THE RECEPTION OF ARISTOTLE S ETHICS Aristotle s ethics are the most important in the history of Western philosophy, but little has been said about the reception of his ethics by his many successors. The present volume offers thirteen newly commissioned essays covering figures and periods from the ancient world, starting with the impact of the ethics on Hellenistic philosophy, taking in medieval, Jewish, and Islamic reception, and extending as far as Kant and the twentieth century. Each essay focuses on a single philosopher, school of philosophers, or philosophical era. The accounts examine and compare Aristotle s views and those of his heirs, and also offer a reception history of the ethics, dealing with matters such as the availability and circulation of Aristotle s texts during the periods in question. The resulting volume will be a valuable source of information and arguments for anyone working in the history of ethics. jon miller is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Queen s University, Ontario. His publications include Hellenistic and Early Modern Philosophy (Cambridge, 2003), Aristotle s Nicomachean Ethics: A Critical Guide (Cambridge, 2011), and Spinoza and the Stoics (Cambridge, forthcoming).
THE RECEPTION OF ARISTOTLE S ETHICS edited by JON MILLER
cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Mexico City Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 8ru, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York Information on this title: /9780521513883 c Cambridge University Press 2012 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2012 Printed and bound in the United Kingdom by the MPG Books Group A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data The reception of Aristotle s Ethics / edited by Jon Miller. pages cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-521-51388-3 (hardback) 1. Aristotle. Nicomachean ethics. 2. Ethics, Ancient. I. Miller, Jon, 1970 b430.r385 2013 171.3 dc23 2012021837 isbn 978-0-521-51388-3 Hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
Contents Notes on contributors Acknowledgments A note on abbreviations and transliteration page vii ix x Introduction 1 Jon Miller 1 The Nicomachean Ethics in Hellenistic philosophy: a hidden treasure? 5 Karen Margrethe Nielsen 2 The transformation of Aristotle s ethics in Roman philosophy 31 Christopher Gill 3 Aristotelian ethics in Plotinus 53 Dominic J. O Meara 4 St. Augustine s appropriation and transformation of Aristotelian eudaimonia 67 Michael W. Tkacz 5 The Arabic and Islamic reception of the Nicomachean Ethics 85 Anna Akasoy 6 Maimonides appropriation of Aristotle s ethics 107 Kenneth Seeskin 7 The relation of prudence and synderesis to happiness in the medieval commentaries on Aristotle s ethics 125 Anthony Celano v
vi Contents 8 Using Seneca to read Aristotle: the curious methods of Buridan s Ethics 155 Jack Zupko 9 Aristotle s Ethics in the Renaissance 171 DavidA.Lines 10 The end of ends? Aristotelian themes in early modern ethics 194 Donald Rutherford 11 Affective conflict and virtue: Hume s answer to Aristotle 222 Kate Abramson 12 Kant and Aristotle on ethics 244 Manfred Kuehn 13 The fall and rise of Aristotelian ethics in Anglo-American moral philosophy: nineteenth and twentieth centuries 262 Jennifer Welchman Bibliography 289 Index 307
Notes on contributors kate abramson is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Indiana University. anna akasoy is a Fellow in the Faculty of Oriental Studies at the University of Oxford. anthony celano is Professor of Philosophy at Stonehill College. christopher gill is Professor of Ancient Thought at the University of Exeter. manfred kuehn is Professor of Philosophy at Boston University. david a. lines is Associate Professor/Senior Lecturer in the Italian Department at the University of Warwick. jon miller is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Queen s University, Ontario. karen margrethe nielsen is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Western Ontario. dominic j. o meara is Professeur emeritus, Chair of Metaphysics and Ancient Philosophy, at the University of Fribourg. donald rutherford is Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, San Diego. kenneth seeskin is Philip M. and Ethel Klutznick Professor of Jewish Civilization and the Chair of the Religious Studies Department at Northwestern University. vii
viii Notes on contributors michael w. tkacz is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Gonzaga University. jennifer welchman is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Alberta. jack zupko is Professor and Chair of the Philosophy Department, University of Winnipeg.
Acknowledgments It is a genuine pleasure for me to acknowledge the enormous help that I received in putting together this volume. Most importantly, I am grateful to the thirteen contributors themselves, for both their essays and their patience. Next, I had to rely on the expertise of many different people when structuring the volume. I greatly appreciate the advice offered by Peter Adamson, Julia Annas, Deborah Brown, Victor Caston, Brian Copenhaver, Eyjólfur K. Emilsson, Stephen Engstrom, Lorne Falkenstein, R. J. Hankinson, Rosalind Hursthouse, Brad Inwood, Susan James, Bonnie Kent, John Kilcullen, Christine Korsgaard, John Marenbon, Stephen Menn, Phillip Mitsis, Don Morrison, Steven Nadler, Robert Pasnau, and others. My editors at Cambridge University Press, Hilary Gaskin and Anna Lowe, have been consistently responsive and understanding. Jordan MacKenzie and Elyse Platt provided excellent research and copy-editing assistance. Finally, Queen s University and SSHRC supplied various kinds of financial support. Thanks to all. ix
A note on abbreviations and transliteration Common abbreviations are used when citing works by major figures from the history of philosophy. Because it is always plain which work is being referred to, a single standard is not imposed. Also, words from other languages (e.g., Arabic, Greek, Hebrew) are occasionally transliterated into roman letters. Different transliterations may be used for the same word. Since the differences do not much matter, consistency across all authors has not been enforced. x