The audience of the Nicomachean Ethics

The question, "Who is the audience of the Nicomachean Ethics?" is crucial f or understanding Aristotle's political philosophy. Leo Strauss and Aristide Tessitore have both argued that it consisted in part of gentlemen who uncr itically accepted the worth of moral virtue as the starting point and horiz on of the inquiry. By contrast, I argue that Aristotle seeks a common start ing point with his audience in a commitment to noble action. Aristotle conn ects the love of noble action with the pursuit of honor. Yet, while this pu rsuit led some of his students to value moral virtue, it led others to valu e mastery. I explain the audience's equivocal understanding of virtue by tr acing it back to the psychic motivations of the pursuit of honor in ancient Greece. This account helps us better understand Aristotle's overall pedago gical strategy in the Ethics.