Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics

Moral Philosophy

As Aristotle uncovered in the early chapters of Book 1 of Nicomachean Ethics, all actions teleological, aiming at the ultimate good. Everything we do is goal directed, with this ultimate end being happiness, but more exactly a maintained state of well being called eudaimonia. While the route to achieve this ultimate end can be unique for individuals and understood different by those of varying experience and intellectual levels, the chief good at the end always remains the same. The problem society seems to come upon, however, is the misunderstood definition of this ultimate good of true happiness.
There are three main lives, which Aristotle states, that misguided people live in chasing what they incorrectly believe
In society today, especially American society, this idea is completely apparent. Every day we hear of people committing acts of crime, such as rape, in order to give them pleasure. On a closer level, alcoholics drinking in order to be happy, or obese people eating to be happy are examples of abuse of pleasure because they seek the physical sensation as the ultimate end. The problem with every physical pleasure however, is that it lasts only temporarily, and thus cannot be the ultimate good because physical pleasure is just a feeling and not a maintainable state of
Aristotle describes this lifestyle as being in a way “forced on him” (5) because he uses money as a means to other ends such as items that give pleasure or power to gain status and honor. Even though it seems obvious, there are still many people who chase money for the sake of having more money. This can be saddening because these people never realize that there is more to life than green pieces of paper; however in this American capitalist society, one is taught from a young age to strive to be successful and make lot of money. While money is still necessary in order to survive, it is not the money that we should be aiming at, but the lifestyle that having sufficient money permits us to