Aristotle – Nicomachean Ethics
Instructor: Prof. Dr. Andree Hahmann
Course Information
课程编号：44720073-3
课程主题：Aristotle–Nicomachean Ethics
上课时间：星期一（全周）19:20-21:45
上课地点：三教3102（远程网课）
Introduction of the Professor
Hahmann Andree, studied philosophy, sociology, political science and classical philology in Cologne, Siegen and Marburg, Dr. phil. 2007, Alexander von Humboldt-fellowship (post-doc) at the University of Oxford 2011-2013, 2008 to 2015 assistant professor at the Georg-August-University Göttingen, habilitation 2015, from 2015-2020 DAAD-professor at the University of Pennsylvania, since 2021 associate professor at Tsinghua University Beijing. Main research interests are history of ancient and classical German philosophy. Monographs: Was ist Willensfreiheit? Alexander von Aphrodisias über das Schicksal (2005), Kritische Metaphysik der Substanz. Kant im Widerspruch zu Leibniz (2009), Systematischer Kommentar zu Aristoteles’ De Anima (2016), Aristoteles gegen Epikur (2017), Systematischer Kommentar zu Aristoteles’ Nikomachische Ethik (forthcoming 2022).
Interview
Q: Why do you choose this book as the topic of the seminar? What is the importance and status in the history of philosophy of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics?
A: It is hardly possible to overemphasize the importance of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. I mean if I want to emphasize its importance, I could use terms like foundational or absolutely fundamental to the development of western practical philosophy. Everyone who wants to study practical philosophy will have to engage seriously with the Nicomachean Ethics at some point.
Q: As the syllabus mentions, the course will focus on Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics with a special emphasis on questions that are systematically relevant for problems discussed in contemporary approaches to virtue ethics. Then how will this course show the interaction between the classical and contemporary thoughts in these important ethical problems based on the study of Nicomachean Ethics? Or will we just mainly focus on the text itself?
A: The course will mainly focus on Aristotle. But as I take it, the Nicomachean Ethics provides a foundation for what is called virtue ethics. So, as for me, I believe it is impossible to do virtue ethics without the Nicomachean Ethics. I think when we look more closely at it, the ancient text might help us to reflect on some assumptions of modern practical philosophy as such. Maybe it will even help us to call into question crucial claims of modern moral philosophy. But in order to come to this point, we must first better understand Aristotle’s text.
Q: How will you lead the students go deep into the thoughts of Aristotle (the learning approaches and the forms of the course (seminar))?
A: Students will face many difficulties when they engage with classical texts for the first time. Especially Aristotle’s texts pose some unique challenges if this is your first time to engage with his philosophy. Sometimes it is almost impossible for the first-time reader to figure out the argument including what the argument aims at, what the premises are and how to make sense of the conclusion. As I conceive of the process of learning, I agree with Plato who highlights that learning is nothing like filling content from one vessel into the other. What is required in order to learn is that you actively engage with the text and you will have to find the argument, so to speak, in yourself. I consider it my task to primarily provide help to the students to navigate these texts, which means I will point to what is important, what is not said but only presupposed, what is controversial and what Aristotle takes for granted. My goal is to help the students to make sense of the text and arrive at their own conclusions. Under normal conditions, my classes are always very student-focused. What does it mean to be “student-focused”? I want to make the students develop Aristotle’s argument mostly by themselves and find the arguments in themselves. I will continuously push the students by questioning them about the texts and the plausibility of the argument and point them into the right direction, which will help them to see what is crucial and central to the text. However, unfortunately, this semester I have to teach online which will bring some restrictions on this method. I will very likely have to lecture more than I usually do. I really try to put into it as much of a seminar form as possible but because of the online teaching format I think it may be difficult to give it the same flow as a seminar usually has. But my goal is always to push the students to think by themselves and try to develop Aristotle’s argument and help them as much as possible to get through the text.
Q: As for the junior undergraduates majoring in philosophy, what do you think is the best way to study the philosophical texts?
A: My advice is to read, read and read. If you first engage with the history of philosophy, it all just looks like a dark universe in which you cannot hold on to anything. You just have to find an entry point from which you can start and look into the ideas offered more closely. You always have to ask yourself does this make sense to you and if not why not. You need to keep asking yourself these questions. Everybody has to find his unique way to get into the history of philosophy and what you need to do is you hold on to it and engage continuously with the texts. I remember when I first read the Critique of Pure Reason: I was reading a few pages and finally fell asleep. What has happened was that at that time, I was reading but was not really reading, if you know what I mean. I believe this is something that everybody goes through when reading a classical philosophical text, it is just normal.
Q: For the type of writing philosophy, we can see there’s big difference between the ancient and the modern. How do you perceive this difference?
A: In a sense you might be right. But if you look more closely at Aristotle and Plato, there is also a huge gap between these two ancient philosophers. Plato has a unique style of writing compared to any other philosophers in ancient or modern philosophy. But I guess the real problem for us today is that we engage mostly with translations which always pose specific challenges to the readers. If you only work with translations and are not capable of reading the original texts, it means that you always have to work with pieces which have already been interpreted by others in a way. These translations have thus been given specific directions for you to read and understand. And if you look at another translation, you will find it incredible how much the same text may differ. You translate a section differently and you will give it a completely different meaning. I think this may be an important obstacle to many readers when they approach ancient texts for the first time.
Q: For the sake of philosophy, which kind of text is more appropriate for philosophy like the dialogues and the style of Aristotle or Kant and so on? And what will be the method in our course to interpret and analyze the philosophers’ idea?
A: This is a very good and important question which shows that you are aware of the major problems we are facing when dealing, for example, with Plato. He, in particular, is very skeptical about the form in which we are doing philosophy and the importance given to the written word and text. There are many different forms in which philosophy can be presented and you need to be aware of this and keep asking yourself what these forms contribute to the philosophical content. If you ask me about my personal approach, I would like to say that I am actually being trained in both traditions, in continental and analytical philosophy. But as for this course on Aristotle, we should prioritize the Aristotelean text itself which is in many ways a unique piece of philosophical literature. As for my personal method, more than anything else I want students to understand the texts which means I will rely on whatever philosophical tradition required to accomplish this goal. In short then, I will take the best of these traditions to help the student navigate this important historical text. By the way, I am also excited to see what the unique Chinese way of doing philosophy is.
Q: We have also saw on the website that your area of competence also includes metaphysics, epistemology and philosophy of mind. In this seminar, will we talk about some relation between Nicomachean Ethics and these fields?
A: The course will mainly be about the Nicomachean Ethics. But similar to Plato’s Republic, although Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics is primarily a text on practical topics, there is however much more to it. In the Republic, Plato does not only talk about ethics, but also about philosophy of mind, philosophy of perception, philosophy of education and meta-philosophy and so on. Very similarly, in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, there is a lot to learn about Aristotle’s view on the soul, nous, and so on. It all depends on how far we can venture into the material Aristotle offers to us. This will mostly depend on the background knowledge and interests of the students. My primary object is to make the text as conceivable and understandable as possible and there’s always a way to go deeper into what is behind it.
Syllabus
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