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Aristotle conception of happiness
Aristotle's view of happiness
Aristotle conception of happiness
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Aristotle conception of happiness
Aristotle's view of happiness
Aristotle conception of happiness
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Recommended: Aristotle conception of happiness
To do this I must first explain several concepts of Aristotle which are: (1) how he concludes that the human function is reason, (2) what he means by happiness and how it is the human good, and (3) why he believes that the activity of the soul must be virtuous to become
Aristotle replies by saying that if people are responsible for their character, they are also responsible for the way that their character causes them to view an end. The objection to this statement introduces the argument that if everyone is ignorant of the end, and is attempting to do what is best for themselves, they would need to be born with a natural sense of what is truly good in order to have the proper judgement to choose. This would mean that no one could be responsible for their actions without having been born with this inherent sense of what is good, and people are not born with this sense. Therefore, people clearly cannot be held responsible for their actions as a result of their ignorance. This goes against Aristotle’s earlier points, as he is implying that nothing can truly be our responsibility if our ignorance prevents us from being able to tell what is good and what is not.
Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics begins by exploring ‘the good’. Book I argues that, unlike other goods, “happiness appears to be something complete and self-sufficient, and is, therefore, the end of actions” (10:1097b20-21). In other words, happiness is the ultimate good. But how does one achieve happiness? Aristotle formulates this in the context of work, since for all things, from artists to horses, “the good and the doing it well seem to be in the work” (10:1097b27-28).
Aristotle writes pages upon pages about Rhetoric & its proper uses throughout his three books. However, a majority of his arguments come down to his personal interpretation of what is considered appropriate in any argumentative situation. Specifically in Part 11 of his third book Rhetoric, he makes many errors in these interpretations. (1) First, Aristotle has made a habit of being redundant. For example, Aristotle first brings up the idea that similes are metaphors in Part 10 on page 17 when he says, “The simile, as has been said before, is a metaphor, differing from it only the way it is put, and just because it is longer it is less attractive.”
Thus, when human function is done well, it is in accordance with virtue and best human life is achieved. In addition, it can be inferred that since Aristotle’s definition of happiness is to be virtuous, performing rational activity well can lead to happiness. In addition, Aristotle states, “if there are more than one virtue, in accordance with the best and most complete” (1098a18). This means that eventually there will be one virtue that is inclusive of all virtue and that displays an end, and this virtue will be in line with the self-sufficient and inclusive concept of happiness as the chief good. If this inclusive virtue and good is achieved, ultimate happiness will be achieved as well.
In Book I of the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle brings up the idea that in order to discover the human good we must first develop a certain understanding and identify the function of a human being. Aristotle’s function argument is brought up through his belief that the human function is rational activity, meaning that our good as human beings is rational activity performed fine because this is what leads to living well. The good Aristotle tries to get across can be seen in many different forms depending on how it is viewed, because of the idea that the main function of anything is to reach a final end, the final end is considered the good. “The end of medicine is health, that of shipbuilding, a ship, that of military science, victory…” (Nicomachean,
1. The theory of scala naturae classified living organisms according to their genetic composition. The classification system ordered the organisms’ genetic composition depending on their development from simplistic characteristics to highly developed characteristics. The organisms’ position in the classification system was derived from Aristotle’s theory that organisms did not develop or change as they were developed specifically for a type of environment. These characteristics were ordered from simplest to most developed when comparing organisms with similar physiological structures (Reece et al., 453).
He used opportunity as one of his examples, but learning works just as well. Learning is in sciences, like learning just how something functions. Learning is found in medicine, by learning how ailment or cure acts in a human body. Aristotle then talks of the Pythagoreans and the Platonists with their views on the universal good. However, they focus more so on the plural form of good, while Aristotle talks of the singular form of good.
In Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, the concept of happiness is introduced as the ultimate good one can achieve in life as well as the ultimate goal of human existence. As Aristotle goes on to further define happiness, one can see that his concept is much different from the 21st-century view. Aristotelian happiness can be achieved through choosing to live the contemplative life, which would naturally encompass moralistic virtue. This differs significantly from the modern view of happiness, which is heavily reliant on material goods. To a person in the 21st-century, happiness is simply an emotional byproduct one experiences as a result of acquiring material goods.
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher who was born in Stagira in 384 B.C. He lived in a medical family with his father working as a physician for the king at the time. Plato’s Academy was where Aristotle learned when he moved to Athens at the age of seventeen. Aristotle was well respected when he left the school after twenty years of learning and teaching. Unfortunately, after the death of Plato, Aristotle left Athens to live on the coast of Asia Minor, where he began to research marine biology.
The chief good is good for its own sake and all other goods are means. Aristotle purposes that happiness is the chief good. It makes since if we think about it. Happiness is desirable, I can’t use happiness to achieve any
At the end of everyone’s lives, the goal appears to be about attaining happiness. Describing how to obtain happiness has been an issue that was debated in the past but is still talked about now . In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle expands on his view of happiness and he focuses particularly on how reason helps recognize and pursue what will lead to happiness and the good life. I feel that Aristotle’s philosophies on happiness are important works within the field of philosophy and he considered one of the………of it . In this paper, I will explore Aristotle’s beliefs regarding happiness then compare and contrast them to those of Martin Seligman.
Aristotles starting point is with the highest good. It is the ultimate end goal. The highest human good is always worth pursuing in its own right. It is an activity that is an end in itself. This conception allows him to isolate two features of what he determines the ‘end goal’ or ‘final purpose’.
In this essay, I will be discussing Aristotle’s conception of the “good life” which he outlined in the Nicomachean Ethics. As we will see, the “good life” for man according to Aristotle is one where we perform the particular activity which is distinctly ours and guides us towards eudaimonia – sometimes translated as ‘happiness’ or ‘well-being’. He shows us how the other conflicting depictions of the ‘good life’ are misguided, and how we should aim for a life of reason. First, however, I will discuss briefly what Aristotle meant by the term ‘good’ and then move on to how he arrived at the conclusion on human happiness. Aristotle believes that the ‘good life’ for a particular organism depends on what that organism is and the conditions it requires
For Aristotle, happiness is the end and purpose of human existence. To pursue happiness is to go for telos. Happiness is neither pleasure nor virtue, but an exercise of virtue. Happiness cannot be achieved until the end of one’s life. Hence, it is a goal not a temporary state.