Aristotelianism

Overview

Start from what you can observe. Use logic. Happiness, eudaimonia, is the activity of fulfilling what a human being is for.

Aristotle starts from what can be observed and then asks what a thing is for. A knife is not understood until you know the cut. A living thing is not understood until you know the activity that completes it. Happiness, eudaimonia, is not a mood added at the end. It is the activity of a human life doing what a human life is for, and doing it well.

Where it answers

Key terms

Substance

An individual thing that exists in its own right, such as this horse or this person.

Four causes

Four ways to explain a thing: what it is made of, its form, what made it, and what it is for.

Virtue as a mean

A good trait sits between two vices, as courage sits between cowardice and rashness.

Eudaimonia

Flourishing: a whole life lived well, in activity that expresses virtue.

Syllogism

A two-premise argument whose conclusion follows from its form alone.

In their words