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Aristotle's understanding of happiness
Aristotle's notion of happiness
Aristotle's understanding of happiness
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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.
Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics begins by exploring ‘the good’. Book I argues that, unlike other goods, “happiness appears to be something complete and self-sufficient, and is, therefore, the end of actions” (10:1097b20-21). In other words, happiness is the ultimate good. But how does one achieve happiness? Aristotle formulates this in the context of work, since for all things, from artists to horses, “the good and the doing it well seem to be in the work” (10:1097b27-28).
Others view happiness as a more internal and long-lasting state of being that is rooted in a sense of purpose, self-acceptance, and connection with others. In an article called “Read This Story and Get Happier” written by Adam Sternbergh.
Not many achieve happiness in their lifetime. Either they do not live long enough to witness it or they are not prepared for what their happiness is. Happiness is very subjective. Each person’s version of happiness is different. This version of happiness is universal.
While Socrates is in jail, awaiting his execution (after being convicted for corrupting the youth and not believing in the Athenian gods), his friend Crito visits him in an attempt to convince Socrates to escape. Crito along with some friends and strangers are willing to bribe the right people to facilitate Socrates’ escape from prison; however, Socrates refuses, opting instead to face his fate since he believes escaping would be wrong. As a result, Crito accuses Socrates of being selfish for choosing to die, claiming that he would be robbing his children of a father, putting his friends’ reputations at risk, and choosing the easy way out. The definition of selfish is a person, action, or motive lacking consideration for others; concerned chiefly
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.
Happiness, or eudaimonia, according to Aristotle, is defined simply as human flourishing. The act of flourishing
In Book I of the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle brings up the idea that in order to discover the human good we must first develop a certain understanding and identify the function of a human being. Aristotle’s function argument is brought up through his belief that the human function is rational activity, meaning that our good as human beings is rational activity performed fine because this is what leads to living well. The good Aristotle tries to get across can be seen in many different forms depending on how it is viewed, because of the idea that the main function of anything is to reach a final end, the final end is considered the good. “The end of medicine is health, that of shipbuilding, a ship, that of military science, victory…” (Nicomachean,
For a play to be memorable it must have a powerful and dramatic ending; Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire is one example of a play which achieves just this. By using various dramatic methods Williams can provide his audience with both a memorable and effective ending. He accomplishes this in many ways, be it through his focus on reality turning to madness, the mental destruction of an individual, the failure to acknowledge and reflect upon past events or closure for certain characters. Throughout A Streetcar Named Desire Williams’ employs various dramatic methods which help contribute to an effective and intense ending.
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
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.
Happiness is all around you; it is not hard to seek because it is everywhere, but you can easily miss it if you don’t stop and enjoy it. The study of happiness goes back hundreds of years. Socrates studied it and discovered that through human effort happiness is attainable and teachable. Also, if the soul learns to redirect from physical pleasures to virtue, then it helps lead a person down the road to true happiness.
At the end of everyone’s lives, the goal appears to be about attaining happiness. Describing how to obtain happiness has been an issue that was debated in the past but is still talked about now . In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle expands on his view of happiness and he focuses particularly on how reason helps recognize and pursue what will lead to happiness and the good life. I feel that Aristotle’s philosophies on happiness are important works within the field of philosophy and he considered one of the………of it . In this paper, I will explore Aristotle’s beliefs regarding happiness then compare and contrast them to those of Martin Seligman.
In order to do this, we need to 'know thyself ' and become as learned as we can, knowing the good for all, while also being humble. We are all naturally good people, so we must promote the good in the world. According to Aristotle, however, happiness, his goal for all humans is not that easy to obtain. He claims that "happiness is a certain sort of activity of the soul in accord with virtue (Aristotle, p.12). On the Aristotelian model of how to obtain happiness, it deals a great deal with the issue of particulars.
The definition of happiness incorporates different aspects of religion, science, and philosophy. To me, being happy means that someone has discovered who they truly are and what they believe in. A study on the Jewish
