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The Old Testament And Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics

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Seventeenth century Russian philosopher Leo Tolstoy once said, “If you want to be happy, be.” His theory on happiness makes this final goal in life seem to be simple and easy to achieve. Thousands of years before Leo Tolstoy’s time, however, very different theories concerning this goal surfaced from various sources that made this goal of happiness seem much more difficult and unattainable. Two of these sources included The Bible, specifically the Old Testament, and Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. In the Book of Job in the Bible, one main theme conveyed to the reader is that God is the final destination; there is nothing beyond Him. Therefore, according to the Bible, giving faith, trust, loyalty, and sacrifices to Him will grant happiness …show more content…

These standards are not in place simply to prevent chaos or destruction, but rather they are moral standards. Found in the Torah (meaning “law” in Hebrew), these guidelines or commandments emphasize that God is not a leader of common law; He is a holy leader. He wants the best possible outcome for the human race. That being said, He does not want his followers to simply obey his law like blind sheep; He wants them to internalize it. These standards and intentions from God contribute to achieving the goal of a happy and well-fulfilled life because those who want to achieve this goal must follow God’s command and utilize their faith. This means that one must abandon their whole self into the very hands of the living God. This idea of faith and self-sacrifice to the Lord is displayed all throughout the Bible, but especially in the Psalms. For example, in Psalm 104, the unknown author writes, “I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. May my meditation be pleasing to Him, for I rejoice in the Lord” (Ps 104:33-34). This concept is also emphasized in the book of Samuel, “If you will fear the Lord and serve him and listen to his voice and not rebel against [Him]… it will be well” (1 Samuel 12:14). Giving oneself fully to God guarantees an everlasting source of love and comfort. This, according to the Bible, is what true …show more content…

As previously stated, Aristotle offers no specific formula to achieve this happiness. He does however assert that the highest “good” one can obtain in life is happiness. He makes this clear by explaining that happiness is never pursued for the sake of something else, everything else in life is pursued for the sake of happiness, “So happiness appears to be something complete and self-sufficient, it being an end to our actions” (Aristotle pg. 12 lines 20-21). This happiness he describes is deeper than just the pleasures of wealth, sex, self-indulgence, or anything else in life that provides temporary pleasure. These temporary pleasures are examples of vices, or bad moral habits, that prevent the progression of oneself to the highest good. As mentioned previously, the good moral habits one ought to form in life are called virtues. Living a virtuous life and forming a good moral character advances one closer and closer to happiness. Happiness, in Aristotle’s words is “an activity of soul and actions accompanied by reason… and each thing is brought to completion well in accord with the virtue proper to it” (Aristotle pg. 13 lines 13-16). This means that to be truly happy, one must make a conscious decision to do so. It is an activity for which one must put their abilities to use in order for it to be successful. Putting

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On the other side, if a person lives by the words of Christ, they are satisfied. This reminds me of a quote that my brother likes that says, "Jesus + nothing = everything." With the words and affirmations of Christ, we find our hope and strength. The words of the Lord are encouragement and show us things about our Creator; it gives us knowledge. This gives us the energy and drive to get up in the morning and live for the glory of God.

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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).

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It is important to want to obtain true happiness instead of just having it

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Psalms 24:1. An I believe that we must really look at that scripture and see that God is all that we need, with him we can be fulfilled. Having nice things and all the treasures in life can never replace having him in our lives. Thank God for his word we can learn new things every single day and Wayne really does a great job of using the right scriptures for some of his main

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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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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).

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Solomon advises that true happiness can only be found in God. He is qualified to give this lesson on the meaning of life as he achieved most of the things that we as humans seek to find true life satisfaction. He achieved wealth, education, leisure and success (Gottwald, 1997). He advises us to seek God first if we want to find the true meaning of life. According to him, contentment cannot be found in material things or in worldly

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This is because The Good and Happiness have been ill-defined so far, having only outlined that Happiness must be what is finally sought. Without knowing the nature of either in sufficient detail, it is meaningless to define one as the other (NE. 1097b20-25, pp.11). Aristotle then posits that this nature could be found if we determined the function of mankind, as The Good has been thought to reside in the function of a given activity or thing. Firstly, Aristotle sets out to prove that Man has a function at all.

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In the reading, “Virtue," Aristotle argues that humans ultimately want to live a happy and well-lived life (pp. 310-311), and the main way humans achieve this is through virtue (pp. 311-312), which serves as a mean to the extremes of excess and the extreme of deficiency (pp. 315-317).   One of the author’s main reasons to support his view is that human happiness is the highest good for all people, but the definition as to what happiness is varies (pp. 310). Aristotle considers virtue an activity of the soul, as it is the means of obtaining happiness (pp.312). Another main reason Aristotle presents to support his view is that people look at those who live a good, virtuous life and emulate those virtuous acts so they too could live a well-lived

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He views pleasure, as an essential factor needed to achieve the goal of life, which is eudemonia. Aristotle goes back to the point that pleasure cannot be a process. He elaborates how process is like a developmental stage, providing the example of building a temple, that you achieve pleasure after different stages of completion. However, pleasure cannot be achieved through a development stage. Aristotle provides the example of how during a conversation you do not wait in till the end to experience the pleasure, but while you are taking you are engaging in that pleasure.

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Aquinas argues that “mans ultimate happiness” cannot be fulfilled in his/her own life because we need that extra help from God, the eternal. (Wogaman, 90)

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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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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.

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As the saying goes, “A person cannot give something that he does not have.” For a person to be truly happy, he should imbibe it and be a role-model on how it is to be truly happy. One of the best ways for a person to do these things, is to be open enough to do good things as well. He should always remember that genuine goodness leads to true

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