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Review: [untitled]

Author(s): J. D. G. EvansReviewed work(s):La vérité pratique: Aristote Éthique à Nicomache Livre VI by Jean-Yves Chateau

Source: The Classical Review, New Series, Vol. 50, No. 2 (2000), pp. 625-626Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3064885

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8/7/2019 Review of La vérité pratique Aristote Éthique à Nicomache Livre VI, Chateau, 2000

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JEAN-YVES CHATEAU(ed.): La veritepratique. Aristote Ethique a

Nicomache Livre VI(Traditionde la pensee classique). Paris: Librarie

philosophique Vrin, 1997. Pp. 376. Paper, frs. 250. ISBN: 2-7116-

1298-8.

These essays recorda lecture seriesgiven in Paris in 1993-4 on Aristotle's NicomacheanEthics 6.The collection is structured to provide both a detailed commentary, which proceeds chapter bychapter,on the themes and topics in Book 6, and a more generally focused account of the issues,both philosophical and scholarly, that arise for philosophers and historians of philosophy when

they reflect on this text. The eight essays in Part 1 address the first part of the project, while theseven in Parts 2 and 3 address the second. The contributors are all distinguished philosophersand scholars, some of them notably so. The work is complemented by a short but useful

bibliography of recent writing on EN 6. The indexing is slight; in particularthere is no index of

passages.The editor and authors celebratethe importanceof this Aristotelian work as a contribution to

philosophy. 'Practical truth' is in their title; and Paul Ricoeur focuses on this key concept in an

introductoryessay which highlights the challenging and problematicnatureof Aristotle's linkageof action and thought. EN 6 has the aim of showing how rational excellence plays an indis-

pensablerole in rightaction, and also how the nature of this rationalityis conditioned by the factthat it is essentially directed upon action. These reflections gain point, as so often in Aristotle,when we see how they serveas a correctiveto inadequaciesin his predecessors'views. In this case

the principal targets are twofold: a Platonic view of reason as able by contemplation and theoryalone to determine right action, and a Protagorean programmefor subjecting reason to deter-mination by emotional and appetitive elements in human psychology without essential recourseto reason.

The present volume is animated by a sense of excitement about Aristotle's discussion of thismatter. A number of contributorsemphasize the significanceof his contribution to moral philo-

sophy by comparison with Aquinas (principallyPinchard,but also Leandri and Chateau), Kant,

and Heidegger (Guest, also Chateau). A notable omission from this historical cast are theUtilitarians, since for contemporary analytic philosophers they, together with the deontologistKantians, form the two pillarsof contrast which define the significanceof Aristotle's virtue ethics.

Moreover, consideration of Benthamite calculation of value would be highly pertinent to anyconception of practicalreason, includingthe Aristotelian one.

But how well do the contributorsgrasp and elucidate Aristotle'skey idea that the conclusion of

practical reasoning is an action, rather than a statement or a thought? They certainly supplyextensive rumination on Aristotle's distinctions between the various intellectual virtues. AlainPetit analyses the contrast between science (episteme)and skill (techne),and seeks to show that

phronesis should be reduced to neither of these. That latter virtue is the subject of BernardBesnier's discussion; he correctly emphasizes its unrestricted application, which it shares with

sophia. But then, as Marie-Christine Bataillard argues, the emphasis on contingency and

relativity, which Aristotle appeals to in order to distinguish sophia from phronesis, makes ithard to reinstate the latter as a genuine intellectual virtue. The concluding analytic chapter,byJean-Louis Poirier on EN 6.12-13, carries the suggestive title 'Socrates was right. . .'. Of course,as he recognizes, Socrateswas also wrong: the elements of human goodness (the virtues) are notall reducible to knowledge, and so differentindividual persons can be variously distinguished interms of their possession of virtue, or, more properly,virtues. One cannot be virtuous in any

respect without phronesis,but this particularintellectual virtue needs to be allied to some virtueof characterin order to generatea disposition to good action.

Some intellectual virtues are independent of the sphere of action, notably nous and episteme,and, in a different way, techne. Sophia straddles this division; and Aristotle's account of therelation between this virtue and phronesisin ChaptersVII and VIII seems to me to contain the

core of his message in this treatise. The high value attached to wisdom must not be allowed

to obscure the indispensable role that practical sense must play in the human good life. There isa need for a recognition of diversity and complexity in the range of intellectual virtues whichmatches a similar need in the case of the virtues of character. So Socrateswas doubly wrong. Hereduced the complexity of virtues of character to one intellectual virtue; and he oversimplifiedonce more with the intellectual virtues, through failure to identify the particularone which must

accompany the non-intellectual operations. Aristotle's insight, as the contributors here only

? Oxford University Press,2000

625THE CLASSICAL REVIEW

8/7/2019 Review of La vérité pratique Aristote Éthique à Nicomache Livre VI, Chateau, 2000

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THE CLASSICAL REVIEWTHE CLASSICAL REVIEW

partially recognize, is that action is necessitatedby intellectualprocesses,although not itself sucha process; it is a conclusion from reasons.

