Catholic University of America Press Action Character Aristotle: The Logic of the Moral Life

Aristotle labours under no illusion that in the practical sphere humans operate according to the canons of logic. This does not prevent him, however, from bringing his own logical acumen to his study of human behaviour. Aristotle, according to Fr. Flannery, depicts the way in which human acts of various sorts and in various combinations determine the logical structure of moral character. Some moral characters—or character types—manage to incorporate a high degree of practical consistency; others incorporate less, without forfeiting their basic orientation towards the good. Still others approach utter inconsistency or moral deprivation, although even these, in so far as they are responsible for their actions, retain a core element of rationality in their souls. According to Aristotle, moral character depends ultimately upon the structure of individual acts and upon how they fit together into a whole that is consistent—or not consistent—with justice and friendship. This book will appeal to professional scholars and graduate students with an interest in Aristotle’s ethics and in ethics generally. It proposes comprehensive interpretations of some difficult passages in Aristotle’s two major ethical works (the Nicomachean Ethics and the Eudemian Ethics). It brings to bear upon the analysis of human behaviour passages in Aristotle’s logical works and in his Physics. It also draws connections among areas of particular interest to contemporary ethics: action theory, the analysis of practical reason, and virtue ethics. Review "Action and Character is recommendable for reference libraries and doctoral-level researchers, especially experts in Aristotelian and scholastic ethics, historians of philosophy with a focus on Aristotle, and advanced Thomist scholars who desire a more robust philosophy and further insight into the foundations of many current controversies. In this focused work, Flannery skillfully provides much scaffolding and foundation for ethical thought."--Rev. Ezra Sullivan, The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly " a detailed and closely argued scholarly monograph with insightful interpretations of difficult passages in Aristotle; it helpfully relates a sophisticated account of the nature of human action as such with a larger Aristotelian understanding of morality. Flannery has largely hit his mark and offers a valuable contribution of lesser known aspects of the Aristotelian understanding of moral action, which will be welcome to specialists interested in the broader Aristotelian tradition of ethical reasoning, including those in the Thomistic tradition."--Matthew Lu, Univ St Thomas, American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly ""A wonderful book, brimming with fresh insights, both of a broad philosophical nature, about main themes in Aristotle's ethics, and of a philological character . . .It makes significant contributions to ethics, action theory and moral philosophy, while also making distinctive contributions to Aristotelian scholarship." --Michael Pakaluk, professor of philosophy and chair, Ava Maria University"-- "A detailed and closely argued scholarly monograph with insightful interpretations of difficult passages in Aristotle; it helpfully relates a sophisticated account of the nature of human action as such with a larger Aristotelian understanding of morality. Flannery has largely hit his mark and offers a valuable contribution of lesser known aspects of the Aristotelian understanding of moral action, which will be welcome to specialists interested in the broader Aristotelian tradition of ethical reasoning, including those in the Thomistic tradition."-- "Flannery brings to bear upon many technical and complicated discussions exactingly careful and learned interpretation that is often informed by works throughout Aristotle's corpus and from the ancient Greek commentary traditionThe careful student of Aristotle's ethical treatises will find much to learn from and struggle with in F