Review of Gabriel Richardson Lear's 'Happy Lives and the Highest Good: An Essay on Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics'

Abstract

I review Gabriel Richardson Lear's excellent essay on Aristotle’s conception of the human good. She solves some long-standing problems in the interpretation of Aristotle’s ethics by drawing on resources in his natural philosophy and Plato’s conception of love. Her interpretation is a compelling and, to my mind, largely true account of Aristotle’s view. In this review, I summarize the book's main argument and then explain two fundamental points on which I have concerns.

Keywords: Arisotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Ancient Ethics, Human Good