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Aristotle Pleasure Essay

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Aristotle argues that pleasure is related to Happiness in that it perfects the activity of life. I disagree because in my experience happiness encourages me to seek out pleasure. Moreover, it seems like the modern world has become consumed by indulgence to the extent that Aristotle’s arguments no longer apply.
In the early parts of the Ethics, Aristotle suggests that life is about the pursuit of the supreme Good. By the same token, he believes that all activities lead to Happiness and therefore should be executed in an excellent way. In light of these prior discussions, Aristotle contemplates the role of pleasure in respect to happiness in Part 4 of the Ethics. Originally, Aristotle considered pleasure to be a “sphere of action” in which temperance …show more content…

More specifically, Aristotle suggests that continence is the respect of self-imposed rules, while temperance in about enduring those self-imposed rules (p.34). Once he has established the qualities related to pleasure, Aristotle goes on to investigate the role of pleasure in ethics. At this point, Aristotle considers that pleasure has a powerful influence over humankind and their actions. He demonstrates this by noting the use of pleasure and pain in the instruction of children and the shaping of character (p.36). In addition, Aristotle evaluates the opinions of two different schools in order to establish the role of pleasure. He notes that one school believes that pleasure is Happiness; while the other maintains that it is wrong because people are unable to restrain themselves from indulgence. With respects to what the role of pleasure is, Aristotle rejects the latter and claims instead that “pleasure is essential to life” (p.36). He argues that people are drawn to pleasure because it refines the activity that is life (p.37). Therefore, pleasure is not “wholly bad” nor is it “Happiness” (p.36); it is rather what perfects life (p.37). Once Aristotle has understood the role of pleasure in ethics, he searches to further understand the way pleasures relate to

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