Book II

E427103

Book II of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics is the section in which he develops his influential account of moral virtue as a habit formed through practice and the doctrine of the mean between extremes.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Book II canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf book section
philosophical text
argues virtue involves choice and lies in a mean determined by reason
virtue is concerned with pleasures and pains
virtue is neither a passion nor a faculty but a state (hexis)
author Aristotle NERFINISHED
centralConcept ethismos (habituation)
hexis (stable disposition)
mesotēs (the mean)
defines excess and deficiency in feelings and actions
mean relative to us
moral virtue as a habit (hexis) of choosing the mean
developsConcept distinction between virtuous, continent, and incontinent tendencies (in outline)
role of pleasure and pain in virtue
virtue as a mean between extremes
virtue as a state concerned with choice
virtue as acquired by habituation
emphasizes importance of habituation in moral development
need for guidance from a phronimos (practically wise person)
role of upbringing and law in forming character
followedBy Book III (Nicomachean Ethics) NERFINISHED
follows Book I (Nicomachean Ethics) NERFINISHED
genre ethical treatise
historicalPeriod 4th century BCE
includesExample courage as a mean between rashness and cowardice
generosity as a mean between prodigality and meanness
proper pride as a mean between vanity and undue humility
temperance as a mean regarding bodily pleasures
influenced later virtue ethics traditions
medieval Christian moral philosophy
modern virtue ethicists
language Ancient Greek
lists actions without a mean such as adultery, theft, and murder
locatedInWork Books I–X of the Nicomachean Ethics NERFINISHED
mainTopic doctrine of the mean NERFINISHED
ethical character
habit
moral education
moral virtue
practical ethics
notes not every action or passion admits of a mean
partOf Nicomachean Ethics NERFINISHED
philosophicalSchool Peripatetic school NERFINISHED
positionInSeries 2
states we become brave by doing brave actions
we become just by doing just actions
we become temperate by doing temperate actions
workContext Aristotle’s ethical and political philosophy

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.