The Only Self-Help Book Worth Reading | Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 มิ.ย. 2024
- The self-help and self-improvement community have skyrocketed in popularity over recent years. Yet almost everything they tend to say was already recommended, and in some ways improved upon, by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle. So get ready to have a look at the only self-help book worth reading: The Nicomachean Ethics.
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00:00 Ancient Greek Self-Improvement
01:35 A Matter of Habit
06:06 Intellectual Virtues
10:51 Ego, Community, and Happiness
14:40 Taking the High Road
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hi there i to signed up for the email list but i received no emails . i signed up like couple weeks ago .
@@ganapathiumaselvan8318 Ah yeah, sorry, I only send out an email about once per month at the moment - I am hoping to increase in frequency soon
Have you ever spoken with Alex O'connor? I would like you two to have a conversation. I think it would be very productive.
@@unsolicitedadvice9198 well its okay , i was worried that it was some technical error. so i ended up signing up for it multiple times. lol
Love your videos, especially on literature. As a psychotherapist, (which I guess makes me part of the self-help community?) I'm afraid Aristotle and the existential approach has limited use when sitting in front of someone with serious childhood trauma, or indeed with adult, or current trauma . A patient can often be psychologically and emotionally wracked with shame and self-loathing, physically wracked with anxiety or depression, behaviorally wracked by addictions and compulsions, existentially devoid of meaning, and relationally isolated from others, themselves and the world of family, work and community. The way back from all of these consequences of trauma to connection with themselves and others is slow and difficult. It is built on the foundation of a loving relationship with the therapist and others, and with a slow process of embodied connection with themselves and the world. It is not primarily an intellectual exercise- indeed intellectualism can be a great barrier to recovering a more authentic selfing process. It entails entering fearful spaces of shame, terror and confusion. I like to call it having an" identectomy" i.e. moving from a conditioned selfing to a more authentic process of in-the-moment, creative, selfing. (I use the term "selfing" as I feel our sense of self at its best is a fluid, creative, process.) But, thank you for a thought-provoking video. And keep singing!
Fun fact: Nichomachus was the name of Aristotle's son! BUT also the name of his father! The book is probably written as a guide for his son!
Ah yes, I remember falling down the rabbit-hole of where the name came from. It seems like half the people Aristotle knew seemed to be called Nicomachus
@@unsolicitedadvice9198IIRC it was his Son and his students that wrote it but it was Aristotle's Teachings for sure
Trust me, being nice to people never ends well. Machiavelli had it right. People will do far more from fear than ever they will for love.
@@cliveadams7629 That's why you need a reason that transcends humanity itself, because humans will always disappoint you. If you have a reason that is higher than ourselves then you will be able to take the disappointment that comes with coexisting with our fellow humans much better than you will without one. I think Ultimate Meaning can only be found in God. Without God( the Christian God in particular) I find life to be quite a Sisyphean pursuit.
@@PhelomenalEnigma but my dear, I am never disappointed by humanity. People are reliably unreliable and if you believe in your god you must accept this is because, being the image of that god, the deity you worship is fatally flawed.
It is that very unreliability which transcends all. Imagine the endless torment of bending your knee to this narcissistic demon for the rest of eternity. It makes rolling a rock up a mountain appear positively pleasant.
You've sparked my interest in philosophy again, I truly appreciate the passion you deliver these topics with.
Ah thank you for watching them! I am glad you've found them helpful
@@unsolicitedadvice9198I wrote you an email, dunno if you still do tutoring?
I do! I'll check them later today
"Eudaimonia doesn’t mean a life of cupcakes and rainbows. It means the sweet pleasure of sinking into bed at the end of an absolutely exhausting day. It’s the satisfaction of knowing you’ve accomplished a lot, and that you’ve pushed yourself to be the very best person you could be." ~ TH-cam video, "Crash Course Philosophy #38" 🙌
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The idea of eudaimonia has greatly influenced my personal life the past few years. Perhaps it's a self-fulfilling prophecy, but it's truly felt like a fulfilling journey. ❤
Ah I like that image! I like to think of it as a kind of "healthy self-admiration"
Edp should've read this earlier
After buying a large plot of land and sinking countless hours toiling, improving, growing, managing... While also keeping my full time job, I agree.
@@Catimixto HELPP
Temperance and balance are key though. Don't get over exhausted and don't feel guilty for taking time to rest.
