Aristotle on Self-Perception and Pleasure

Abstract

In this paper I examine the connection which Aristotle establishes between pleasure andactivity, and more precisely, between pleasure and self-perception. I defend that when Aristotlelinks pleasure with activity he is referring to the conscious activities of the soul: seeing, knowing, feeling good, etc. Pleasure occurs in our consciousness of perfection because we experience pleasure when we feel that our nature develops in the right way. Pleasure is not something extra to the activity, but a self-perception of the good development of conscious activity, and this way of understanding pleasure helps to solve some questions raised of interpretation by J. O. Urmson and D. Frede.