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The Ethics of Aristotle

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The Ethics of Aristotle

By: The Great Courses, Father Joseph Koterski S.J.
Narrated by: Father Joseph Koterski S.J.
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About this listen

In this 12-lecture meditation on Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, you'll uncover the clarity and ethical wisdom of one of humanity's greatest minds. Father Koterski shows how and why this great philosopher can help you deepen and improve your own thinking on questions of morality and leading the best life. The aim of these lectures is to provide you with a clear and thoughtful introduction to Aristotle as a moral philosopher. After absorbing some important background information designed to introduce you to Aristotle's career and general approach to the various fields of knowledge, you turn to the ten books (today we would call them chapters) of this brief but towering work. Throughout, you'll consider Aristotle's account of the four main virtues of courage, moderation, justice, and prudence; his claims that happiness (eudaimonia) is the real goal of life; his explanations of how and why people attain- or fall short of- ethical excellence; his differences with his teachers Plato and Socrates over the hard question of what knowing rightly has to do with acting rightly; where Aristotle's thought fits into the long history of ethical reflection; and much more.

Prepare for an illuminating, mind-broadening, and thought-provoking learning experience, and a chance to get up close and personal with one of Western philosophy's founding fathers.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2001 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2001 The Great Courses
Philosophy Inspiring
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Easily explained practical advice for the open-minded person wanting to become virtuous, these lectures essentially discuss The Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle, ‘the philosopher of common sense’. It doesn’t have all of life’s answers but provides a logical toolkit that will allow you to not only make valuable contributions to discussions on ethics but perhaps more importantly, to question your own decisions and habits. This is an important stop on your philosophical journey.

The course is led by Professor Joseph Koterski, a former philosophy professor and Jesuit priest who I was saddened to discover passed away last year. This is similar to the now deceased lecturer of legendary status Professor Garret G. Fagan, contributor to many in the Great Courses series. Listening to the words of a person who no longer exists is an eerie experience and a real memento mori.

In the lectures, Professor Joseph Koterski draws from his own life experiences and links the subject matter to related philosophies in an attempt to reinforce Aristotle’s ideas to students. For the most part Koterski is successful but overuses religious figures, especially Thomas Aquinas and Augustine.

For the most part, the 30-minute lectures are well-structured and fairly easy to absorb. Later lectures, especially the last two, feel a little disjointed as previously taught ideas are reinforced and the material starts to focus more on only loosely related material with topics such as the Unmoved Mover or Natural Law Theory.

Easily explained practical advice

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Before I found the course, I tried to listen to Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics" with no success. I found it hard to connect the information. I had to go one step back.

The course is structured to provide an overview of the chapters of the book. The author manages to do that very well.

Great resource to understand Aristotle's work

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uplifting and inspirational, a great lecture series, very much recommend and relisten, contemplative and pure.

brilliant

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Fr Joseph Koterski provides a thorough and fascinating overview of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, placing them in the broader framework of Aristotle's philosophy and tracing their influence on later moral philosophers. Highly recommended.

Another excellent course

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I have read this multiple times, at different stages of my life. Whenever I feel lost, or overwhelmed, I give Nicomachea a read and I will always find truth in its wonderful wisdom and simplicity. It's how I live my life. I guess other people have their religious books, I find them wanting. It is the basis for the enlightenment after all...

The most influential man in Human History

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