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Aristotle Vs Aquinas Research Paper

1274 Words6 Pages

It has always been man’s life goal to achieve happiness. Through money, power, and pleasure, man has attempted to define the exact item that will help them reach their goal; however, they were looking in all the wrong places. Happiness is not gained through material items or ones social standing. Happiness was achieved by being a virtuous person: one who willed good. Aristotle and Aquinas both shared similar views on the morals of the human race, yet also had dissimilar views. The major difference in their views on virtue was that Aristotle believed that being a virtuous person was a good enough means to be moral, while Aquinas believed that one should be moral because God was willing them to me moral. Although Aristotle and Aquinas had differing views on why to be moral, they both believed that one had to live a moral life to be happy. …show more content…

“He is happy who lives in accordance with complete virtue and is sufficiently equipped with external goods, not for some chance period but throughout a complete life.” (Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics) Aristotle believed that there are three parts to the human soul: the vegetative virtue, the appetite virtue, and calculative virtue. The vegetative virtue is completely irrational and has nothing to do with virtue. The appetitive virtue is basically irrational, yet subject to the control of reason, and contributes to moral virtue. The appetitive virtue is awed to teaching and good habits. The third part however, the calculative virtue, is strictly rational, and an intellectual virtue. The calculative virtue is owed to teaching. The calculative virtue allows humans to have reason. Due to man’s ability to reason, he is responsible for his own actions. Therefore, man, and man alone, must strive to live a life of virtue and

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In Greek, the word eudaimonia is often translated to happiness, and it means that happiness should be the final end or goal that each person aims for in their life. He also believes that it cannot be determined whether someone lived a happy, fulfilled life until it is over, because it is measured by how well one has lived up to their full potential as a human being, and is not based off of pleasurable sensations that only last temporarily. In order to have a vibrant life, we must make choices that focus on the future and deliver long term pleasure, instead of choosing tempting, immediate pleasure. Similarly, Aristotle believes that what makes human beings different from the rest of the animal kingdom is that we can practice reason. Humans are capable of acting based on principles, and can take responsibility of their decisions.

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Since “any action is well performed when it is performed in accordance with the appropriate virtue”(1098a15), a good performance of function (which is a display of goodness) is virtuous. For example, a good lyre player is a virtuous player. In the previous part, he concludes that function of humans is rational activity, or the soul acting in accordance to reason. In humans’ case, a good performance of rational activity is thus a display of virtue. For example, as morality is a part of rationale, the good performance of morality can lead an individual towards a virtuous and good life.

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Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas share similarities in pursuing a happy life but each of them have a different approach to leading this life. Both believe the ultimate end is happiness, however Aquinas differs by taking a more spiritual approach. Aristotle and Aquinas both believe humans have goodness, but they disagree with how it is obtained to some degree. Goodness is linked in many ways to evil and because both men believe that one can have too much or too little of a certain thing it could keep them from the goal of happiness and goodness. Although both of these men felt this way Aquinas also believed that evil didn’t actually exist, but also that if one were to do evil, they would only do so by free will.

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They both also contend that there are some actions that are inherently evil, and should never be taken in the first place. The primary difference between the two philosophers is that Aristotle argued that if the considered ends were unjust, the action would still be morally righteous. However, if the ends were considered to be unmet and a better

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The idea of virtue ethics was first introduced to the world by Aristotle over 2,300 years ago in 325 BC (Rachels 173). Virtue ethics operate on the belief that people develop good character by looking at the virtues they admire in other people and emulating them. In order to do this, a person must ask themselves what kind of person they want to be and focus on choosing characteristics not specific people to emulate. Unfortunately, virtue ethics were quickly overshadowed by other perspectives on ethical theory as Christianity gained popularity and values changed. As time went on people stopped asking themselves, “What traits make a good person?”

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We need to decide in every situation the right thing, to do for us. This eventually leads to the statements about finding the mean of all the virtues for yourself. Once you have achieved true happiness, you will be able to deliberate for any person in any scenario what the mean is for them and the right thing to do for all cases and all

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