Aristotle: Nicomachean Ethics: Translation, Introduction, Commentary

Aristotle opens the Nicomachean Ethics by asking what it means for a human life to go well. His answer takes in pleasure and friendship, but also the harder work of forming habits, exercising judgment and choosing how to act. Virtue is not simply a list of rules: it belongs to the kind of person we become.

Christopher Rowe translates Aristotle into English, while Sarah Broadie follows the argument closely in her introduction and detailed commentary. When Aristotle moves between an everyday example and a difficult philosophical distinction, Broadie explains what is at stake and where interpretations diverge. Her notes follow all ten books, so the discussion of happiness, character and practical wisdom does not get separated from Aristotle’s actual words.