Aither 10/2013:67-91 | DOI: 10.5507/aither.2013.009

Lidský a "božský" život v X. knize Aristotelovy Etiky Níkomachovy

Veronika Konrádová

The paper analyzes two forms of pursuit of the good life, which are inscribed in Aristotle's distinction between the "human" and the "divine" life. This topic is pursued with regard to the close links between ethics and politics, on which Aristotle's analyzes are based, and focuses on the specific relationship between politics and philosophy, which is in this context outlined in the X. book of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. The distinction between the political and the philosophical life is interpreted not as determination of two distinct contents of life, we have to choose between, but as a determination of two approaches or perspectives from which we can access to our own lives - either in terms of a multiplicity of different types of behavior in the social space or with a view to a unifying moment, which ties our lives reflexively into a coherent whole. Taking into account the relevant principles of Aristotelian anthropology the paper shows that this conception of philosophical contemplation is founded already in the political life, and therefore doesn't stand against it as a variant of some "other" life deprived of the socio-political bonds. The proposed interpretation allows to mitigate the tensions in Aristotle's concept of political and philosophical life , and thereby encourage a more coherent reading of the end of the Nicomachean Ethics.

Published: September 30, 2013  Show citation