Abstract

AbstractIn theEudemian EthicsII 1, 1219a34–b8, Aristotle defines happiness as ‘the activity of a complete life in accordance with complete virtue’. Most scholars interpret a complete life as a whole lifetime, which means that happiness involves virtuous activity over an entire life. This article argues against this common reading by using Aristotle’s notion of ‘activity’ (energeia) as a touchstone. It argues that happiness, according to theEudemian Ethics, must be a complete activity that reaches its end at any and every moment. The upshot of this reading is that life reaches completenesswithina lifetime and that death cannot be the requirement for making life complete.

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