¶ … perceive as Aristotle's best work known work on ethics, Nichomachean Ethics, sheds light on what Aristotle believed was happiness. "…happiness would seem to need this sort of prosperity added also; that is why some people identify happiness with good fortune, while others <
eacting from one extreme to the other> identify it with virtue" (Aristotle, Irwin, & Fine, p. 360). His perception of what is happiness implies:
that it itself is desired, that is not based on anything else's sake, that it satisfies all desire and is not mixed with any evil, incorruptible,
It is stable.
However, happiness as defined by these aspects are not all of what may comprise the complete meaning of happiness at least in Aristotle's eyes. He believed the life of gratification: comfort, pleasure, the life of money-making, the life of action, and the philosophical life, such as study or contemplation helped to comprise a more complete version of happiness or pleasantness.
Aristotle is known to dismiss the life of pleasure as it is known in society. (I.e. A life that the wants and desires of the body such as sex, food, etc.) But, in his Nicomachean Ethics, his various claims of happiness and therefore pleasure, are different and should be selected based on virtue. He believed the virtuous man finds moderation pleasurable, in accordance with proper reason. Aristotle defined a virtuous individual as deriving pleasure from virtuous acts. The pursuit of virtue to him is a form of pleasure. In a way, Aristotle advocates a life of pleasure, just in moderation and with select activities.
Happiness or the pursuit of pleasure, however it may be seen, involves analysis of what people find themselves desiring. Happiness after all, includes the attainment of some or set of external goods (i.e. Wealth, love, friends, and fame) that will have a person "live well." A second, goods of the body (i.e. Life, good looks, good health, athleticism, etc.) enables a person to enjoy their success or life. A third, goods of the soul, (i.e. virtue, knowledge, education, friendship, etc.) allows for spiritual happiness.
Aristotle viewed specific goods such as life and health as being basic preconditions for happiness where something like wealth could be add-ons or embellishments that enable one to have an easier life at being virtuous. Aristotle believed virtue or the practice of virtue, was the core essential element of happiness. In his eyes, the virtuous person was the only type of person that can attain happiness. He…
Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle said, "The good for man is an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue, or if there are more kinds of virtue than one, in accordance with the best and most perfect kind" (). According to Aristotle and his Nicomachean ethics, there are two kinds of virtue: intellectual and moral. Intellectual virtues are learned by instruction and moral virtues are learned by practice. According to his theory,
Happiness in Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics" According to the definition of human happiness in Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics" the goal of human life ought to be the seeking of happiness, when pursuing all things. This may be contrasted with merely living for the sake of momentary bodily, social, or even personally gratifying pleasure. True, pleasure is often mistaken for happiness. But unlike pleasure, happiness is a moral obligation, shared by all peoples, rather
Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle explains his theory of virtue and how to become virtuous. The main premise of Aristotle's theory of virtue rests upon the ideal of the "highest good" (Nic. Ethics I 2). Aristotle defines this as happiness, or living well. After this, Aristotle goes on to determine what exactly it means to "live well." He begins this process by stating what does not constitute living well. At first
If this was the case, and this transformation of reasoning did occur, then that person would be truly virtuous. There are many strengths to Aristotle's argument, as well. One of the main strengths is the discussion of the two kinds of virtue - the kind that comes from habit, and the kind that comes from learning. This would work to demonstrate why some people change so much as they grow
Acting in accordance with virtuous principles is a key to attaining happiness. In Book Three of the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle explains the difference between voluntary and involuntary action as well as total passivity. In the first chapter of the book, the philosopher explains the importance of free will and taking action in determining ethical behavior. Aristotle concludes that the only truly ethical acts are those that are chosen by
These [bad effects of pleasure and pain] are the reason why people actually define the virtues as ways of being unaffected and undisturbed [by pleasures and pains]" (1104b21-25) It is not imperative to remain indifferent or unaffected by both pleasure and pain to be virtuous, it is only essential that we have the right feelings of pleasure and pain at the right time. Therefore, he goes on defining virtue as
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