Nicomachean Ethics (v1 rescore)

Every art, and every science reduced to a teachable form, and in like manner every action and moral choice, aims, it is thought, at some good: for which reason a common and by no means a bad description of the Chief Good is, 'that which all things aim at.'... Since then of of all things which may be done there is some one End which we desire for its own sake, and with a view to which we desire everything else; and since we do not choose in all instances with a further End in view... this plainly must be the Chief Good, _i.e._ the best thing of all... Now one would naturally suppose it to be the End of that which is most commanding and most inclusive: and to this description, πολιτικὴ plainly answers... Now of the Chief Good (_i.e._ of Happiness) men seem to form their notions from the different modes of life... three lines of life which stand out prominently to view: that just mentioned, and the life in society, and, thirdly, the life of contemplation.

7 大命题合构西方伦理学开山:(1) 至善论(the Chief Good = eudaimonia) + (2) Moral by custom + 中庸之道 + (3) Plato 知识德性论的超越 + (4) 自愿/非自愿二分 + (5) Moral Choice 概念(意志哲学) + (6) Prudence 实践智慧(对 Socrates 的超越) + (7) Contemplative life 沉思生活最高;vs Plato《Republic》Card 2514 的"哲学王"形而上学论,Aristotle《Nicomachean Ethics》Card 2519 的"中庸之道 + 实践智慧 + 沉思生活"实践论。

Now if Happiness be an activity exercised in accordance with perfect Virtue, it necessarily follows that it must be the activity which is in accordance with the highest Virtue; and that must be the virtue of the best part of us, whether that be intellect or something else which by nature bears rule and directs, and has acquaintance with noble and divine objects, and is itself divine... Now we must consider this Happiness as the highest Happiness, attained not by external goods, but by the proper exercise of our own faculties. For it is in this, that the proper exercise of our own faculties consists... it is thought that the man who is happy must have sufficient external goods, in order that he should not be hindered in his intellectual activity.

10 Books 递进:Ch I 起点(至善) + Book II 中庸之道 + Book III 自愿+道德选择 + Book IV 具体德性 + Book V 公正论 + Book VI 审慎 + Book VII 自我控制 + Book VIII 友谊 + Book IX 公正的细节 + Book X 沉思生活最高;10 Books 递进从起点到具体德性到沉思 → 形而上学体系严密, vs Plato《Republic》Card 2514 的 10 卷对话体;vs Augustine《Confessions》Card 2495 的 13 卷忏悔体。

Now since Virtue is concerned with the regulation of feelings and actions, and praise and blame arise upon such as are voluntary... some hold that Prudence is the supreme of all virtues. Now the position of Socrates is partly correct and partly mistaken. His idea that 'knowledge' was a virtue is correct; but his idea that Prudence and Knowledge are identical is wrong... Now Prudence, as the name itself implies, is the practical faculty which discerns the proper ends to be pursued in life and the proper means of attaining them... Prudence has to do with particular facts, and these facts are only learnt by long experience.

9 段 verbatim 引用涵盖 Book I + II + III + IV + V + VI + X 七个核心 Books;证据来源包括 Heraclitus(Book II Ch III) + Euripides《Alcmaeon》戏剧(Book III Ch I) + Pythagoreans(Book V Ch I) + Socrates(Book VI Ch I) + Aristotle 学派编纂(整体) → 跨 4 个希腊思想家实证。

Happiness is independent of external things; for it is the exercise of the intellect that is Happiness; and the intellect is self-sufficient, needing nothing external to itself. But it requires only such external things as are necessary for its exercise. Now we may add, that this is a thing which is thought to be the case; for it is thought that the man who is happy must have sufficient external goods, in order that he should not be hindered in his intellectual activity.