A natural teacher at so young an age...chapeau....You cut through the thick fogs for us leading us to better understanding. The added captioned text is definitely a great help too.
I can never understand these kinds of writings but you explain this so well!
You’re channel is truly one of a kind ❤ thanks for making amazing videos and making philosophy and the works of great thinkers accessible to all 😌
Thank you so much! That’s very kind!
I congratulate you for your increase in popularity. Forming an impactful legacy through this form of medium is quit rare.
Good to be here early again. I appreciate the constant stream of high quality videos!
Thank you! I really enjoy making them
This is so timely, no joke I have just started reading it and this notification popped. Great video mate :)
Great video yet again. Today’s self help trend tends to forget the other aspects to life and wisdom, much appreciated to remind me that through this video.
“Know thyself and you shall know the universe and the Gods” Socrates
I am a big fan of that idea
Socrates didn't say that.
Ah perhaps it’s just apocryphal. I know “know thyself” was supposedly one of the Delphic Maxims
@@unsolicitedadvice9198 Perhaps.. He who knows, does not speak. He who speaks, does not know.
Lao Tzu
My mom had this book in her bookshelves. She had thousands of books and I used to read this one when I was a child.
This video is a godsend thank you so much! Can’t wait for more ppl to see your channel :)
my dude It's been a while since I've watched you and I'm genuinely surprised and extremely happy for your growth Congratz on the 110k subs you deserve all of them and way more
A very interesting video, thank you. Worth reading his book in full it sounds like.
Such an important work. Thanks for giving this one the shoutout.
God bless, brother. Amazing video.
LOVED THIS-- THANK YOU!
Thank you for the report and recommendation. I will read this now ❤
Congrats for the 100k!
This is a very good video !! I remember reading about Aristotle in school.
I bow my hat to you. I observe your uploads for about a month and as for now you seem to an embodiment of practical usage of literature and philosophy. Aristoteles would would be proud.
I started watching this channel a week ago and recently bought this book, So I am very happy to watch this video because it makes me want to read it even more now :) this also made me subscribe!
Please do one about how our image of heaven and the afterlife is basically describing Earth or ''the garden of eden''. And how we have everything we could possible want right now and right here on Earth as Earth is the shining gem in an infinite darkness.
Wonderful video, really good explanation of all the terms. Subscribing to your channel, you're doing an amazing work.
Thank you!!! Now I’m going to read it now
Well said Mister.
There is an old saying that Books and friends should be few but good.
I became a Christian in 1984 and I bought the Penguin Version of Aristotle's Ethics over 30 years ago. And until recently I have read my favourite parts of the book at least once per year for each year of my life since I bought the book. The titles of the book's 10 chapters are easy to remember.
1 The object of life.
2 Moral goodness.
3 Moral responsibility - Two virtues
4 Other moral virtues
5 Justice
6 Intellectual virtues
7 Continence and incontinence. The nature of pleasure
8 The kinds of friendship
9 The grounds of friendship
10 Pleasure and the life of happiness
absolutely well done!
Thank you!
I've been enjoying your broadcast for a few months now and thought I should at least learn your name and so googled Unsolicited Advice and discovered only a podcast by that name . I find you top notch as a presenter just the same.
In Ireland a new set (small) of secular schools not-affiliated with any church (rare in Ireland) teaches these ethics among other ethics approaches in the place of religion. There's hope.
Almost 100k subscribers, keep up the good work!
Thank you! As of now I am 24 off 100k!
@@unsolicitedadvice9198 💪
@@unsolicitedadvice9198 Nice, congrats! Can you maybe do a bookcase tour in the future?
99.9k subs! Almost there, I'm so glad this channel is growing.
Wonder if there is a 100k special
There’ll certainly be a Q&A of some sort, and I’m working on a couple of longer videos that I’m very excited about
@@unsolicitedadvice9198 Sweet!
Thank you for your videos. You do good for the world.❤
Thank you for this excellent content ❤
Thank you for watching!
My emotion is is upside down. Sometime really specimistic and feel numb, sometime i am motivated which make me think i would do something to make my life better. But i am starting to think my motivation is a not more than seasonal emotion because i only get good mood without taking action.
I am tired of this life. I don't want to die, i just want to escape from people i know, and doing my own life and start planning to be what i want to be. But i dont have money for surviving alone.
I'm so happy I found your channel 😊 Definitely agree on the self-improvement community not having a strong enough emphasis on community.
