Nichomachean Ethics

The Nicomachean Ethics is a seminal work by Aristotle that explores the concept of eudaimonia, often translated as "happiness" but more accurately understood as human flourishing or living well. Aristotle posits that eudaimonia is the highest human good, an end in itself, achieved through the excellent performance of human beings' characteristic function: reason.1

Moral virtue, as detailed by Aristotle, involves cultivating character traits that lead to morally good actions and intentions. These virtues are not innate but developed through habituation and practice, representing a "golden mean" between extremes of deficiency and excess. For instance, courage is the mean between cowardice and recklessness. The Nicomachean Ethics emphasizes that true flourishing involves rational activity in accordance with virtue, with a particular focus on intellectual contemplation as the highest form of this activity.213