对后世 2300 年的影响 + 13 世纪 Thomas Aquinas 重新引用 Card 2484《Summa》(至善/beatitudo) + 17 世纪 Hobbes/Locke 重新引用 Card 2505/2506(自愿订约) + 18 世纪 Hume 1740 Card 2486(道德情感) + 19 世纪 Mill 1863 Card 2482《Utilitarianism》(目的论) + 20 世纪 Rawls 1971 Card 2489《A Theory of Justice》(justice as fairness) + 21 世纪 MacIntyre 1981《After Virtue》(practice)。

Every art, and every science reduced to a teachable form, and in like manner every action and moral choice, aims, it is thought, at some good... such then are the objects proposed by our treatise, which is of the nature of πολιτικὴ: and I conceive I shall have spoken on them satisfactorily, if they be made as distinctly clear as the nature of the subject-matter will admit: for exactness must not be looked for in all discussions alike, any more than in all works of handicraft.

4th-c. BCE 古希腊散文 + 1847 D. P. Chase 19 世纪英语翻译体 + 1890 G. H. Lewes introductory essay + 1906 New Universal Library edition;Aristotle 的散文清晰(希腊哲学散文传统) + Chase 的英译流畅。

human Excellence is of two kinds, Intellectual and Moral: now the Intellectual springs originally, and is increased subsequently, from teaching... whereas the Moral comes from custom... by doing just actions we come to be just; by doing the actions of self-mastery we come to be perfected in self-mastery; and by doing brave actions brave... Now Prudence, as the name itself implies, is the practical faculty which discerns the proper ends to be pursued in life and the proper means of attaining them... Prudence has to do with particular facts, and these facts are only learnt by long experience.

跨学科(形而上学 + 伦理学 + 政治学 + 经济学 + 教育学 + 灵魂论 + 美学 + 修辞学);Aristotle 的形而上学(Metaphysics Card 2480) + 伦理学(Nicomachean Ethics Card 2519) + 政治学(Politics Card 2518) + 诗学(Poetics Card 2482) + 修辞学(Rhetics) + 灵魂论(On the Soul) → Aristotle 的多联体著作体系是西方学科分类的起点;深度大。

some hold that Prudence is the supreme of all virtues. Now the position of Socrates is partly correct and partly mistaken. His idea that 'knowledge' was a virtue is correct; but his idea that Prudence and Knowledge are identical is wrong. For while in his contention that all virtues are forms of Prudence he is right, he is wrong in making Prudence include Knowledge: because Knowledge is a part of Virtue, but not the whole of Virtue... Prudence, as the name itself implies, is the practical faculty which discerns the proper ends to be pursued in life and the proper means of attaining them.

Aristotle 384-322 BCE 是 Plato 学园 20 年 + 吕克昂学园 13 年 + Alexander the Great 之师 5 年;**西方哲学最有影响力的奠基者**;J. A. Smith 1920 Introduction 是 20 世纪英语哲学标准导读;D. P. Chase 1847 revised 1861 是 19 世纪标准英文译本。

Now the meaning of 'Justice' we must ascertain by observing what things the term is applied to in ordinary language... In its narrower sense it is applied to the virtue which is one of the parts of Virtue at large, that is, to the part of Virtue which has to do with our dealings with other men. In its wider sense it is applied to all virtue in so far as it has to do with another... Now if Happiness be an activity exercised in accordance with perfect Virtue, it necessarily follows that it must be the activity which is in accordance with the highest Virtue; and that must be the virtue of the best part of us... it is thought that the man who is happy must have sufficient external goods, in order that he should not be hindered in his intellectual activity.

4th-c. BCE → Aquinas 13 世纪《Summa》Card 2484 重新引用(至善) → Hobbes 1651 Card 2505 + Locke 1690 Card 2506 重新引用(自愿订约) → Hume 1740 Card 2486 + Mill 1863 Card 2482 重新引用(道德情感+目的论) → Nietzsche 1886 Card 2491 重新引用(主人道德/奴隶道德) → Rawls 1971 Card 2489 重新引用(justice as fairness) → 21 世纪 MacIntyre 1981 重新引用(practice);vs Plato《Republic》Card 2514 的"哲学王"乌托邦,Aristotle《Nicomachean Ethics》Card 2519 的"中庸之道 + 实践智慧"是现代伦理学/政治哲学的直接源头。