In Book IX of the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle explores a question that remains psychologically urgent today: Can a person be a friend to themselves? He treats this as a foundation for ethics and community. For Aristotle, friendship is built on shared values, reciprocal goodwill, and the capacity to rejoice or grieve together. These qualities must be present not only between individuals, but within a single soul. A person at war with themselves cannot give stability to others. Self-fragmentatio

Aristotle's Virtue Ethics | Definition, Theory & Criticism

Over two millennia ago, Aristotle offered one of the most enduring accounts of happiness in The Nicomachean Ethics. He held that every human being seeks eudaimonia, a life of flourishing grounded in virtue and reason. Wealth, honor, and pleasure can contribute to well-being, but none can secure it on their own, since they depend on external fortune. True happiness, Aristotle argued, lies in the activity of the soul in accordance with virtue. The steady cultivation of excellence in thought and ch

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