Abstract

MARES MANRIQUE, Elizabeth. The Possibility of a Practical Science in the Nicomachean Ethics Z. Nova tellus [online]. 2015, vol.33, n.2, pp.81-109. ISSN 0185-3058.  https://doi.org/10.19130/iifl.nt.2015.33.2.735.

In this article I discuss that, in spite of the difficulty involved in distinguishing practical science from practical wisdom (φϱόνησις), in the Nicomachean Ethics, book Z, Aristotle holds some theses that allow the confirmation of the scientific status of politics and, thus, allow its differentiation from practical wisdom: the Stagirite conceives not only a proper field of study about the practical science, yet he declares the presence of universal principles of action, principles which are susceptible of scientific research since they involve a certain degree of scientific necessity. Moreover, the scientific status of politics is being strengthened by the use of the analogy between practical science and medical science, which Aristotle recurrently uses. Finally, I argue that from a methodological point of view, book Z is a treatise about the practical principle par excellence, practical wisdom or φϱόνησις.

Keywords : φϱόνησις; Practical Science; Ethical Methodology; Aristotle.