Hall’s new book clears a rare middle way for her reader to pursue happiness, what the ancient Greeks called eudaimonia, usually translated as well-being or prosperity ... Hall excels when she is at her most frank ... I finished Hall’s book largely convinced but equally worried: Was this the sort of message that could reach the readership that needed it most? Could a virtuous happiness trump greed and cynicism? Maybe ... Those most in need of ethical training are probably the least likely to spend $27 on a moral guidebook. There is, however, hope.
A practical and enjoyable guide to Aristotle’s philosophy as a recipe for contentment in the modern world ... It can be quite a leap between old and new ... It’s surprising how comfortably Aristotle’s philosophy fits with voguish concepts such as mindfulness and self-love ... Greek philosophy can sometimes get lost in translation, but Hall is excellent at explaining what lies behind words such as ‘vice’ and ‘virtue’...She is also sensitive to the difficulties of living according to the precepts of a philosopher who believed that women possessed less intellectual potential than men ... moves seamlessly from issuing practical advice drawn from Aristotle’s writings to analysing his principal ideas, weaving in some surprising material along the way.
Unlike Plato, who saw the passions as unruly beasts to be tamed, Aristotle thought that our job was to tune them ... Ms. Hall does a good job of explaining this and many other Aristotelian ideas, bringing them to life with vivid examples ... But on many occasions Ms. Hall brings too much of herself to her subject, presenting her contemporary version of Aristotle rather than the ancient Greek original ... Aristotle’s Way has much to commend it: It raises the profile of the great philosopher, makes the relevance of his key ideas plain and will encourage people to read his classic Nicomachean Ethics. But while it preserves most of the gold to be found in the ancient source material, the effort to mine Aristotle’s thought for a happiness-seeking age makes the book’s message, if more palatable, less potent.
The range and subtlety of [Aristotle's] thought are almost inexpressibly thrilling, and it’s a mark against Edith Hall’s mostly lucid trot through what Aristotle can do for us that, in modernising and domesticating him, and making him instrumental in a self-help format, some of that thrill is lost. Mind you, it may be that this wasn’t the book on Aristotle she wanted to write so much as the only one she could publish ... of its type this isn’t too bad. Here, largely, is Aristotle in paraphrase or boiled down ... But some of his freshness and particularity, in being packaged as formulas and bromides, is gone. And she’s loose-ish ... But if you ignore the fluff, here’s a clear and frequently interesting survey of Aristotle’s thought on everything from virtue, work and friendship to the natural world, God and the good death, together with biographical snippets and personal reflections, from an author who has clearly read Aristotle well.
This stuff clearly lends itself to the sort of treatment Hall is attempting. Unfortunately, her book lacks conviction, or a sense of intellectual excitement ... this is, on the whole, a rather pooterish account of Aristotle’s philosophy. Her book bathetically fails to live up to its ambitious subtitle, How Ancient Wisdom Can Change Your Life ... I longed for new, ambitious thought. But all too often Hall serves up platitudes ... feels like the work of someone filling out her publisher’s word count ... There is a great defence of eudaimonia to be written. This isn’t it.
An expansive, practical assessment of Aristotle intended to help readers navigate life ... handles weighty, difficult topics such as depression and everyday tasks such as preparing for an important meeting or job interview with the same measured, clear prose ... General readers might struggle with Hall’s level of philosophical discourse; however, for academics or the philosophically inclined, her book is an engaging, thrilling approach to Aristotle’s pragmatic thought. It is a useful introduction to the ideas of one of the most important philosophers in world history.
