Questions to Guide Your Reading

1. How does Aristotle introduce his discussion of virtue?  (What, in other words, is the context of the discussion?)

2. What must be discussed first, according to Aristotle, when one attempts a discussion of virtue?

3. What are the two parts of the soul, according to Aristotle?  Describe each.  (Be sure to describe the two elements of the first part of the soul.)

4. What, according to Aristotle, are the two types of virtue?  How is each acquired?

5. According to Aristotle, none of the virtues of character arises in us naturally.  Why not?

6. In section 2.1, Aristotle says that: "Virtues arise in us neither by nature nor against nature, but we are by nature able to acquire them, and reach our complete perfection through habit."  Explain what he means.

7. Aristotle argues for the importance of habituation by establishing an analogy with the case of a craft.  Explain.

8. To sum up, what is the importance of habituation according to Aristotle?

9. There are both good habits and bad habits.  What, according to Aristotle, makes for "the right sort" of habituation?

10. How are pleasure and pain important to habituation?

11. How can we become good without being good already?  (In other words, it seems that to become just or temperate, we must do just or temperate acts.  But to do just or temperate acts, we would need already to be just or temperate.  But that would mean that we must already be just or temperate in order to become just or temperate.  How do we resolve this seeming paradox?)

12. According to Aristotle, there are three conditions arising in the soul.  What are they?  Since virtues arise in the soul, virtues must be one of these three.  Which?  Explain.

13. According to Aristotle, what does every virtue cause its possessor to be?  How does a virtue accomplish this?

14.  What is Aristotle's definition of a virtue?  Explain each of the elements of this definition.

15. How can this definition of a virtue be misapplied?  Give some examples.

16. In section 2.33, Aristotle give some practical advice on ways to achieve the mean.  What is his advice?

17. What, according to Aristotle, are the three preconditions of virtue?  (Note that the editor of the volume has helped you out by listing sections 3.1, 3.2, and 3.3.)

18. What is Aristotle's definition of "voluntary"?  What kinds of things make an action involuntary?

19.  Is action caused by emotion involuntary?

20. Before discussing what "decision" is, Aristotle eliminates possibilities of the things "decision" is not.  What are these things which, according to Aristotle, "decision" is not?  Explain.

21. What does "decision" require?

22. Is everything open to deliberation?

23. What is Aristotle's final account of decision?

24. According to Aristotle, do we wish for the good?  Yes or no?  Explain.

25. Aristotle claims that virtue are vice are in our power (which is to say, it is within our power either to become virtuous or to become vicious).  But one objection to this position goes as follows: "Everyone aims at the apparent good (it is apparently good to him or her) and he or she does not control how it appears; on the contrary, his or her character controls how the end appears."  In other words, everyone chooses the apparent good (some choose the apparent good which is also the actual good; others choose the apparent good which turns out not to be the actual good); but if everyone chooses the apparent good (whatever appears good to him), how can we fault those who choose the apparent good which turns out to be not actually good?  What is Aristotle's reply?