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Comparing Kant's Outlook On Happiness And Morality

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In relation to how happiness affects the longevity of morality, Kant’s theory clearly looks to separate the two, and show a distinction that will show that if happiness is seen as having a connection with morality; it could cause the end of morality. Though Aristotle proposes a lengthy argument on how happiness is the basis for morality, his argument is dated and fails whereas Kant’s does not. When comparing the two arguments it will show why Kant’s outlook on happiness and morality is the correct view one should take, and how Aristotle’s own short coming further reinforce the consequences of connecting happiness with morality, in that the prior will destroy the latter. Before going in further, one must look at what is happiness to Kant. Happiness, …show more content…

One major problem we find is that Aristotle does not look at the diversity between humans. Aristotle’s ultimate end that he thrust upon humans is narrow and limits what one assumes humans are capable of knowing. Thusly insulting the reason mankind is given. Another problem is that Aristotle is stating in a continuous circle and contradictory way that the motivation for acting virtuously and morally good is achieving the ultimate end, happiness. However Aristotle would not agree with this because according to him an act is not virtuous unless it is so done as to be an end of itself (quote) and that pleasure is only an afterward of living the virtuous life not one’s reason for doing virtuous things. (quote) Yet if a virtue does not help one each happiness, according to Aristotle, they are useless. His contradictory statements are largely un-virtuous in that they simply state our motivations are in fact pleasure incline because one’s overall goal is happiness. Kant in turn believes that moral acts don’t come from the need to reach happiness but moral acts come from a moral duty, the most important motivation and act a rational being can have when trying to follow universal laws that produce morality. This moral duty is a requirement among rational beings that is expressed as the categorical imperative, or is expressed in a way that it can will itself to become a universal law that all rational being understand. This sense of understanding these duties does not affect freedoms either, unlike Aristotle’s

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On the contrary with Aristotle, right off the bat he says that most people will not reach true happiness. When one knows off the top that they will not accomplish something, one of two things will happen. They will either give up or they will push or work even harder. The question then changes for Aristotle from what is happiness, to will enough people challenge themselves enough to reach for the impossible? It is those people that push themselves harder that will reach true happiness.

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Aristotle, like Kant, believed pleasure or happiness should not be the motivating force behind moral actions. Aristotle believed happiness is only acquired through one’s virtue. He believes that “virtue is a mean between two vices, the one involving excess, the other deficiency”(140). Aristotle’s meaning of extreme is to overcompensate by taking excessive measures to fix a certain situation. To be deficient, would be either not do anything at all or the least possible action that would produce little or no result.

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Throughout time, it is said that happiness and having good character are the goals of ones life. This was especially true for Aristotle around the Renaissance period as well as John Stuart Mill in the 17th century. Equally these philosophers have similar views of happiness and character morality with very distinct ideals of what it is that constitutes happiness and the relation of character to morality. To Mill and Aristotle, they both agree humans are the only species capable of moral reason, and to thus have a higher capacity for happiness than oher animals. This parallels John Stuart Mills belief that a “beast’s pleasures do not satisfy a human being’s concept of happiness.

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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.

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According to Aristotle, an individual can achieve happiness only by realizing all the works and activities in accordance with reason throughout his lifetime. He claimed that happiness consists in cultivating and exercising virtue and it is the ultimate purpose of human existence, as stated in his work Nicomachean Ethics “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”. However, such Aristotelian concept of happiness inevitably contradicts the understanding of history as development which maintains that fulfilling the work of human exceeds the limits of an individual and thus can only be achieved in the course of history. Three

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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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It is critical to recognize Mill’s argument that a degree of contentment can exist in periods of less happiness. However, Aristotle’s view of perceiving wellbeing or goodness as ultimate is more pronounced. Worth emphasizing, Aristotle deeply explores his arguments basing them on functions of a rational man and virtues out of habits. Today, a virtuous citizen is one whose actions are inward, in response to conscience and moral obligations as a member of society. Such a person, not waivered with intensities of pleasures, honor, and wealth but seeks to have a satisfactory level of happiness with friends, co-workers, and family among other

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“Happiness, on the other hand, no one chooses for the sake of these, nor, in general, for anything other than itself” Happiness is thought of differently amongst people; but happiness unlike most things is striven for, only for the sake of having it. On the contrary; things like honor and pleasure are pursued in an attempt to achieve the ultimate goal of happiness. Aristotle is picking apart the concept of happiness and directing your eyes to where he sees fit. For people tend to identify happiness with materialistic items, friends, etc.; as he refers to as “worldly goods”, or things regarding: your appearance, children, in addition to having a long life; this of which he refers to as “bodily goods”. Which in no doubt contributes to happiness.

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Reversely to Plato, he considers happiness to be the reason why things are called good. Happiness as a final goal is not a product but an activity. If could not be diminished to the things that constitute it. Rather, we can define happiness by the full employment of human potential. It is important to note that for Aristotle, humans do have the goal or purpose.

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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’.

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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

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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.

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