Commentary on Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics
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PML9_Aristotle_2006 Page i Friday, February 17, 2006 10:53 AM The Peter Martyr Library Volume Nine Commentary on Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics PML9_Aristotle_2006 Page ii Friday, February 17, 2006 10:53 AM Habent sua fata libelli EDITORS OF THE PETER MARTYR LIBRARY, SERIES ONE GENERAL EDITORS John Patrick Donnelly, S.J., Frank A James III, Joseph C. McLelland EDITORIAL COMMITTEE W. J. Torrance Kirby, William J. Klempa EDITORIAL BOARD IRENA BACKUS JOHN MCINTYRE Institut d’histoire de la Réformation University of Edinburgh Université de Genève MICHAEL PERCIVAL-MAXWELL PETER S. BIETENHOLZ McGill University, Montreal University of Saskatchewan H. WAYNE PIPKIN FRITZ BÜSSER Associated Mennonite Institut für Schweizer Biblical Seminaries Reformationsgeschichte, Zurich JILL RAITT EMIDIO CAMPI University of Missouri, Columbia Institut für Schweizer Reformationsgeschichte, Zurich ROBERT V. SCHNUCKER University of Northern Iowa RICHARD C. GAMBLE Reformed Theological Seminary DAN SHUTE The Presbyterian College, Montreal TIMOTHY GEORGE Beeson Divinity School JOHN TEDESCHI University of Wisconsin–Madison ROBERT M. KINGDON Institute for Research in the Humanities THOMAS F. TORRANCE University of Wisconsin–Madison University of Edinburgh DIARMAID MACCULLOUGH JOHN VISSERS St. Cross College, Oxford University The Presbyterian College, Montreal ALISTER E. MCGRATH CESARE VASOLI Wycliffe Hall, Oxford University Università de Firenze The Peter Martyr Library Volume Nine COMMENTARY ON Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics Peter Martyr Vermigli Edited by Emidio Campi and Joseph C. McLelland with introduction and annotations by Joseph C. McLelland VOLUME LXXIII SIXTEENTH CENTURY ESSAYS & STUDIES KIRKSVILLE, MISSOURI USA ◆ 2006 Title Page PML9_NicoEth_Prelim Page iv Wednesday, February 22, 2006 12:54 PM Copyright 2006 by Truman State University Press, Kirksville, Missouri All rights reserved. Published 2006. Peter Martyr Library Series and Sixteenth Century Essays & Studies Series tsup.truman.edu Cover and title page design: Teresa Wheeler Type: Adobe Minion, copyright Adobe Systems Inc. Printed by Thomson-Shore, Dexter, Michigan USA Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Vermigli, Pietro Martire, 1499–1562. [In primum, secundum et tertii libri Ethicorum Aristotelis ad Nicomachum. English] Commentary on Aristotle’s Nicomachean ethics / Peter Martyr Vermigli ; edited by Emidio Campi and Joseph C. McLelland. p. cm. — (The Peter Martyr library ; ser. 1, v. 9) (Sixteenth century essays & studies ; v. 73) Includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISBN-13: 978-1-931112-55-0 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 1-931112-55-X (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Aristotle. Nicomachean ethics. Book 1–3. 2. Ethics. I. Campi, Emidio. II. McLelland, Joseph C. III. Title. IV. Series. BR350.V37 2006 [B430] 270.6'092 s—dc22 [171/ 2006001487 No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any format by any means without written permission from the publisher. ∞ The paper in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. PML9_Aristotle_2006 Page v Friday, February 17, 2006 11:39 AM CONTENTS General Editor’s Preface. .vii Editors’ Preface . viii Introduction by Joseph C. McLelland . ix Text and Translation. xxxi COMMENTARY ON ARISTOTLE’S NICOMACHEAN ETHICS Dedication by Giulio Santerenziano . .3 Introduction by Peter Martyr Vermigli . .7 Book 1: Happiness Chapter 1 . .17 Chapter 2 . .37 Chapter 3 . .49 Chapter 4 . .73 Chapter 5 . .93 Chapter 6 . .135 Chapter 7 . .173 Chapter 8 . .197 Chapter 9 . .218 Chapter 10 . .232 Chapter 11 . .252 Chapter 12 . .258 Chapter 13 . .264 Book 2: Virtue Chapter 1 . .287 Chapter 2 . .298 Chapter 3 . .307 Chapter 4 . .325 Chapter 5 . .332 Chapter 6 . .338 Chapter 7 . .351 PML9_Contents Page vi Tuesday, February 21, 2006 12:34 PM Chapter 8 . .361 Chapter 9 . .365 Book 3: Will Chapter 1 . .373 Chapter 2 . .401 Appendix: Works of Peter Martyr . .411 Bibliography . .413 Index of Scripture References . .416 Index of Classical and Medieval References . .420 Subject Index. .427 About the Editors . .439 PML9_Aristotle_2006 Page vii Friday, February 17, 2006 10:53 AM GENERAL EDITOR’S PREFACE The Peter Martyr Library presents a series of annotated translations from Latin into English of the writings of Peter Martyr Vermigli (1499–1562). Previous vol- umes featured a variety of works: dogmatic, polemical, and biographical. Only one was a biblical commentary, although exegesis was Vermigli’s chief role as lecturer in three centers of Reform: Strasbourg, Oxford, and Zurich. The present volume is a translation of his only nonbiblical commentary, his