GA18:100-101 – arete

On the basis of the preceding, we know that it is a matter of what constitutes the genuine being-possibility. However, concern can be at rest; a human being can even sleep away his existence. It depends upon the genuine manner of being-there, so that the ἔργον is there for the one who in concern is present in himself, so that the human being is in ἔργον, κατ’ ἐνέργειαν [EN1 6, 1098 a 6]. The human being may be defined with respect to genuine living and rising up into concern.

And this κατ’ ἐνέργειαιν admits of a further being-determination. We know that the being of human beings is determined through ἀρετή, the mode of being in which the τέλος is possessed—τέλος as the beyond-which-nothing. So, ἐνέργεια is: προστιθεμένης τῆς κατ’ ἀρετήν ὑπεροχῆς [EN1 6, 1098 a 10 sq.], with respect to the fact (ὑπέροχος from ὑπερέχω) that ἔργον is taken in its ownmost being-possibility, namely as fulfilling itself in ἀρετή, as actually there. For example, in the case of the violin player, we distinguish between violin players. A bad one is distinguished from one who is σπουδαῖος, a “serious” κιθαριστής [EN1 6, 1098 a 11 sq.], who has taken his being-possibility seriously, who has genuinely put into work his having what he is at his disposal.

In this way, it appears that the ἔργον of human beings is πρακτικὴ ζωή. Thus, insofar as the τέλος of human beings does not lie outside itself but rather in itself as its being-possibility, the ἀνθρώπινον ἀγαθóν is ζωή itself, “living” itself. The ἔργον is living itself, apprehended in the sense of being-in-the-world μετὰ λóγου, in such a way that it is thereby spoken. Thus the ἀνθρώπινον ἀγαθóν is ψυχῆς ἐνέργεια κατ’ ἀρετήν [EN1 6 1098 a 16]. The ψυχή is determined as constituting the being of living things. This being-in-the-world as ἐνέργεια is a definite possibility of concern, of πρᾶξις, as put into work; and this setting-into-work as εὖ, taken hold of seriously (σπουδαίου), so that the ultimate being-possibility is grasped in its end.