1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910780947403321

Autore

May Hope

Titolo

Aristotle's Ethics : moral development and human nature / Hope May

Pubbl/distr/stampa

London ; New York, : Continuum, 2010

ISBN

1-4725-9788-5

1-282-59060-X

9786612590603

1-4411-0336-8

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (204 p.)

Collana

Continuum studies in ancient philosophy

Disciplina

171/.3

Soggetti

Moral development

Happiness

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and indexes

Nota di contenuto

-- Preface and Acknowledgements \ Abbreviations and Notes on Translations \ 1. The Intellectualism Debate \ 2. A Developmentalist Interpretation of the Function Argument \ 3. Ethical Virtue as a Developmental Prerequisite for Contemplative Excellence \ 4. Aristotle's Developmentalist Approach Modernized: Flourishing as Self-Concordance \ 5. The Developmental Preconditions of Self-Concordance \ 6. The Ecological Preconditions of Self-Concordance \ Conclusion \ Wendy Kopp: An Illustration of Self-Concordance \ Notes \ Bibliography \ Index of Names \ Index of Subjects. --

Sommario/riassunto

Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics is devoted to the topic of human happiness.  Yet, although Aristotle's conception of happiness is central to his whole philosophical project, there is much controversy surrounding it. Hope May offers a new interpretation of Aristotle's account of happiness - one which incorporates Aristotle's views about the biological development of human beings.  May argues that the relationship amongst the moral virtues, the intellectual virtues, and happiness, is best understood through the lens of developmentalism.  On this view, happiness emerges from the cultivation of a number of virtues that are developmentally related.  May goes on to show how contemporary scholarship in



psychology, ethical theory and legal philosophy signals a return to Aristotelian ethics.  Specifically, May shows how a theory of motivation known as Self-Determination Theory and recent research on goal attainment have deep affinities to Aristotle's ethical theory.  May argues that this recent work can ground a contemporary virtue theory that acknowledges the centrality of autonomy in a way that captures the fundamental tenets of Aristotle's ethics.