The Meaning of Eudemonia in Aristotle’s Ethics

This paper is concerned with the problem of interpreting Aristotle’s conception of eudemonia in his treatise, Nicomachean Ethics which will henceforth be referred to in its abbreviated form as NE. Aristotle said that the ultimate end of humans is eudemonia, a concept whose meaning is not quite clear. We (Dr. Patrick Nyabul and Dr. Joseph Situma) have discussed the conflicting views about Aristotle’s doctrine of eudemonia and reached the conclusion that Aristotle was not undecided about the concept’s comprehension. We have defended Aristotle from the accusation that he showed a wavering indecision between a comprehensive view of eudemonia and a dominant view. we argue (like W. F. R. Hardie) that Aristotle conceived of eudemonia as consisting in the single dominant end of contemplation and disagree with those authors (like J. L. Ackrill) who attribute to him an inclusive understanding of eudemonia. we support the dominant interpretation of eudemonia but reject the inclusive thesis.