Some of the readings listed here are available
online through databases to which the GMU Library subscribes. To access
articles on the library's databases: Go to the GMU library page.
Click "Databases" and then click on the first letter of your selected
database ('J' for JSTOR, 'P' for Project Muse, etc.). If you are
off-campus or if you are not using the GMU dialup service,
you will have to enter your email address and password to access these
journal databases.
For JSTOR: From the page of 'J' listings, click on JSTOR. Then click on
"Search," and from the "Search" page, click on "Advanced Search." Enter
the author's name and the journal
title in the appropriate search boxes. For prolific authors, it may be
helpful to enter the date or a bit of the article title as well.
Alternate method: From the main JSTOR page, click on "Browse" and
scroll down until you find the title of the journal you're looking for,
then click on that title. This will bring you to a page listing all
issues of the journal. (The journals you'll be looking for may be
listed under 'Philosophy' or 'Political Science' or both.)
Week One: due January 29
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics Books One through Three
On-line notes: Notes
on Nicomachean Ethics Book One, Chapter 7
On-line notes: Notes
on Nicomachean Ethics Book Two
Aristotle, Metaphysics Book One (also called Book A), Chapters
2 and 3
(What? You don't carry a copy of the Metaphysics around with
you all the time? Fortunately the University of Adelaide in Australia has
come to your rescue with an electronic
version of W.D. Ross' translation. This link will take you to a table
on contents; click on Book I and scroll down to see Ch. 2 and 3.)
Achtenberg, D. "Human Being, Beast, and God." Pp. 29-50 in Sim, ed., The
Crossroads of Norm and Nature.
(See below for publication information.)
Salkever, S. "Aristotle's Social Science." Political Theory 9 (1981): 479-508. Available online via JSTOR. If you are unfamiliar with how to access library journal databases, see above.
Week Two: due February 5
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics Books Three and Four
On-line notes: Ancient
Greek Vocabulary: Aristotle
(Please look at these notes periodically throughout the semester. They
will be updated frequently, to cover terms encountered in each week's reading,
and also in response to student questions. If there's a term you'd like
to see discussed in these notes, please
let me know.)
Collins, S. "The Moral Virtues in Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics."
Pp. 131-158 in Bartlett and Collins, eds., Action and Contemplation.
Week Three: due February 12
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics Book Five
Notes on Nicomachean
Ethics Book Five: Justice
Nussbaum, M. "Human Functioning and Social Justice: In Defense of Aristotelian
Essentialism."
Political Theory 20 (1992): 202-246. Available on-line
through the JSTOR database.
Bobonich, C. "Internal Realism, Human Nature, and Distributive Justice:
A Response to Martha Nussbaum." Modern Philology 90, Issue Supplement
(May 1993): S74-S92. Available on-line through the JSTOR database. (See
above for instructions on how to access materials on JSTOR.)
Bolotin, D. "Aristotle on the Question of Evil." Pp. 159-170 in Bartlett
and Collins, eds., Action and Contemplation.
Pangle, T. "Justice Among Nations in Platonic and Aristotelian Political
Philosophy." American Journal of Political Science 42 (1998): 377-397.
Available on-line through JSTOR. (See above for instructions on how to
access materials on JSTOR.)
Swanson, J. "Aristotle on Nature, Human Nature, and Justice." Pp. 225-247
in Bartlett and Collins, eds., Action and Contemplation.
Yack, B. "Natural Right and Aristotle's Understanding of Justice." Political
Theory 18 (1990): 216-237. Available on-line through JSTOR (see instructions above).
Week Four: due February 19
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics Book Six
Notes on Nicomachean
Ethics Book Six
Natali, C. The Wisdom of Aristotle. Trans. G. Parks. SUNY Press,
2001.
Sorabji, R. "Aristotle on the Role of Intellect in Virtue." Pp. 201-219
in Rorty, ed., Essays on Aristotle's Ethics.
Wiggins, D. "Deliberation and Practical Reason." Pp. 221-240 in Rorty,
ed., Essays on Aristotle's Ethics.
