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Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics

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Introduction
The central claim of this position paper is that to be a good friend; you need to be a moral person. I will explore how virtues can impact friendship in reference to Alexander MacIntyre (1981), Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics (2004), Marcus Tullius Cicero and Lucius Annaeus Seneca.

Argument One
‘Philia’, the love of friendship, Pope Benedict XVI (2005, p. 1) explains, is based on the relationship between Jesus and his disciples. Jesus taught us to not look on others solely with our eyes and feelings, but from the standpoint of Jesus Christ (XVI, 2005, p. 3). A moral person could not be a friend with a bad person, as the bond of true friendship is a shared alliance and acknowledgment to the pursuit of good (MacIntyre, 1981, p.
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In Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, he outlines the different scenarios in which one is responsible for her actions.  There is, however, a possible objection which raises the possibility that nobody is responsible for their actions.  Are we responsible for some of our actions after all?   If so, under what circumstances?

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This principle lies at the heart of the great-souled man, the first of Aristotle’s peaks of humanly excellence. The great-souled man is chiefly concerned with—and strikes the mean with—external goods. The greatest of these goods is “the one that we assign to the gods, and at which people of high standing aim most of all, and which is the prize given for the most beautiful deeds; and of this kind is honor” (67:1123b19-21). A man who has achieved greatness of soul is deserving of great honors, but more importantly, he understands his own desert and acts appropriately.

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Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Book ll, is about his idea of how people should live a virtuous life. Throughout this book, he explains that humans learn virtue from instructions and we learn virtue from practice too. Virtue is something that is very important because it is a moral habit that results in keeping our moral values. Aristotle believed that nobody is born with virtue, everyone has to work at it daily. After reading Nicomachean ethics, Book ll, my main conclusion of it is that us as humans are better off being virtuous than simply doing what we feel like doing at any moment in time.

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In his book Nicomanchean Ethics Aristotle explains and differentiates voluntary and involuntary actions and expatiate on all the factor that contribute in deciding on the nature of our actions. The purpose of this differentiation is essential for the study of virtue ethics and more importantly for the study of jurisprudence “to the assigning of both of honors and of punishments” onto individuals. Aristotle firstly describes factors that causes actions to be involuntary or voluntary, such as ignorance, compulsion and choice. The understanding of such factors and their relation to our actions are also important to understand the principles explained by Aristotle. Voluntary actions is defined by Aristotle as actions that have their principle

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The Nicomachean Ethics begin with a simple concept-- everyone wants happiness. In Book 1 of Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle explores what happiness is and how to achieve ultimate happiness and good life. In the passage, 1097b22-1098a18, also known as the “function argument”, he further explores the happiness as the chief good concept by examining human function and the good that comes along. In this passage, Aristotle’s thesis is that the good of humans resides in human function of activity with reason (rational activity). From this thesis, we can imply that the good performance of function can lead to ultimate happiness.

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From Friendship, Grows Generosity In Cicero’s work, On Obligations, the core values of life, including generosity and justice, are referred to in terms of how one should live a life that has fully and righteously incorporated them. How one chooses to live their life overlaps with how they interact with the people around them. Relationships with friends and family provide a point of reference for who someone is and what they value.

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As we have read in the Aristotle Nicomachean Ethics book, Aristotle believed that there are three different kinds of friendship. There is the friendship of utility, the friendship of pleasure and the friendship of the good. Aristotle believed that in order for people to be friends they must see each other with common respect and wish one another good. The friendship of utility as described by Aristotle is the kind of friendship that is not permanent it is mostly temporary. This kind of friendship is mostly temporary because the friendship is based on benefits that can be obtained from one another.

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The main topic of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics is eudaimonia, i.e. happiness in the “living well” or “flourishing” sense (terms I will be using interchangeably). In this paper, I will present Aristotle’s view on the role of external goods and fortune for the achievement of happiness. I will argue that he considers them a prerequisite for virtue. Their contribution to happiness is indirect, via the way they affect how we can engage in rational activity according to the relevant virtues. I will then object that this view threatens to make his overall account of happiness incoherent.

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“Every skill and every inquiry, and similarly every action and rational choice, is thought to aim at some good; and so the good has been aptly described as that which everything aims. But it is clear that there is some difference between ends: some ends are activities, while others are products which are additional to the activities. In cases where there are ends additional to the actions, the products are by their nature better than activities.” (Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics, as translated by Crisp, 2000, p. #3) Aristotle was the first philosopher who wrote a book on ethics titled, Nichomachean Ethics.

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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.

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Aristotle was one of the greatest philosophers in his time. His work has survived until today. Aristotle’s work is still being used today in schools and even public office. During Aristotle’s exile in Euboea, Aristotle wrote what is known today as Nicomachean Ethics. During this time, he thought a lot about the pursuit of happiness and wrote about the subject.

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In todays world there is a distinct gap which separates virtue (ethics) from politics. For instance, the two distinct areas are not usually studied together, but are mostly separated from one another. This is far different than Aristotle’s approach in which he grouped both areas together because he felt that they are both practical sciences concerned with good action. Nicomachean Ethics is where his beliefs come to the forefront, with his connection of politics and virtue. He argues that all of the sciences are put to use in political science, which make it the master of promoting human good.

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Aristotle advanced the philosophy of ethics, where he demonstrated that it is a means of achieving an end to happiness. However, happiness means many things to different people. To Aristotle, the most adequate way to pursue happiness is through the virtue of excellence. In his writings, Aristotle connected his therory of virtue to economics, and leadership as well. It is a matter of connecting ones personal ethics to that of ones business ethics.

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