Abstract

"This book gives a systematic account of the development of the "function argument" from Plato's Republic to the Nicomachean Ethics, with an explication of the interdependence between different versions of the argument which appear in Aristotle's ethical writings. In close readings of Aristotle's ethical writings in the Proptrepticus, the Eudemian Ethics and the Nicomachean Ethics, Jirsa makes the case that the function (ergon) argument serves to differentiate between happiness (eudaimonia) and the happy life (eudaimon bios). The book then evaluates Aristotle's function argument against contemporary critiques"-- Provided by publisher.