Preview

Aristotle's Niconmachean Ethics

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1021 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Aristotle's Niconmachean Ethics
In Books 9-11 of the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle works to segregate the explanations of happiness as a result of fortune and happiness as a result of virtuous actions. However, after he reaches an ideologically pure explanation, he quickly pivots backwards, settling on an explanation that incorporates elements of both theories. This allows posthumous events to affect one’s state of happiness, impacts his definition of happiness, and exemplifies the text’s ideological inclusion.
Before we can delve into the puzzle of postmortem proceedings affecting happiness, it is important to understand the debate in Book 9 that sets up this puzzle. In Book 9 Aristotle debates how humans achieve happiness. He presents us with a false dichotomy. One possibility …show more content…
He states that if happiness comes from human cultivation, it can be easily shared and almost everybody could be able to achieve it. This is the basis for his strong belief that this is a better way to receive happiness. At one point he even writes, “it would be seriously inappropriate to entrust what is greatest and finest to fortune.” Citing this strong preference for human agency based happiness, Aristotle declares that this is how humans achieve happiness. He then remarks that this explanation dovetails well with the definition of happiness – the activity of the soul expressing virtue, with necessary and useful goods - he put forward earlier. In turn, since happiness depends on the virtue, which needs to be cultivated, teaching citizens virtue (political science) must be the best good. So this line of reasoning bolsters his conclusion that political science is the best …show more content…
He asserts that this reasoning leads to a conception of the, “happy person as a kind of chameleon insecurely based.” Aristotle rejects this notion because he believes that doing well or badly rests not on the swings of fortune but rather human activities. He writes that, “activities expressing virtue … control happiness, and the contrary activities control its contrary.” He then contrasts the constantly wavering fortune based happy person with virtuous acts themselves. He believes that virtuous acts are good because they represent some measure of the eternal divine. Aristotle believes that it is virtuous acts’ eternality that causes them to be remembered by so many people. This is a very significant point because from this point he deducts one of the defining characteristics of a happy person: “that the happy person has the [stability] we are looking for and keeps his character throughout his life.” He then expounds on the implications of this characteristic in writing “small strokes of good or ill fortune clearly will not influence his life.” On the other hand, large stokes of fortune will add “adornments” making his life more “blessed” and large strokes of misfortune will impede his blessedness. However, Aristotle quickly makes it clear that these strokes of fortune will not alter a
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Summary Of Happiness Enough Already By Sharon Begley
    • 219 Words
    • 1 Page

    Summary Of Happiness Enough Already By Sharon Begley

    In the article “Happiness: Enough Already” the author Sharon Begley draws up the argument that happiness may be the ultimate goal in life for many people, but too much happiness can also be as what she describes as “the end of the drive for ever-greater heights of happiness” (page number). Throughout the article Begley conveys that happiness is not always for the best, and that sometimes sadness and negativity brings out the best in a person. Begley proves her point by exploiting the negative views of happiness. Begley suggest that happiness is not instilled in a person for a long time because “negative emotion evolved for a reason” (page number). Begley then moves forward to better prove her explanation by emphasizing successful artists who…

    • 219 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Ethical Theory Comparison Chart Paper
    • 1095 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Ethical Theory Comparison Chart Paper

    Aristotle believed that we as humans have natural obligations that provide happiness. Happiness consists of pleasure and the capacity to develop reasoning.…

    • 1095 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Morally Ambiguous Characters in the Brave New World
    • 688 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Morally Ambiguous Characters in the Brave New World

    "Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the over-compensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal…

    • 688 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    PHI2000 The Good Life
    • 1319 Words
    • 6 Pages

    PHI2000 The Good Life

    Aristotle believes that one’s accomplishments in being happy are the driving force to a “Good Life”. The good life creates a happiness that relates to one functioning well and reason. Aristotle believes that it takes time, hard work and restraint to get to the employ the habits of reasoning and according to him everything has a purpose (Rachels and Rachels, pg 54). Aristotle states that “Good” has rightly been defined as “that at which all things aim” and that people identify happiness with living well or doing well (Sommers & Sommers, 2010).…

    • 1319 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Aristotle vs. Mill: Distinct Ideas of What Happiness Is
    • 555 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Aristotle vs. Mill: Distinct Ideas of What Happiness Is

