Aristotle's Ethics: Moral Development and Human Nature (Continuum Studies in Ancient Philosophy)

<div><br/><p><span lang=EN-US><span lang=EN-US>Aristotle's <i>Nicomachean Ethics</i> is devoted to the topic of human happiness.<span>  </span>Yet, although Aristotle's conception of happiness is central to his whole philosophical project, there is much controversy surrounding it. Hope May offers a new interpretation of Aristotle's account of happiness - one which incorporates Aristotle's views about the biological development of human beings.<span>  </span>May argues that the relationship amongst the moral virtues, the intellectual virtues, and happiness, is best understood through the lens of developmentalism.<span>  </span>On this view, happiness emerges from the cultivation of a number of virtues that are developmentally related.<span>  </span>May goes on to show how contemporary scholarship in psychology, ethical theory and legal philosophy signals a return to Aristotelian ethics.<span>  </span>Specifically, May shows how a theory of motivation known as <i>Self-Determination Theory </i>and recent research on goal attainment have deep affinities to Aristotle's ethical theory.<span>  </span>May argues that this recent work can ground a contemporary virtue theory that acknowledges the centrality of autonomy in a way that captures the fundamental tenets of Aristotle's ethics.</span></p></span></div>>