ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author looks at the concept of eudaimonia and some of the treatments it is afforded by modern commentators. The problem with modern interpretations of Aristotle's concept of eudaimonia is something like this: Actions are the acts of individual agents, and if eudaimonia is the end of Action then it must be related to the will — motives, desires, intentions — of those individual agents. The author focuses on two specific claims made about the nature of Aristotle's arguments. The first concerns his claim that there is an intrinsic relation between human existence and human activity, a relation he refers to as a 'natural principle'. By this he means that it is an aspect of the nature of humankind, and this leads to the second claim that tends to be ignored in many analyses: that mankind is by nature a social and political creature. Finally, the author considers the relationship between eudaimonia and eupraxia.
