Admittedly, Aristotle can be hard and Nicomachean Ethics, his work examining virtue, is more difficult (in my opinion) than the Politics.
It therefore stands to reason that an easily comprehensible translation is always to be preferred when considering an edition for general reading, discussion, or a class.
Overview of the text
This particular version of the Ethics is both comprehensible and easy to follow.
Though Aristotle did not title books and chapters, this edition provides not only a table of contents for where each of the books stops and starts, but also a topical outline.
Nicomachean Ethics contains Aristotle’s classic definition of virtue and his list of the virtues critical to making one the best person possible. As such, the topical outline is focused on organizing the book in line with the different virtues being discussed. This allows for easily tracking the flow of Aristotle’s argument.
The readability of this text provides an excellent foundation for a conversation on virtue, what it entails and what virtues should be considered desirable in an individual. In a world characterized by competing interpretations of morality and ethics, a clear attempt to define these concepts is more relevant than ever.
In this sense, this edition does more than just make Aristotelian scholarship and thought more broadly accessible. It also makes it culturally relevant and socially applicable. In reading Aristotle’s words, one can easily imagine the philosopher having a similar conversation at a Starbucks.
Excellent for use in the classroom
While education, past work and other elements are part of the rubric of scholarship success, accessibility can certainly be added to that rubric. In this way, the translators of this volume.
Robert Bartlett and Susan Collins, have demonstrated excellent scholarship in not only organizing, explaining and translating the text, and doing it to such an effective degree that even non-philosophical types can access the content.
Not only is the book easy to read, but there’s a lot of white space in the margins and in the breaks between sections and chapters allowing for clear annotation.
Some students may not like writing in school books, and I generally include myself in this number. However, I make an exception for books that require a lot of mental energy.
I know I’m not picking up everything and in making notes in the margins and asking questions of the text, I have a means by which I can further my understanding when I return to the text in the future. In this way, annotating a complex text is an incredibly helpful practice and requires space on the pages to do exactly that, which this book provides.
White space may seem trivial to evaluate, but considering that other books that I’ve read in the field do not seem to recognize any virtue in having white space on a page, I was more aware of how it aided the clarity of reading and understanding the text.
If I had one complaint about reading Aristotle it’s that it is difficult to comprehend all the references he makes to the culture and politics of ancient Greece. The Nicomachean Ethics is no exception to this, but that can hardly be the fault of the translators as they supply ample footnotes to the text, providing what context they can.
Questions for further reading and discussion of Nicomachean Ethics
Consistent with any rich and memorable reading experience, this volume leaves the reader asking questions (hopefully more than when he or she started) of Aristotle’s philosophy particularly in his understanding of virtue and happiness:
How does Aristotle’s definition of happiness clash with our own? Why?
Would Aristotle be surprised by our modern pursuits of happiness?
In the American context, happiness and virtue seem to have separated somewhat in how they are understood, defined and pursued, which raises an even greater question:
Have we progressed or regressed beyond the wisdom of this esteemed ancient?