Aristotle on the Perfect Life [Paperback]

Aristotle's teaching on the subject of happiness has been a topic of intense philosophical debate in recent years; it is of vital importance to the question of the relevance of his ethics in the present day. Aristotle's admirers struggle to read a comprehensive account of the supreme happiness into theNicomachean Ethics; Kenny argues that those who are prepared to take the neglectedEudemian Ethicsseriously preserve their admiration intact without doing violence to any of the relevant texts of theNicomachean Ethics. Kenny has refined his position on the relation between the two works, offering a fresh examination and interpretation of theEudemian Ethicson the basis of the 1991 Oxford Classical Text. He combines scholarly discussion of the Greek texts with reflection of the topics covered by Aristotle, taking account of post-Aristotelian treatments of themes such as moral vocation and moral luck.

Kenny succeeds in posing several specific challenges to prevailing assumptions about Aristotle's two ethical treatises....An important contribution....[Kenny] once again deserves thanks both for his vigorous scepticism and for his forthright discussion of such basic issues. --Bryn Mawr ClassicalReview

Will occupy a prominent position in the current flood of books on Aristotle's ethics....Highly recommended. --Choice