Philosophy

Events

Eudaimonia and Practical Wisdom by Joel Martinez (Lewis & Clark College)

Date: March 12 2010, 3:30pm Location: John R. Howard Hall 202

In this paper, I defend an interpretation of the distinctively ethical application Aristotle made of the notion of deliberation (boulesis).  This involves understanding the sense in which the virtuous person grasps a conception of living well (eudaimonein) and puts that conception into practice.  In doing so, the virtuous person manifests the excellences of character and practical wisdom (phronesis).  The interpretation I defend is in contrast to the overly intellectual ones favored by many commentators on Aristotle.  The interpretation I defend sees moral development as central to Aristotle’s account of practical wisdom.  In addition, it provides a powerful response to the objection that Aristotle’s ethics is egoistic.  My view also explains how diverse lives can all be well-lived on Aristotle’s view.  The primary obstacle in my way is to explain how Aristotle thought one can deliberate with a view to living well without saddling him with the view that the correct conception of living-well is fixed by an autonomous operation of the practical intellect, rather than one’s moral education.  I do this by showing that, in addition to identifying salient features of situations, the practical intellect also, and importantly, unifies an agent’s life.

THIS EVENT IS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.