Virtue: Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics

“For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.”

Unfortunately, philosophy is more than just critical theory and far-out metaphysics – allegedly it's meant to teach us something about The Good Life, too – so I figured now is as good a time as any to finally hold a meeting dedicated to ethics.

We'll be covering an age-old classic that still slaps: Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. Some people treat it like a self-help book, but it’s a veritable training manual in the art of aristocratic soul-craft. In it, the reader will learn the meaning of the highest good toward which all actions aim, eudaimonia (happiness or human flourishing); about the life-long art of distinguishing oneself from the base and incontinent masses by cultivating a noble state of character through the habitual practice of virtue; about the role of right reason in choosing moderation between the extremes and “the golden mean”; about the proper connection between desire, amusement, and happiness; about the various types of love and friendship; about courage, temperance, liberality, pride, ambition, honesty, justice, law, and equality… and a whole host of other things besides.

We’ll try to cast suspicion on the possibility of full character development in a burn-out society caught in the grip of hyperreality, where voluntary choices are increasingly offloaded onto algorithms that decide things for us in advance; where virtue and altruism can be forged, and the promise of authentic human experience is branded and sold as prefabricated simulacra to hollowed-out consumers.

This is a PWYC event, so please remember to drop a donation via our Ko-fi page prior to attending. Remember to bring food and drink to share, for in perfect friendships, where we wish well for the other for the other’s sake, “each gets from each in all respects something like what he gives.”

For more info on our events visit www.sydneysymposia.com