Sublime

Here he roots the visual arts in the human desire for knowledge (48b10–19, cf. Rhetoric, 1371b4–10).

One school of interpretation finds Aristotle firmly advocating an inclusive account of happiness in 1.7, such that the best life will include the best combination of those goods we desire for themselves. Only thus can it ‘not be made more desirable by the addition’ of other goods. But, if Aristotle favoured such an inclusive account in Book I, this

A l'instar des penseurs qui l'ont précédé, Aristote recherche les premières causes des choses, permettant de comprendre le sens de la réalité. Mais

‘Virtue makes the goal right, practical wisdom teaches how to reach it,’ Aristotle says, and habits formed in developing character will help to identify the right goals. If we do not have, or do not yet have, the practical wisdom to work out how to reach those goals, we must imitate those who do have such wisdom. And Aristotle concedes that ‘moral

We think that human beings, at least in ethical theory, all have equal rights, and that justice involves equality; Aristotle thinks that justice involves, not equality, but right proportion, which is only sometimes equality

Aristotle’s logic and his metaphors, he must still be respected for reminding us that the goal of action is always contemplation—knowing and being rather than seeking and becoming.

For in modern times there are opposing views about the tasks to be set, for there are no generally accepted assumptions about what the young should learn, either for virtue or for the best life; nor yet is it clear whether their education ought to be conducted with more concern for the intellect than for the character of the soul…it is by no means

Aristotle identified deep contemplation as the most human and worthy of all activities.