Rational Animals: Aristotle on Nature and Value - PHI00149H

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Module summary

We shall be focusing on what Aristotle has to say about happiness, virtue and rational action in the Nicomachean Ethics and placing it in the context of his treatments of nature and change in the Physics and de Anima. The seminars will involve close reading of Aristotle’s texts.

The module is taught entirely online.

Related modules

N/A

Module will run

Occurrence	Teaching period
A	Semester 1 2026-27

Module aims

— to foster and develop the skills needed to understand Aristotle’s claims and arguments by means of careful reading of his texts;

— to be able to assess different interpretations of Aristotle in the light of the texts and to defend one’s own interpretations.

Module learning outcomes

— engage critically and confidently with some central  texts of Aristotle;

— understand the relations between Aristotle’s accounts of human nature and his ethical claims;

— engage critically and confidently with secondary literature about Aristotle;

— articulate one’s own interpretation of Aristotle’s texts that is secured in the evidence of the texts.

Module content

We shall look at Aristotle’s discussions of substance, of nature, and of change in the Physics and the de Anima. In the Nicomachean Ethics, we shall look at his accounts of happiness, of virtue, of voluntary action and of deliberation and practical wisdom.

Indicative assessment

Task	% of module mark
Essay/coursework	100.0

Special assessment rules

None

Additional assessment information

N/A

Indicative reassessment

Task	% of module mark
Essay/coursework	100.0

Module feedback

All formative and summative feedback will be returned in accordance with University and Departmental policy.

Indicative reading

Aristotle: Physics I–II; de Anima; Nicomachean Ethics

A.O. Rorty (ed.), Essays on Aristotle’s Ethics