Aristotle's Essay On Happiness

happiness is more of a long-term state of being, more of an end goal than a momentary feeling. He explains that people should search for the chief good for ourselves and no one else, “that which it is always desirable in itself and not ever for the sake of something else” (Nicomachean Ethics, 1097a30-34). We often search for money and pleasure in today’s society because we believe that these materialistic elements will bring us instant happiness, but it simply brings momentary enjoyment. Aristotle demonstrates that these goods, combined over time, can be means to attain happiness even if happiness is the end of one’s search to a virtuous life. Eudaimonia, a term Aristotle uses often, is very misleading since Aristotle uses it to describe happiness
He was able to show the readers his understanding of life and therefore demonstrate that the goal is to attain happiness. He explains that you must live virtuously in order to live a happy life, and that happiness is reachable once life is complete. You may enjoy aspects of your life and feel good, but that does not necessarily define happiness for Aristotle. Happiness to him is an end goal rather than a short-term feeling. He demonstrates the importance of living a virtuous life because it is in doing so that one can truly attain happiness. He goes on to explain that the Mean and the soul are important in order to understand yourself. They must be in order for an individual to live virtuously. He demonstrates that one must understand the world around them in order to understand themselves, and he classifies the world in four categories, such as the minerals, the vegetative, the animals and then the humans. Aristotle then demonstrates that the virtue of friendship is a crucial one in order to find happiness. Friendship is an enjoyable part of life and by having few virtuous relationships, one can further their notion of what it is to be happy. He explains that humans must search for long-term benefits rather than short-term ones in order to live virtuously. As a result, Aristotle reveals that the purpose of life is to life virtuously in order to achieve