THE CONCEPT OF BRUTISHNESS (THERIOTES) IN ARISTOTLE'S NICOMACHEAN ETHICS

The article deals with the, brutishness" or, beastliness" (theriotes), a concept introduced by Aristotle in the seventh book of the Nicomachean Ethics and defined by him as a negative ethical disposition, different both from vice (kakia) and from incontinence (akrasia), and leading to such pathological behaviours as canibalism, paedophilia, omophagia, phobias and compulsions. Aristotle's statements concerning the brutishness (VII 1, 1145a15-35, VII 5, 1148b15-1149a24 and VII 6, 1149b23-1150a8) are examined and interpreted in order to clarify the following issues: the essence of the theriotes as a specific ethical disposition (Part I-II), its concrete forms and their causes (Part III), the moral-psychological condition of persons with a brutish hexis (Part IV), and their self-consciousness and moral responsibility for their bestial acts (Part V).