï€ÎµÏ á¼Ï€á½¶ τῶν λεχθεισῶν á¼Ï€Î¹ÏƒÏ„ημῶν. (Bk.
- It makes no difference whether the activities themselves are the ends of the actions, or something else apart from the activities, as in the case of the sciences just mentioned.
- Εἰ δή τι τέλος á¼ÏƒÏ„ὶ τῶν Ï€Ïακτῶν ὃ δι᾽ αὑτὸ βουλόμεθα, τἆλλα δὲ διὰ τοῦτο, καὶ μὴ (20) πάντα δι᾽ ἕτεÏον αἱÏούμεθα (Ï€Ïόεισι Î³á½°Ï Î¿á½•Ï„Ï
- If, then, there is some end of the things we do, which we desire for its own sake (everything else being desired for the sake of this), and if we do not choose everything for the sake of something else (for at that rate the process would go on to infinity, so that our desire would be empty and vain), clearly this must be the good and the chief good.
- ἆÏá¾½ οὖν καὶ Ï€Ïὸς τὸν βίον ἡ γνῶσις αá½Ï„οῦ μεγάλην ἔχει ῥοπήν, καὶ ÎºÎ±Î¸á½±Ï€ÎµÏ Ï„Î¿Î¾á½¹Ï„Î±Î¹ σκοπὸν ἔχοντες μᾶλλον ἂν τυγχάνοιμεν τοῦ δέοÎ
- Will not the knowledge of it, then, have a great influence on life? Shall we not, like archers who have a mark to aim at, be more likely to hit upon what is right? If so, we must try, in outline at least, to determine what it is, and of which of the sciences or capacities it is the object.
- δόξειε δ᾽ ἂν τῆς κυÏιωτάτης καὶ μάλιστα á¼€Ïχιτεκτονικῆς. τοιαύτη δ᾽ ἡ πολιτικὴ φαίνεται· τίνας Î³á½°Ï Îµá¼¶Î½Î±Î¹ χÏεὼν τῶν á¼Ï€Î¹ÏƒÏ„ημῶν á¼Î½
- It would seem to belong to the most authoritative art and that which is most truly the master art. And politics appears to be of this nature; for it is this that ordains which of the sciences should be studied in a state, and which each class of citizens should learn and up to what point they should learn them; and we see even the most highly esteemed of capacities to fall under this, e.g. strategy, economics, rhetoric; now, since politics uses the rest of the sciences, and since, again, it legislates as to what we are to do and what we are to abstain from, the end of this science must include those of the others, so that this end must be the good for man.
- εἰ Î³á½°Ï ÎºÎ±á½¶ ταá½Ï„όν á¼ÏƒÏ„ιν ἑνὶ καὶ πόλει, μεῖζόν γε καὶ τελειότεÏον τὸ τῆς πόλεως φαίνεται καὶ λαβεῖν καὶ σῴζειν· ἀγαπητὸν μὲν γá½
-
For even if the end is the same for a single man and for a state, that of the state seems at all events something greater and more complete whether to attain or to preserve; though it is worth while to attain the end merely for one man, it is finer and more godlike to attain it for a nation or for city-states.
These, then, are the ends at which our inquiry aims, since it is political science, in one sense of that term. - Λέγοιτο δ᾽ ἂν ἱκανῶς, εἰ κατὰ τὴν ὑποκειμένην ὕλην διασαφηθείη· τὸ Î³á½°Ï á¼€ÎºÏιβὲς οá½Ï‡ á½Î¼Î¿á½·Ï‰Ï‚ á¼Î½ ἅπασι τοῖς λόγοις á¼Ï€Î¹Î¶Î·Ï„ητέον, á½¥
- Our discussion will be adequate if it has as much clearness as the subject-matter admits of, for precision is not to be sought for alike in all discussions, any more than in all the products of the crafts.
- Ï„á½° δὲ καλὰ καὶ Ï„á½° δίκαια, (15) πεÏὶ ὧν ἡ πολιτικὴ σκοπεῖται, πολλὴν ἔχει διαφοÏὰν καὶ πλάνην, ὥστε δοκεῖν νόμῳ μόνον εἶναι, φύσει δ
- Now fine and just actions, which political science investigates, admit of much variety and fluctuation of opinion, so that they may be thought to exist only by convention, and not by nature.
- τοιαύτην δέ τινα πλάνην ἔχει καὶ τἀγαθὰ διὰ τὸ πολλοῖς συμβαίνειν βλάβας ἀπ᾽ αá½Ï„ῶν· ἤδη Î³á½±Ï Ï„Î¹Î½ÎµÏ‚ ἀπώλοντο διὰ πλοῦτον, ἕτεÏοι
- And goods also give rise to a similar fluctuation because they bring harm to many people; for before now men have been undone by reason of their wealth, and others by reason of their courage.