Week Five: due February 26
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics Book Seven
Burnyeat, M. "Aristotle on Learning to be Good." Pp. 205-230 in N. Sherman, ed., Aristotle's Ethics: Critical Essays, Rowman & Littlefield,
1999 (originally appeared in Rorty, ed., Essays on Aristotle's Ethics, pp. 69-92).
Cooper, J. "Reason, Moral Virtue, and Moral Value." Pp. 253-280 in Cooper,
Reason and Emotion.
Nussbaum, M. "The Discernment of Perception." Pp. 145-181 in Sherman,
ed., Aristotle's Ethics: Critical Essays. Rowman & Littlefield,
1999.
Week Six: due March 5
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics Books Eight and Nine
Cooper, J. "Aristotle on the Forms of Friendship." Pp. 312-315 in Cooper,
Reason and Emotion.
______. "Friendship and the Good in Aristotle." Pp. 336-355 in Cooper,
Reason and Emotion. (Also included in Sherman, ed., Aristotle's
Ethics: Critical Essays.)
______. "Political Animals and Civic Friendship." Pp. 356-377 in Cooper,
Reason and Emotion.
(See also the lists of suggested further readings after each essay
in Reason and Emotion.)
Konstan, D. "Greek Friendship." American Journal of Philology
117 (1996): 71-94. Available in hard copy in Fenwick Library; also available
electronically through the Project Muse on-line database (see above for instructions on how to reach it).
Nussbaum, M. The Fragility of Goodness Chapter 12.
Pangle, L.S. "Friendship and Self-Love in Aristotle's Nicomachean
Ethics." Pp. 171-202 in Bartlett and Collins, eds., Action and Contemplation.
Week Seven: due March 19
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics Book Ten
On-line notes: "Pluralism
Without Relativism in the Nicomachean Ethics"
Burger, R. "Aristotle's 'Exclusive' Account of Happiness." Pp. 79-98
in Sim, ed., The Crossroads of Norm and Nature.
Cooper, J. "Contemplation and Happiness: A Reconsideration." Pp. 212-236
in Cooper, Reason and Emotion.
______. "Reason, Moral Virtue, and Moral Value." Pp. 253-280 in Cooper,
Reason and Emotion.
Hill, S. "Two Perspectives on the Ultimate End." Pp. 99-114 in Sim,
ed., The Crossroads of Norm and Nature.
Kraut, R. "Aristotle on the Human Good: An Overview." Pp. 79-104 in
Sherman, ed., Aristotle's Ethics: Critical Essays.
______. "Reply to Professor Roche." Pp. 139-148 in Sim, ed., The
Crossroads of Norm and Nature.
Roche, T. "The Ultimate End of Action." Pp. 115-138 in Sim, ed., The
Crossroads of Norm and Nature.
Rorty, A.O. "The Place of Contemplation in Aristotle's Nicomachean
Ethics." Pp. 377-394 in Rorty, ed., Essays on Aristotle's Ethics.
Tessitore, A. "Making the City Safe for Philosophy: Nicomachean Ethics, Book 10." The American Political Science Review 84.4 (1990): 1251-1262. Available online through JSTOR.
General suggestions for reading
Bartlett, Robert and Susan Collins, eds. Action and Contemplation.
SUNY Press, 1999.
Brague, Remi. "History of Philosophy as Freedom." Epoche 7, no.1
(Fall 2002). Available
on-line.
(This link takes you to a table of contents page; from there you can click
on the article you want.)
Cooper, John. Reason and Emotion. Princeton University Press,
1999. (See also the lists of suggested further readings after each essay
in this volume.)
Konstan, David. "Pity and Self-Pity." Electronic Antiquity 5,
no. 1 (Oct. 1999). Available on-line.
Kraut, R., ed. The Blackwell Guide to Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. Blackwell, 2006.
Natali, Carlo. The Wisdom of Aristotle. Trans. G. Parks. SUNY
Press, 2001.
Nussbaum, Martha. The Fragility of Goodness. Cambridge University
Press, 1986.
Rorty, A.O., ed. Essays on Aristotle's Ethics. University of
California Press, 1980.
Salkever, S.G. Finding the Mean. Princeton University Press, 1990.
Sim, May, ed. The Crossroads of Norm and Nature. Rowman and Littlefield,
1995.
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