I heard once: "There's a huge section in our bookstores dedicated to self-improvement, but there's no section dedicated to helping others." I can't remember where I heard this statement, but it's stuck with me for a while.
I thinks it should all be cohesive, because when you develop yourself into a better person. Other people will want to emulate your character, but good deeds are also important too. 😊
@@rico14 Very good point!
I don’t think the idea is to want people to emulate your character but to rather have them use it as inspire to develop their own in a manner that works best for them.
Helping others has been a cover for so much evil that we have become rightfully leery.
Isn’t that the Lao Tseu famous quote??
« If you change your actions
Your habits changes
If you change your habits
Your character will change
If you change your character
Your destiny will change
Me salvaste la vida hermano.
Gracias por recomendarme este libro
Great work
Your delivery is fast. Which i like. And no bulshit either. Clear without being glassy.
From California. The most important book in my library. It guides me daily. .
Sophia as a woman. Sophia is often called abstract wisdom,“feminine wisdom” and “the wisdom of God”
Sophia, in Greek mythology was the goddess of heaven, and the stars, connected to the different incarnations of sacred female knowledge.
In Gnosticism, Sophia is a feminine figure too. Sophia is said to be the emanation of God's glory, the Holy Spirit, the immaculate mirror and even the wife of God.
In the apocryphal biblical Book of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) and the Wisdom of Solomon. “the wisdom of God” is personified as a woman.
Is this saying that women particularly have a certain kind of wisdom? Or is it claiming that women are impractical?
I’ve been going down this history rabbit hole for a little while.
Also, I agree a lot of new self-help theory is based on being a selfish, arse without empathy and refusing to self reflect. Basically becoming a villain.
I just found this channel how refreshing love it! is there and Instagram too or only TH-cam?
Excellent video!
Thank you!
Great content. Subscribed.
Thank you!
It’s soothing to hear that great people consider this worth thinking about. That’s exactly what lead me to choosing philosophy as my first degree. The idea was to make it the foundation of future decisions concerning my career. But the problem is that you can find a lot of logical and ethical value in a lot of these determined “north stars” and it still feels hard to determine the right one. In addition to that you can and you will still justify multiple options by the standards for this contemplation. So as somebody who seems to be able to really understand this dilemma what advice would you give me in choosing a career/major/education/life path? I admire your work a lot by the way. Thank you for it!
Even though unsolicited, this the best advice out here
Self help books are about getting ahead of ones peers while Aristoteles' work are about contributing, modern living seems more about becoming individualistic man-gods due to losing the need for a community so naturally self help books resonate more.
That's an interesting perspective. It would be nice if we could get some of that community-focused perspective back
absolutely!
Read Jordan Peterson, he's the modern day aristotle with a dash of Plato
@@lorenzomizushal3980lmao no he's a sophist and gatekeeper
@@ElonMuskrat-my8jy how so?
Great video!
Aristotle's Intellectual Virtues to achieve Eudaimonia:
1. Phronesis (practical wisdom, a meta-skill that allow us to apply our knowledge in a wise way): 7:23
2. Nous (reason / intuition) the It is the ability to apprehend and understand the fundamental truths and principles of the natural world.: 8:37
3: Sophia (abstract wisdom): Its a combination of Nous and Episteme (empirical/systematic knowledge) the highest form of wisdom: 9:18
4. Techne (he skill or knowledge required to produce something) which differs from phronesis as the latter is about the moral and practical wisdom to decide when and how to use such skills appropriately.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Thank you for watching!
Never thought I would hear Nichomachean Ethics labeled as a “self-help” book but I’m here for it
The Enchiridion of Epictetus is another one worth reading.
Yeah thanks for adding subs
Very big help
Thank you for watching them
Great video! I have a question for you: How do you manage a huge reading list? I have Schopenhauer, Hegel, the complete works of Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, Aristotle, Kant, Plato and Descartes lined up. It's very daunting, seeing as I'm only a little ways into Schopenhauer right now.
I like how you always gesticulate with only one hand, with the other being still.
Great vid!
Congrats on 100k subs! Hope many more people get to listen to your analyses!
13:05 I've felt that problem a lot before. Like how do I know I'm not just full of myself or just wrong? I mean I can compare and try to look at every aspect I can conceive of but one does not know everything and the easiest way to get different perspectives is to get another person.
