Abstract

Aristotle’s research on happiness in the Eudemian Ethics has its proper start at EE I 7, as the first six chapters of the book are described as a preamble. This being so, a question arises about the kind of relation that obtains between the preamble and the main text. Is the preamble a mere introduction to the research, or is it possible that the arguments developed in the research of the EE depend on what has been presented in the preamble? We believe that an analysis of the argument put forward in EE I 7 may shed some light on the question. We will sustain that this argument at least takes one of its premises from the preamble and so cannot proceed without relying on what has been presented in the introduction of the text