Bridging the Gap between Aristotle's Science and Ethics

Description

This book consolidates emerging research on Aristotle's science and ethics in order to explore the extent to which the concepts, methods, and practices he developed for scientific inquiry and explanation are used to investigate moral phenomena. Each chapter shows, in a different way, that Aristotle's ethics is much more like a science than it is typically represented. The upshot of this is twofold. First, uncovering the links between Aristotle's science and ethics promises to open up new and innovative directions for research into his moral philosophy. Second, showing why Aristotle thinks ethics can never be fully assimilated to the model of science will help shed new light on his views about the limits of science. The volume thus promises to make a significant contribution to our understanding of the epistemological, metaphysical, and psychological foundations of Aristotle's ethics.

Devin Henry is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Western Ontario. He is the author of several articles on topics in Aristotle's philosophy of science (including classification, teleology, inheritance, and sexism) as well as Plato's late epistemology. His work has appeared in Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, The Monist, Phronesis, and The Journal of the History of Biology, as well as part of various collected volumes. Karen Margrethe Nielsen is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Somerville College. She has published articles on topics ranging from the discovery of the will in antiquity, Aristotle's theory of deliberation, the Hellenistic reception of Aristotle's ethics, the unity and simplicity of soul in Plato's Phaedo, and Aristotle's reproductive biology. Her articles have appeared in The Philosophical Review, Classical Quarterly, Phronesis, and Antiquorum Philosophia, in addition to a number of edited volumes.