The Aristotelian Good Life and Virtue Theory
Jack Smith

Abstract
In The Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle sets forth his concept of the good life, or eudaimonia, which must be distinguished from today’s concept of happiness in that it is much more systematized, rigid, and carefully nuanced. While Aristotle’s system of ethics appears, prima facie, to be an exhaustive moral guide to the good life, it exhibits certain elitist tendencies and advocates certain elitist doctrines which ultimately impact its validity and soundness, thus rendering his basis for the good life untenable.

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