The Highest Good and the Best Activity: Aristotle on the Well-Lived Life

The question of how Aristotle characterizes eudaimonia, or living-well, in the Nicomachean Ethics has long been a contentious issue amongst Aristotelian scholars. The secondary literature has been roughly divided between inclusivist readers, who argue that Aristotle designates both theoria, or contemplation, and the practical virtues, and exclusivist readers, who argue that Aristotle singles out theoria alone. This thesis seeks to forge a middle ground between these two perspectives by focusing on the central claim of Book I that the eudaimonia is virtuous activity. Reading Book X in light of Book I\u27s claim then allows one to show that both the practical virtues and theoria are able to attain eudaimonia, and that the well-lived life will be one that draws upon both activities