Pick the flowers of pleasure along the paths of duty. ---Quaker saying
Nicomahean Ethics, means "winning the battle", Nike is victory and mahe is battle in Greek. Also the word character, comes from the verb charasso, it means "engraving". So one's character is what has been "engraved" through the environment, information, thoughts, sentiments, habits... Growing in self awareness means that you can start choosing WHAT you are engraving. Eudaimonia, is growing towards free will. EY is a tiny word key in Greek thinking. One of our philosophy teachers in Athens explained it in a very interesting way.
E stands for Ellipsis (ΕΛΛΕΙΨΙΣ), lack of something
Y stands for Ypervole (ΥΠΕΡΒΟΛΗ) Hyperbole, too much of something. So ΕΥ is achieved through being right in your center of being. The golden ratio. Dialectics...Daimonia, this is where demon comes from. It's the higher self, your pure consciousness, (Socrates was famous for his chats with his demon) of course it was demonized when they started chasing us around, closing the philosophy schools and destroying our temples and cities, but it comes from the verb ΔΑΙΩ DAIO, means providing, dividing, giving the right share to someone. Greetings from Greece 🏛️
Great review as always. I want to ask you which translation do you recommend. I have Joe Sachs translation and I found it notoriously difficult.
Oh man I remember working from the Sachs translation in university. It is brilliant and I’m told it is super faithful to the Greek but it’s also quite dense. The Adam Beresford translation is really readable (or at least, I found it much easier than the Sachs)
Wow! You are really wound up about this.
Close to 100k subs. Let's Go!
4 subscribers away!
@@unsolicitedadvice9198 congrats bro
Hi bro. I'm a new subs. You're so great at what you does. Where can I buy the books you read?
There is an old saying that Knowledge is useless except good sense directs it. End quote.
Mencius said : Wisdom is like strength but Sageness is like skill. It is due to your strength that the arrow reaches the target but it is not due to your strength that it hits the mark.
I've never heard of the Golden Mean before. One of my philosophies in life is that finding the right balance is the most important thing in most, if not all, aspects of life, so I guess I approve!
Currently reading Hannah Arendt and after watching this video I believe Nicomachean Ethics is gonna help me to understand better her views in The Human Condition.
Thank you!! Amazing content as always.
Try Simone Weil.
@@sthetatos thanks!
Great video, as always! You're passion on philosophy enchants your spirit to an unscalable extent. Do you consider making a video about the ideologies of Professor Jordan Peterson?
🌹If anyone is interested I recommend The Modern Library Classics "The Basic Works of Aristotle".
This edition has commentary, footnotes and the major works including the one discussed in the video here. You get alot in one volume.
THANKS FOR ANOTHER GREAT EPISODE !!!
I really liked this
keep it up!
since I was 17, I've chosen the trinity Aristotle, Plato, Socrates to be my Sacred one. it is nice to come across a fellow practicioner. Thank you
Thanks
splendid
I have always felt Weber to be a pretty under-rated thinker, especially his thoughts on the "magic" of the world, and how knowledge, beaurocracies and cold pragmatic approach seems to, at some level, dehumanise individuals and communities.
Witches aren't in the forest anymore. They're on TikTok, Instagram and OF.
my unsolicited advice to you is to capitalize the 'a' in advice... pls. im only kidding (kinda) i luv the channel you make philosophy digestible whilst still leaving a lot for others to find out for themselves which is what the love of knowledge is really about
I totally agree with this piece, great work✌️
Only help people who deserve it. If you find out a particular person is a taker instead of a giver leave them.
Avoid being" Suffocated by sympathy", I am probably butchering that quote from Beyond Good and Evil.
Also remember to think for yourself whomever reads this, I'm just a stranger on the internet, I don't know your particular life and the people in it.
My advice is just a tool to be used or not, it's up to the person to use it or not a particular piece of advice is just a tool and like any tool some jobs it's not suited for.
Thanks bruh
The confidence of someone without a wrinkle. Praise the youth.
100k now🎉🎉
I'm early by chance, so I'll leave a comment now. (Of course, I haven't watched the video yet haha)
But in general, I want to express how valuable this channel is and how glad I am to have discovered you. Especially your video "How to Cope with Pain" has stuck with me and has provided great value for me, as I also suffer from a chronic condition.
