This is a very old argument. Certainly anyone familiar with Nietzsche or Strauss will have seen one version of it rehearsed. But it’s not entirely persuasive (there are some excellent counter-arguments already in this thread), and there are reams of literature on it.
The truth is, we do not know for certain what Plato or Aristotle really meant, and these philological arguments don’t—can’t—settle the matter.
Would you have any good summary or review articles on the debate to recommend?
It certainly feels like there’d be plenty of other data to help judge the question besides just Plato’s and Aristotle’s writings—e.g. other writings from the era or anthropological data from non-Western cultures (e.g. it was already mentioned that “distinguishing right and wrong” has been documented as a human universal by one anthropologist).
This is a very old argument. Certainly anyone familiar with Nietzsche or Strauss will have seen one version of it rehearsed. But it’s not entirely persuasive (there are some excellent counter-arguments already in this thread), and there are reams of literature on it.
The truth is, we do not know for certain what Plato or Aristotle really meant, and these philological arguments don’t—can’t—settle the matter.
Would you have any good summary or review articles on the debate to recommend?
It certainly feels like there’d be plenty of other data to help judge the question besides just Plato’s and Aristotle’s writings—e.g. other writings from the era or anthropological data from non-Western cultures (e.g. it was already mentioned that “distinguishing right and wrong” has been documented as a human universal by one anthropologist).
Regarding the question of what ancient Greeks meant by “the good,” I’d start with the SEP.
I have no idea about anthropological data from non-Western cultures.