Some say that Greek philosophy founded western civilization. When we use the word civilized, we are talking about two things; Individuals reaching their highest potential and people getting along well with each other. This is what the study of Ethics is really about. Many get stuck on the point that happiness is stated as the goal from the beginning. But in reality, everyone is happy when he can excel. There are things that hold us back. If we examine how this works in ourselves and others, we can reach our fullest potential both in our various relationships with people and in our achievements. Aristotle starts out on an individual level, progresses through local associations and on to national goals.

We can all agree that a society accomplishes most when there is harmony and that having harmony within ourselves allows us to be our best. Harmony is a better word than happiness because wrongdoing can make a person happy for a while. We can treat ourselves badly through vice or treat others badly through injustice. Either action suppresses our God given talents and those in others. Virtue is simply the ability to use our lives and associated talents to the fullest extent possible.  This takes managing ourselves and our interactions with others.

The difference between Greek and Christian philosophy is while Greek mainly deals with how we act toward ourselves and others,  Christianity examines how we deal with offences given to us from others and the guilt we feel from how we have treated ourselves. One is active and the other reactive. Aristotle would teach us to understand why people do what they do and to avoid destructive behavior in the name of happiness and harmony. Jesus asked us to forgive offenses from others in the same way God forgave the human race through him. In the same way, being right with God is to have harmony within ourselves. One avoids guilt by being just to others while the other deals with the guilt and bitterness from past offenses. Jesus would say “Love your neighbor as yourself,” while Aristotle would tell us that each person will have different things that make them happy, it is up to us to find them out and treat them and ourselves in a manner that is considered just to each party.

Greek philosophy has helped Civilizations for centuries. Ethics stops at the many unobservable religious opinions people have, on purpose, to make sure its teaching about the good can apply to everyone. That is why I enjoy it so much. It is nice to get away from religious opinions and doctrines that change like the wind and land on simple organized thought that applies to everything we do. I have in the past read the Bible through many times. This will be my second extensive study of Nicomachaen Ethics and I thought you might want to join in. I normally read a section through a couple times, think about it, and then write it in an understandable form. Since I have gone through it already and understand where he is going, the second time has been much better.  In addition I have read a couple of commentaries since then. I hope to keep it interesting and understandable to all that read it. More to come...