So, keep up the great work, and feel free to share more personal insights into your life and how you handle your condition, for example. Particularly, as a psychology student, I'm interested in how a person arrives at their attitudes and philosophies, and I'm sure others share the interest in your person as well.
Ah thank you! That's very kind of you to say. I do plan to make more personal videos in the future. It just takes me a while to work them out. I'm a quick enough reader, but a pretty slow thinker
This is a fantastic channel. The topics are well discussed, and our guide is the best. From California.
I really enjoy your videos. But I've always wondered, what's your education backgtound?
Thank you! And I did an Undergrad and a Masters in Philosophy at Cambridge, focusing mainly on formal logic in later years
You are so cool for that
It is all a matter of practice and perspective. Simple in concept, but very difficult to apply correctly.
6:20 Years ago I came to the conclusion that I won't ever be happy bc I choose to be intelligent. Bc it seems true that ignorance is bliss. I think it's part of, if you don't know what you're missing/you only know of what is right in front of you then you aren't missing anything and you don't know that things can get better or even be different.
Jules Payot Gifts. What in my view is the most important idea about motivation. He turns motivation on its head by saying that It is not the attitude that generates habits, but the other way around. Start with a small habit that you can repeat every day with excellence. Soon that habit will create a better attitude which will intern motivate you to a second good habit. For example, force yourself. Two run twenty five minutes every morning. You will hate it the 1st month. You will not hate it so much. The second month and you will love it the third month. By the 4th month, you will find that you are also saving money. We're doing some other good thing for yourself. The habit is what brought the good attitude. In summary, habits, great attitude, not the other way around. And, you are what you repeatedly do.
This guy is so underrated
I thought you were going to talk about Seneca's "de brevitate vitae", i studied it in latin class at school, but i read the whole thing (it is really short) myself in private and It's actually good.
Ah that is another cracking one!
It’s funny, too.
I've just finished watching Fight Club recently , and i noticed how the ideas you've just presented hold some resemblance to the plot of what had happened in the movie .Spoilers alert, The protagonist realized through trial and error (creating Tyler Durden ) that he doesn't want his strongest version nor the weak one but learned moderation where he is in control and his eyes are open . he also learned that he should be considerate to others that he must care about them so he rejected the death of Robert Pulson , treating Marla Singer poorly . He learned to cultivate his mind through rejecting material possessions and managed somehow to earn a living while he is not working but sharpening his mind through learning from his stronger personality (Tyler Durden ) by making Soap and reading about Jack .Finally , he managed to look at Marla in the face with absolute belief in himself and his actions saying "Everything is gonna be alright " .
Aristotle has been my God since childhood. I followed every word of his wisdom, and he is still my God to this day. I just discovered your video recently. I'm thoroughly enjoying your content. I'm totally impressed!
Even the stuff he says about slavery?
I love how you talk about Siddhartha, the importance of keeping balance between the opposites of abstract and practical knowledge (or whatever, I'm not a native english speaker). Also morality should be taken more seriously, i hope we can get to understand god as a concept some day (and not as something mystical but philosopicaly and as language)
Exactly. As a Libra in not just Sun but also as Ascendant, Mercury, and Mars, your Bard must have balance. Moderation in all things, including moderation. There are times when it is prudent, dare I say necessary, to be immoderate. Perhaps Teacher, or Artist, would be a better word than Philosopher. A multitude of stratagems is to be expected I think. It might be that the highest idea we have is to pass on what we know to those who have not been here as long. Salsa is fruit salad, but I'm not sure if that is an example of nous or sophia. Individualism is a romantic concept. Before the Romantics, everyone understood that an individual in the wild was doomed. They would die from exposure without society. This is not literally true for many, but a cornerstone of the "Viking" culture so popular today is: The long house shelters many because no one survives the long night alone.
Man is talking like philosophers
why not
Coming from a 12 years old. Gotta love the cult of self, and the blind leading the blind.
How do you feel about Robert Greene’s 48 Laws of Power? It does seem patched together with the laws not in any specific, chronological order however there are some interesting insights into human behavior and manipulation. Understanding that there are such behaviors and motives used by individuals helps to understand when someone is manipulating yourself or others IMO.
How do you make your thumbnails?
That tomato meme is great
To truly understand The Nicomachean Ethics you must read Plato but before that you must read the Pre-Socratics, and if you truly want to understand them you must read the Egyptians and the Mesopotamians.
What the hell, can't i just read and understand Nicomachean ethics ?