The volume will provide a valuableresource to all serious students of Aristotle'sepistemologyof ethics. A final question in my mind is: whyis it so hardto translatephronesisconvincingly?The

francophone contributors agreeon 'prudence';and although this carries unfortunate resonancesof M. Prudhomme, it does have the merit of single-word synonymy over such anglophonerenderings as 'practical skill' or 'practical reasoning'. But none of these renderings (in eitherlanguage) seems at all adequate to what Aristotle, who is an ordinary-languagephilosopher,wants to highlight as a central feature of human excellence. There is much further work to dohere.

Queen'sUniversityof Belfast J. D. G. EVANS

M. SIM (ed.): The Crossroads of Norm and Nature. Essays on

Aristotle's Ethics and Metaphysics. Pp. xxii + 343. Lanham: Rowman &

Littlefield, 1995. Cased, $55.00 (Paper, $21.95). ISBN: 0-8476- 7939-X(0-8476-7982-9 pbk).

G. FREUDENTHAL: Aristotle's Theory of Material Substance. Heat

and Pneuma, Form and Soul. Pp. xii + 235. Oxford: Clarendon Press,

1995. Cased, ?30. ISBN: 0-19-824093-7.

The Crossroadsof Norm and Nature is a collection of new papers on the relation of Aristotle'sEthics with his Metaphysics. May Sim outlines clearly the range of possible options for this

relation, but, more importantly, has managed to gather papers that meet the challenge. They are

grouped in three parts which examine: the ethics in relation to the metaphysics; the methodsthat may or not be common to both; the basic concepts of cause, elements, matter-form,potentiality-actuality which are characteristic of Aristotle's thought. In more detail, the first

part consists of (Chapter I) 'The Substance of Aristotle's Ethics' by Ed Halper, (Chapter II)'Human Being, Beast and God: The Place of Human Happiness According to Aristotle andSome Twentieth-Century Philosophers' by Deborah Achtenberg, (Chapter III) 'Senses of Beingin Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics' by May Sim, (Chapter IV)'Aristotle's "Exclusive"Accountof Happiness: Contemplative Wisdom as a Guise of the Political Philosopher' by RonnaBurger,(Chapter V) 'Two Perspectives on the "Ultimate End"' by Susanne Hill, (Chapter VI)'The Ultimate End of Action: A Critique of Richard Kraut's Aristotle on the Human Good'byTimothy Roche, and (Chapter VII) 'Reply to Professor Roche' by Richard Kraut. The second

part comprises (Chapter VIII) 'Plato's Ghost: Consequences of Aristotelian Dialectic' byC.

WesleyDeMarco,

(ChapterIX) 'Working Through Puzzles with Aristotle' by John J.

Cleary,and (Chapter X) 'Theories of Meaning and Ontology in Aristotle's Metaphysics' by DeborahModrak. The third part is composed of (Chapter XI) 'The Philosophic Background ofAristotle's Aitia' by Julius Moravesik, (Chapter XII) 'Composition and Unity: An Examinationof Metaphysics H.6' by Michael Loux, (Chapter XIII) 'Understanding Process: Reflectionson Physics 111.1' also by Michael Loux, and (Chapter XIV), 'Why the Elements Imitate theHeavens: Metaphysics IX.8 1050b28-34' by Helen Lang. In this satisfying volume, readerswillfind a cornucopia of well analysed and argued material based on a broad reading of primarysources, from the Presocraticsto Proclus (in John Cleary's article). However,some will feel thatthe quest for unity occasionally stretches the evidence too far. Nonetheless, readers will valuethe care expended on the semantic nuances of the Greek, such as the background of translatingteleios as complete ratherthan perfect. Several articles illustrate the complex topics with usefultabulations or charts. The eighteen-page general index covers most of the concepts and terms,

but there is no general bibliography,which is unfortunate because few of the articles have one inaddition to their annotation.