Strasbourg lectures on Aris- totle’s Nicomachean Ethics. As such, it presented new challenges both in subject matter and vocabulary for the translators and editors. Much more than in the pre- vious volumes, this was a team effort: eleven scholars on two continents worked on it in various ways. This volume makes available a significant work of Vermigli’s, displaying both his usual thoroughness and another dimension of his erudition. It also confirms something often overlooked, that the study and influence of Aristotle in university education did not go into sharp decline with the age of Erasmus and Luther. It offers our readers valuable information about Vermigli’s own attitude to the rela- tion between nature and grace, as well as the way philosophy was handled by a leading Reformer. Our series aims at providing the basic and essential tools to show the worth of this neglected scholar. Therefore, we hope this latest volume, a solid work reflecting a dimension of Reformed theology little recognized among us, will serve to stimulate further research on the nature of Reformed Aristotelian- ism, as well as Vermigli’s own kind of philosophical theology. John Patrick Donnelly, S.J. vii PML9_EditPref Page viii Tuesday, February 21, 2006 10:46 AM EDITORS’ PREFACE Peter Martyr Vermigli was a biblical exegete, but also an Aristotelian in philoso- phy, so his commentary on the philosopher’s moral treatise holds special signifi- cance among his writings. It provides crucial evidence of two aspects of his thought. One is his commitment to the “practical Aristotle” familiar from his stu- dent days in Padua. Indeed, his knowledge of the philosopher is noteworthy: in this book he quotes from almost every work of Aristotle, from Categories to Poet- ics. The other is the evidence on view concerning the question—still moot—of “Reformed Scholasticism.” This work suggests that this was no rigid system or sac- rifice of scripture to philosophy. The nature of Scholasticism in both Roman and Reformed traditions should rather be understood as a pedagogical mode of orga- nizing doctrine in behalf of clarity and interior logic. This volume represents the collaboration of a scholarly team. Leszek Wysocki and Joseph McLelland of McGill University began a collaborative effort some years ago to translate the introduction and the first six chapters. Kenneth Austin (St. Andrews, Scotland) completed book 1. Stephen M. Beall, associate professor of classics at Marquette University, translated the remainder (the commentary breaks off at book 3.2). J. P. Donnelly (Marquette University) provided a transla- tion of the dedication. The task of collating these translations was taken up by Roland Diethelm, then Emidio Campi’s assistant in the schola Tigurina, with help from Luca Baschera, Esther Schweizer, and philologist Philipp Wälchli. J. P. Don- nelly and Michael Silverthorne (formerly head of classics at McGill) read the whole for accuracy of translation. Emidio Campi’s ill health forced him to hand over the final editing, including the introduction and footnotes, to Joseph McLel- land; this process occasioned the delay in publication. Thus we have an interna- tional cooperative effort, linking Europe and North America in a significant contribution to scholarly research in early modern Europe. Its inclusion in the Peter Martyr Library is of great importance in approaching our Reformer in the proper light as both commentator and philosophical theologian. Emidio Campi, Zurich Joseph C. McLelland, Montreal November 2005 viii PML9_Intro_JCMcL Page ix Tuesday, February 21, 2006 10:48 AM INTRODUCTION JOSEPH C. MCLELLAND A PERIPATETIC REFORMER Peter Martyr Vermigli (1499–1562) was Aristotelian by both training and disposi- tion. After his novitiate (1514–18) as an Augustinian canon at Fiesole in Italy, he spent eight years at the University of Padua studying philosophy and theology. His theological studies concentrated on Thomas Aquinas and Gregory of Rimini, intro- ducing the young scholar to Thomism and late medieval Augustinianism. Padua’s school of philosophy, made famous through the Italian philosopher Pomponazzi who taught there a generation before, built the foundation of Vermigli’s lifelong dedication to Aristotelianism.1 When Vermigli studied there, Padua was famous for its studies in Aristotle; this provided Vermigli with a context for his theology, which could be described as “man in an Aristotelian world.”2 At that time, Padua was already notorious for its tendency to Averroism, which implied a double truth dividing philosophy and theology, and its daring speculations on the human soul. The University of Padua’s brilliant array of philosophers included Juan de Mon- tesdoch, who specialized in Aristotle’s De anima; Branda Porro, who used Vermigli as his favorite foil in debate; and Marcantonio de’ Passeri,