Nicomachean Ethics [Paperback]

Aristotle (Author), Terence Irwin (Translator, Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1999 | ISBN-10: 0872204642 | ISBN-13: 978-0872204645 | Edition: 2nd

Building on the strengths of the first edition, the second edition of the Irwin Nicomachean Ethics features a revised translation (without extensive editorial intervention), expanded notes (including a summary of the argument of each chapter), an expanded Introduction, and a revised glossary.

Terence Irwin is Susan Linn Sage Professor of Philosophy, Cornell University.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Very useful as a cornerstone for our discussion of ethics and the Western moral tradition. The translation is elegant."--Dominic A. Aquila, Rochester Institute of Technology
"A fine translation of an essential classic in the field of ethics."--Claudia Card, University of Wisconsin
"The index is extremely helpful. The 'contents' are also a helpful tool. The numbering and division titles also make this book a little easier to teach."--Rose Marie Surwilo, College of St. Francis
"Very useful text of Aristotle: the translation presents no pitfalls to a beginning student; the editor's organization is useful but unitrusive; and finally, the cost is perfect."--Nickolas O. Papas, Hollins College
"An excellent translation and edition."--Winfield J.C. Myers, University of Georgia
"Most lucid and accessible edition popularly available." --John L. Hemingway, Washington State University

About the Author

Aristotle; Translated by Terence Irwin

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Hackett Publishing Co.; 2nd edition (1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0872204642
• ISBN-13: 978-0872204645
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 1 x 5.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,029 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #3 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Philosophy > Greek & Roman
  • #22 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Philosophy > Ethics & Morality

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 49 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Irwin's Translation is Indispensable... but some cautions October 22, 2006

By T. W.

Format:Paperback

I would not hesitate to recommend Irwin's Hackett edition to anyone who wants to undertake the real work of understanding Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics."

The translation & the interpretation underlying it are not perfect. Other translations may in some (even many) cases be based on interpretations I would prefer. So why is Irwin better? Because his is the only version that lets the reader see the nuts and bolts--that is, just how trickily ambiguous Aristotle's text so often is, and just what the translator has done to interpret it and make sense of it. Only with this extra apparatus can a Greekless reader have some confidence in forming his or her own understanding. And even most of us who know Greek are dependent on commentaries and interpretations like Irwin's to force ourselves to confront real issues and possibilities of meaning that we might clumsily miss as we read the Greek.

Since the strength of Irwin's translation is its clearly labelled interpretative moves, I think it is worth considering looking for the out-of-print FIRST edition (ISBN 0915145669). In the first edition, Irwin intrudes his own section headings at the rate of at least ten per Bekker page. These help you know exactly how Irwin is taking the argument (and again, even if you disagree, the value of a translation lies in offering an interpretation that makes some sense). For example, at 1143b6 and following, Irwin's headings say of understanding "It seems to grow naturally..." and then later "...But in fact it requires experience." NO ONE reading the Greek out of context could possibly come up with this contrast, which basically assumes that Aristotle's Greek is misleadingly written (really straining the idea of a result clause, in this instance) in order to make Aristotle make more consistent sense.

Irwin's notes are great. He offers TONS of cross references. It reminds me of a really good study Bible, with zillions of references to other passages packed in along the margins. (In Irwin, these notes are in the back.) Aristotle is a systematic thinker, even if he looks at things from different angles at different times. The kind of comparative reading encouraged by these references is the only way to understand Aristotle.

In short, this is a great edition that lets an English-language reader get into the "laboratory" of interpreting Aristotle. It's not polished, but neither is Aristotle. If you're sentenced to a lengthy jail term, you could take this volume, read and reread it with all Irwin's glossary-essays and cross-refs., and really start to understand how Aristotle thinks. If you were smart, you would end up disagreeing with some of Irwin's translations and interpretations. But it's a tremendous testimony to his interpretative labor that you could disagree in this way. (But if it's a general handle on Aristotle, as opposed to the Ethics, you want, you should really start with Irwin and Fine's Hackett "Selections"--NOT their "Introductory Readings" which deprives you of the glossary-and-notes apparatus really needed to get it.)

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Translation - Amazing transfer to Kindle February 14, 2012

By K. H.

Format:Kindle Edition

After talking to the publisher about my concerns, which are outlined in my original review below, they have now produced a new version of the kindle edition of this book, thus the edit of this review, and its change from 1 star to 5 stars. The publishers have now put in the hyperlinks between text and note, wherever there is one, and a simple click on the note will take you back to the main text. It works really nicely. They have also included in the text the Bekker numbers in the form [1095a] - so if you need to do a lookup by Bekker, you can get as close as the section, and then the lines are listed in the text in groups of 10 - "[10]" - easy to see when scanning down from the section heading. The table to contents has also been updated to include all the Medieval Chapter headings under each book, so if you prefer to jump to a section via that means, this is also open to you.

All in all with this new edition of the kindebook, if you are studying this work, the kindle edition, I feel, surpasses the paperback in utility in almost every way. I also cannot credit the publishers enough for taking the criticism with good grace, responding to it and going far beyond the few criticisms originally made, and producing something which is vastly superior to what was produced before and possibly one of the best academic book transfers to kindle that I've seen.

_____________ORIGINAL REVIEW_______________
This is a review specifically of the Kindle edition of this book.

I will start by saying that the contents of the book - the sensitive translation, the excellent notes etc are all absolutely top notch - and for these the book has the star I gave it.

My issue is that the Kindle transfer is lazy on the part of the publisher. The book is, in volume, about 40% the work itself, and 60% explanatory notes and commentary. The notes are 'end-note' style, marked by asterisks in the text.

There is no hyperlink or link of any kind in the kindle transfer to be able to get to a note, when you find a passage you want explanation on. Other books I have found (such as the Grube/Reeve translation of Plato's republic) all have the notes hyperlinked - so you can quickly get from text to note, and back to text. This edition has absolutely no way to find the note for a given section. The table of contents also just has a single item "Notes" to describe, what in the paperback is pages 172-314 - not very useful.

This means that unless you want to *just* read a translation, with no thought to what might have affected the translator's judgement in picking a particular word, or explanation of what difficult passages actually mean - in other words if you are buying this with a view to studying the text, pass over this and get the paperback instead.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars [e-mail] April 26, 2000

By China Wai Wing

Format:Paperback

After I read Terence's translation, I found it is much better than Ross one. Note and glossary are especially helpful to those cannot read original greek.

I recommend it!