In Aristotle's Theory of Material Substance. Heat and Pneuma, Form and Soul, GadFreudenthal examines an important but overlooked concept in Greek thought: the pneuma.He concentrates on Aristotle, and presents him within the history of science with the aim ofuncovering the early,materialist ground of Aristotle'sphilosophy and theology. F. proposes that

? Oxford University Press,2000

partially recognize, is that action is necessitatedby intellectualprocesses,although not itself sucha process; it is a conclusion from reasons.

The volume will provide a valuableresource to all serious students of Aristotle'sepistemologyof ethics. A final question in my mind is: whyis it so hardto translatephronesisconvincingly?The

francophone contributors agreeon 'prudence';and although this carries unfortunate resonancesof M. Prudhomme, it does have the merit of single-word synonymy over such anglophonerenderings as 'practical skill' or 'practical reasoning'. But none of these renderings (in eitherlanguage) seems at all adequate to what Aristotle, who is an ordinary-languagephilosopher,wants to highlight as a central feature of human excellence. There is much further work to dohere.

Queen'sUniversityof Belfast J. D. G. EVANS

M. SIM (ed.): The Crossroads of Norm and Nature. Essays on

Aristotle's Ethics and Metaphysics. Pp. xxii + 343. Lanham: Rowman &

Littlefield, 1995. Cased, $55.00 (Paper, $21.95). ISBN: 0-8476- 7939-X(0-8476-7982-9 pbk).

G. FREUDENTHAL: Aristotle's Theory of Material Substance. Heat

and Pneuma, Form and Soul. Pp. xii + 235. Oxford: Clarendon Press,

1995. Cased, ?30. ISBN: 0-19-824093-7.

The Crossroadsof Norm and Nature is a collection of new papers on the relation of Aristotle'sEthics with his Metaphysics. May Sim outlines clearly the range of possible options for this

relation, but, more importantly, has managed to gather papers that meet the challenge. They are

grouped in three parts which examine: the ethics in relation to the metaphysics; the methodsthat may or not be common to both; the basic concepts of cause, elements, matter-form,potentiality-actuality which are characteristic of Aristotle's thought. In more detail, the first

part consists of (Chapter I) 'The Substance of Aristotle's Ethics' by Ed Halper, (Chapter II)'Human Being, Beast and God: The Place of Human Happiness According to Aristotle andSome Twentieth-Century Philosophers' by Deborah Achtenberg, (Chapter III) 'Senses of Beingin Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics' by May Sim, (Chapter IV)'Aristotle's "Exclusive"Accountof Happiness: Contemplative Wisdom as a Guise of the Political Philosopher' by RonnaBurger,(Chapter V) 'Two Perspectives on the "Ultimate End"' by Susanne Hill, (Chapter VI)'The Ultimate End of Action: A Critique of Richard Kraut's Aristotle on the Human Good'byTimothy Roche, and (Chapter VII) 'Reply to Professor Roche' by Richard Kraut. The second

part comprises (Chapter VIII) 'Plato's Ghost: Consequences of Aristotelian Dialectic' byC.

WesleyDeMarco,

(ChapterIX) 'Working Through Puzzles with Aristotle' by John J.

Cleary,and (Chapter X) 'Theories of Meaning and Ontology in Aristotle's Metaphysics' by DeborahModrak. The third part is composed of (Chapter XI) 'The Philosophic Background ofAristotle's Aitia' by Julius Moravesik, (Chapter XII) 'Composition and Unity: An Examinationof Metaphysics H.6' by Michael Loux, (Chapter XIII) 'Understanding Process: Reflectionson Physics 111.1' also by Michael Loux, and (Chapter XIV), 'Why the Elements Imitate theHeavens: Metaphysics IX.8 1050b28-34' by Helen Lang. In this satisfying volume, readerswillfind a cornucopia of well analysed and argued material based on a broad reading of primarysources, from the Presocraticsto Proclus (in John Cleary's article). However,some will feel thatthe quest for unity occasionally stretches the evidence too far. Nonetheless, readers will valuethe care expended on the semantic nuances of the Greek, such as the background of translatingteleios as complete ratherthan perfect. Several articles illustrate the complex topics with usefultabulations or charts. The eighteen-page general index covers most of the concepts and terms,

but there is no general bibliography,which is unfortunate because few of the articles have one inaddition to their annotation.

In Aristotle's Theory of Material Substance. Heat and Pneuma, Form and Soul, GadFreudenthal examines an important but overlooked concept in Greek thought: the pneuma.He concentrates on Aristotle, and presents him within the history of science with the aim ofuncovering the early,materialist ground of Aristotle'sphilosophy and theology. F. proposes that

? Oxford University Press,2000

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