- ἀγαπητὸν οὖν πεÏὶ τοιούτων (20) καὶ á¼Îº τοιούτων λέγοντας παχυλῶς καὶ τύπῳ τἀληθὲς á¼Î½Î´Îµá½·ÎºÎ½Ï…σθαι, καὶ πεÏὶ τῶν ὡς á¼Ï€á½¶ τὸ πολὺ καὶ
- We must be content, then, in speaking of such subjects and with such premisses to indicate the truth roughly and in outline, and in speaking about things which are only for the most part true and with premisses of the same kind to reach conclusions that are no better.
- τὸν αá½Ï„ὸν δὴ Ï„Ïόπον καὶ ἀποδέχεσθαι χÏεὼν ἕκαστα τῶν λεγομένων· πεπαιδευμένου Î³á½±Ï á¼ÏƒÏ„ιν á¼Ï€á½¶ τοσοῦτον τἀκÏιβὲς á¼Ï€Î¹Î¶Î·Ï„εῖν καθ᾽
- In the same spirit, therefore, should each type of statement be received; for it is the mark of an educated man to look for precision in each class of things just so far as the nature of the subject admits; it is evidently equally foolish to accept probable reasoning from a mathematician and to demand from a rhetorician scientific proofs.
- á¼ÎºÎ±ÏƒÏ„ος δὲ κÏίνει καλῶς ἃ γινώσκει, καὶ τούτων á¼ÏƒÏ„ὶν ἀγαθὸς κÏιτής. [1095α] (1) καθ᾽ ἕκαστον μὲν ἄÏα ὠπεπαιδευμένος, á¼Ï€Î»á¿¶Ï‚ δ᾽ ὠπεÏá
- Now each man judges well the things he knows, and of these he is a good judge. And so the man who has been educated in a subject is a good judge of that subject, and the man who has received an all-round education is a good judge in general. Hence a young man is not a proper hearer of lectures on political science; for he is inexperienced in the actions that occur in life, but its discussions start from these and are about these; and, further, since he tends to follow his passions, his study will be vain and unprofitable, because the end aimed at is not knowledge but action.
- διαφέÏει δ᾽ οá½Î´á½²Î½ νέος τὴν ἡλικίαν á¼¢ τὸ ἦθος νεαÏός· Î¿á½ Î³á½°Ï Ï€Î±Ïá½° τὸν χÏόνον ἡ ἔλλειψις, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ κατὰ πάθος ζῆν καὶ διώκειÎ
- And it makes no difference whether he is young in years or youthful in character; the defect does not depend on time, but on his living, and pursuing each successive object, as passion directs.
- τοῖς Î³á½°Ï Ï„Î¿Î¹Î¿á½»Ï„Î¿Î¹Ï‚ ἀνόνητος ἡ γνῶσις γίνεται, ÎºÎ±Î¸á½±Ï€ÎµÏ Ï„Î¿á¿–Ï‚ ἀκÏατέσιν· (10) τοῖς δὲ κατὰ λόγον Ï„á½°Ï‚ á½€Ïέξεις ποιουμένοις καὶ Ï€Ïάττο
-
For to such persons, as to the incontinent, knowledge brings no profit; but to those who desire and act in accordance with a rational principle knowledge about such matters will be of great benefit.
These remarks about the student, the sort of treatment to be expected, and the purpose of the inquiry, may be taken as our preface. - Λέγωμεν δ᾽ ἀναλαβόντες, á¼Ï€ÎµÎ¹Î´á½´ πᾶσα γνῶσις καὶ Ï€ÏοαίÏεσις (15) ἀγαθοῦ τινὸς á½€Ïέγεται, Ï„á½· á¼ÏƒÏ„ὶν οὗ λέγομεν τὴν πολιτικὴν á¼Ï†á½·ÎµÏƒÎ¸Î±
- Let us resume our inquiry and state, in view of the fact that all knowledge and every pursuit aims at some good, what it is that we say political science aims at and what is the highest of all goods achievable by action.
- ὀνόματι μὲν οὖν σχεδὸν ὑπὸ τῶν πλείστων á½Î¼Î¿Î»Î¿Î³Îµá¿–ται· τὴν Î³á½°Ï Îµá½Î´Î±Î¹Î¼Î¿Î½á½·Î±Î½ καὶ οἱ πολλοὶ καὶ οἱ χαÏίεντες λέγουσιν, τὸ δ᾽ εὖ ζῆ
- Verbally there is very general agreement; for both the general run of men and people of superior refinement say that it is happiness, and identify living well and doing well with being happy; but with regard to what happiness is they differ, and the many do not give the same account as the wise. For the former think it is some plain and obvious thing, like pleasure, wealth, or honour; they differ, however, from one another- and often even the same man identifies it with different things, with health when he is ill, with wealth when he is poor; but, conscious of their ignorance, they admire those who proclaim some great ideal that is above their comprehension.