Michael of Ephesus on Contemplation, Pleasure and Happiness: A Byzantine Commentary on Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics X.

• Applicant: Professor Dr. James Wilberding
• Subject Area: History of Philosophy
• Term: from 2013 to 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 241502685

The goal of this project is to offer the first comprehensive examination of the earliest surviving commentary on Book X of the Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle, composed by Michael of Ephesus in Greek in the 12th century, as well as to provide the first-ever translation of this commentary into a modern language (English). This examination is motivated by questions of both a systematic and a historical nature. Regarding the former, we shall investigate the insights and responses Michael offers to a number of interpretative and philosophical problems that emerge in the course of Nicomachean Ethics Book X, notably the issues surrounding the concepts of pleasure, contemplation, and the happy life, all of which remain at the core of current scholarship on Aristotelian ethics. A particular emphasis will be placed on how Michael understands the nature of the intellect and its activity, contemplation, and the relationship of this activity to ethical and political virtues and happiness. Regarding the historical side of the project, we shall be thoroughly reevaluating the impact that Neoplatonic philosophy has had on his understanding of the Nicomachean Ethics. While there has been some recent scholarly work that has managed to show that there is a greater amount of Neoplatonic influence on Michael and in particular on his ethical theory than was previously thought, the full extent of this influence has yet to be established. This is especially true with respect to the impact that the writings of Plotinus had on Michael. For although Plotinus is the only Neoplatonic philosopher that Michael refers to by name, previous studies have failed to identify the point of reference in the Enneads correctly, thus preventing them from properly evaluating the extent of direct Plotinian influence on Michaels thought. A central concern of this project is to evaluate the internal coherence of his comments on pleasure, contemplation and happiness, and so to establish a comprehensive account of this domain of his ethics. The English translation, accompanied by a lengthy introduction and notes, has already been commissioned to appear in the very prestigious Ancient Commentators on Aristotle series (Richard Sorabji, editor).

• DFG Programme: Research Grants