Table of Contents

1: Introduction MORAL VIRTUES 2: Courage and Continence (III.6-9) 3: Temperance and Incontinence (III10-12) 4: Liberality and Benevolence (IV.1) 5: Magnificence and Heroic Virtue (IV.2) 6: Megalopsychia and Appropriate Ambition (IV.3-4) 7: Good Temper and Forgiveness (IV.5) 8: Wit and Wounding (IV.8) 9: Friendliness and Civility (IV.6) 10: Truthfulness and Integrity (IV.7) JUSTICE AND FRIENDSHIP 11: General, Particular, and Poetic Justice (V) 12: Varieties of Friendship (VIII-IX) 13: Justice in Friendship (VIII-IX) MORAL DEVELOPMENT 14: Practical Wisdom and Reciprocity of Virtue (VI.12-13) 15: Aristotle's Painful Path to Virtue: the Many and the Generous-Minded 16: Shame and Moral Development: the Incontinent, the Continent, the Naturally Virtuous, and the Properly Virtuous 17: Aristotle's Losers: The Vicious, The Brutish, Natural Slaves, and Tragic Heroes 18: Happiness and Luck (I and X.6-8) Bibliography Index

About the Author

Howard J. Curzer received both BA and MA degrees in mathematics from Wesleyan University and a PhD in philosophy from the University of Texas at Austin. He has taught at Texas Tech University since 1985. In addition to Aristotle's ethical theory, he has published or presented papers on virtue ethics, measurement of moral development, the ethics of wildlife research, the ethics of care, biomedical ethics, and ethics within the Confucian tradition.

Reviews

Howard Curzers Aristotle and the Virtues offers a formidable defense of Aristotles accounts of the virtues against contemporary criticisms. Curzer maintains that Aristotle gradually unfolds his ethical theory in his treatment of individual virtues, and his own book follows suit. * Joshua W. Schulz, American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly *
It is pleasingly rich and accessible, elegantly written, and attentive to the fine points of Aristotle's argument. It also contains a number of charts that will prove useful to the new reader. * Karen Margrethe Nielsen, Mind *
This is a terrific book. It challenges many well-established readings of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics and offers inventive re-interpretations in their places. There is insight on almost every page. But most of all, the Aristotle that emerges from Curzer's interpretation seems extraordinarily humane, and equally astute. . . . In sum, this is a book to be thankful for . . . everyone, I think, will appreciate the revitalization of Aristotle's ethics as a practical guide to living. Aristotle and the Virtues provokes and inspires us to be not just better scholars but better people too. * Cathal Woods, Bryn Mawr Classical Review *
a formidable defence of Aristotle's accounts of the virtues against contemporary criticisms. * Joshua W. Schulz, American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly *
Aristotle and the Virtues is solid reading and packed with detailed argument, often in the form of examples. * Andrew Murray, Philosophical Quarterly, *
Anyone seeking a contemporary academic approach to Aristotle might usefully consult this lengthy and detailed study of the Nicomachean Ethics. * Robert C. Bartlett, The Review of Metaphysics, *
Curzer's book contains many interesting discussions about new and classical themes related to Aristotle's treatment of the virtues of character. . . . provides a fruitful framework for discussion and presents many provocative ideas that will be challenging and worth considering both for those working on modern virtue ethics and for those with a primary interest in ancient ethics. * Marta Jimenez, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *