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Book I Of Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics

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Book I of Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics is devoted to determining whether there is some ultimate good or end that all human actions seek. Aristotle argues that all human actions seek some sort of good, and that there is an ultimate good that we wish for only because of itself, which allows us to wish for other things (NE 1094a5). He argues that we can not choose everything for the sake of something else, because this would lead to an infinite number of choices leaving desire to seem empty. The good that we desire for no other reason other than itself will be the best or ultimate end to human activity (1094a20). He tries to establish this end by giving certain criteria that ends must meet in order to be considered the best good.
He argues …show more content…

This is due to the fact that each of these things is not only desirable for themselves, but also for other reasons. The thing that Aristotle believes can fulfill all the criteria mentioned above is happiness. As he explains, happiness is something that is desired only for itself and for no other reasons, and all human actions aim to achieve happiness. Happiness is sufficient as it benefits the individual as well as those around them, and it makes a life more choice-worthy. It is also an end that is only sought after by humans, unlike a life guided by the senses, which is shared with all other animals (1098a5). Aristotle claims that the other virtues listed above are necessary in order to live a happy life, and he tries to combine them with happiness in order to live the most fulfilled life, but he says that the individual virtues are not sufficient as ultimate …show more content…

I feel as though humans need to have something to strive for in their lives in order to give purpose to life itself. Humans being the political animals we are need to have some sort of aim that we share with other people in order to bring us together and establish a sort of community, while allowing us to understand that we are all similar regardless of where we are

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