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 the actor. An involuntary act, one that is done begrudgingly or because of coercion, might yield positive results but cannot be considered ethical. A person who picks up garbage from the streets because they are performing mandatory community service is not acting ethically or from a virtuous character. On the other hand, a person who picks up garbage on the streets to beautify the community or to welcome a guest would be acting with virtue and in accordance with ethics. Aristotle also explains a third state of being, which is basically being unaware. An individual who acts without thinking can also be performing virtuous and ethical behaviors but cannot be considered virtuous automatically. A person who picks up garbage from the streets mindlessly or to practice their throwing skills would have accomplished a positive goal but would not be considered virtuous. The behavior is ethical but the individual might not be. This passage underscores Aristotle's central claim that virtue is integral to human character. Ethics are not absolute laws or lists of "dos" and "don'ts." Instead, ethics are what distinguish intelligent, rational, and virtuous individuals from the rest of the world. Aristotle bases a person's character on actions rather than words; Aristotle judges ethical decisions on the person's intention to act as much as on the person's actions. In the final book of the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle reflects back on the concept of...
In Chapter 7 of Book 10, Aristotle links together virtue and happiness. Moreover, Aristotle explains why pleasure helps human beings determine both virtue and happiness. Pleasure is like a gauge of both virtue and of happiness. In Chapter 7 of Book 10 the philosopher also notes that that reason is important to the creation and maintenance of happiness. Aristotle refers to the highest forms of happiness as the pinnacle of human thought. Happiness is "activity in accordance with virtue," as the philosopher states in the first sentence of the chapter.
Unlike either deontological or utilitarian ethics, virtue ethics focuses on character. Because virtue ethics are not consequentialist, overall virtue ethical frameworks are more akin to deontological analysis of moral right and wrong. One’s intentions are as important as one’s actions; the consequences of one’s actions are important but not as much as remaining honest, compassionate, and willing to learn. At the same time, Aristotle and other proponents of virtue ethics
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
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,
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
Aristotle thought happiness was longer in coming, it was the manner of being actualized and fulfilling one's true potential using their own individual gifts: Again, if the virtues are concerned with actions and passions, and every passion and every action is accompanied by pleasure and pain, for this reason also virtue will be concerned with pleasures and pains. This is indicated also by the fact that punishment is indicated by
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
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