Journal of the History of Philosophy

the eudemian ethics (ee) starts with a remarkable claim: happiness is the best, the most beautiful, and the most pleasant thing of all. I call this the Superlative Thesis (ST).1 One of the components of ST is that happiness is the most pleasant thing of all.2 I call this the Pleasure Thesis (PT) (EE I.1214a7–8). In this paper, I reconstruct Aristotle’s argument in favor of PT and I show that happiness is the most pleasant thing of all for three reasons: (1) it is pleasant by definition; (2) it is constituted by the most pleasant activities (virtuous actions and contemplation); and (3) it is pleasant by nature. PT is not peripheral to Aristotle’s project in the EE, but rather is essential insofar as it shows that
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