    Aristotle states that everything that a man does is for an end purpose. He defines happiness as actions in accordance with reason. If humans live out their lives to their full potential and live according to reason and with virtues, than they can obtain happiness. In today’s world, many think that happiness is got from money, success, and fame. Many people believe that these things are essential for happiness. Aristotle suggests, it is what we do in our life, not what we gain from our life, like money or success, which gives us happiness. He argues that happiness does not occur instantly. In our world today, we want to feel happiness instantly. However, Aristotle does not rely on this idea. He believes that happiness comes over time and the things that happen in short lived moments do not truly make us happy, but that the activities or virtues, we engage in over time give us happiness in the end. He contends that by achieving certain virtues, it leads to happiness in the long run, not in an instantaneous moment. In our society today, Aristotle’s ideas on happiness would not be useful. In Aristotle’s perfect world, everyone would be virtuous and happy. Unfortunately, that is not how our society works today. Aristotle’s ideas are inaccurate because many people gain happiness out of doing unvirtuous actions. For example, Hitler gained some sort of happiness out of murdering Jews.…

    • 555 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Phi 160
    • 998 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Phi 160

    Aristotle one of a great thinkers left a great philosophical logic that is still being learned today. Born in Stagira, Greece Aristotle started as a student of Plato to become a tutor of Alexander the Great. In Nicomachean Ethics, book written by Aristotle’s, he explains virtues and how happiness is the means by which human beings have moral virtues. The debate whether virtue or vice should determine happiness is what Aristotle simplifies for us. Happiness should be determined by the activities human beings, virtuous or not, do in order to be happy within themselves.…

    • 998 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Louis P. Pojman's Analysis
    • 1097 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Louis P. Pojman's Analysis

    Aristotle’s general ideology is that all things in the universe have a certain characteristic function that they can properly use to perform different types of tasks. Therefore the good that exists at all times must involve the interaction of human life and take it into consideration as a whole which must pertain to the soul and express genuine virtue. In Louis P. Pojman’s Philosophy the Quest for Truth, “The masses and cultured classes agree in calling it happiness and conceive that to live well or to do well is the same thing as to be happy,” meaning that politics and ethics seem to agree on living well and ethically is similar to happiness however they do not agree on what happiness actually is (522). In turn this means that humans should…

    • 1097 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Happiness 101, By Arthur Brooks And Adam Green
    • 1114 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Happiness 101, By Arthur Brooks And Adam Green

    Multiple viewpoints concerning happiness exist, such as how one can attain happiness, and the different types of happiness. Two different perspectives on happiness are proposed in the articles by Arthur Brooks and Adam Green. Happiness 101, by Adam Green analyzes Thomas Aquinas writings on the attainment of happiness and the types of happiness. Love People, Not Pleasure, by Arthur Brooks focuses on how individuals attempt to achieve happiness by accumulating material wealth and objects. However, it is Brooks’s opinion that material objects cannot allow one to achieve happiness, but loving people is how happiness is attained.…

    • 1114 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Odyssey: The Human Ideal
    • 1514 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Odyssey: The Human Ideal

    The basic idea behind Aristotle’s book is that the ultimate goal in life is to achieve true happiness. This particular idea makes the most sense to me. “Happiness, then, is found to be something perfect and self-sufficient, being the end to which our actions are directed” (Aristotle, Page 15). This quote states that happiness is the final, the end and all other things will lead up to this. Happiness is stated to direct our actions because people all want to be happy. This idea gives people the feeling of “self-sufficient” because no other person can make another person achieve the ultimate good because it is all dependent on the person. Happiness is a perfect thing because no one truly knows what it is until they reach it themselves. The idea of happiness is subjective around the world given the different cultures so it is impossible to even begin to describe specifically how to reach the ultimate good. He also says "Since happiness is a certain sort of activity of the soul in accord with complete virtue, we must examine virtue; for that will perhaps also be a way to study happiness better" (Aristotle, 16). Happiness is a virtue and in order to know happiness then you need to have an idea of what a virtue is. Virtue is the behavior showing high moral standards. Moral standards are important in all culture and especially in the Geek culture because of the gods who…

    • 1514 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Aristotle
    • 980 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Aristotle

    Aristotle believes that there is only one goal, one ultimate end for every individual—that is eudaimonia, translated as happiness, not as a feeling but happiness as the highest human good or a life full of activity. He claims that a person should live a way of life distinct from the lives of animals, where they only live for the sake of living or pleasure.1 As human beings, people should use their power of speech to communicate and make rational decisions within a polity, striving to live their lives up to their full potential and to their full capacity for a happy life.2 The life of politics, the via activa, is thus the key to the chief good or the best life for humans; however, the life of action must be of certain type of quality, in accordance with reason, since different actions may lead to the good or the bad life. In other words, a person’s actions must be in line with arête, with virtue or excellence.3…

    • 980 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Unit 4 Happiness Assignment Analysis
    • 1333 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Unit 4 Happiness Assignment Analysis

    ‘Aristotelianism is defined as happiness as the quality of a whole life time.’ “Happiness is the purpose for which we live. Aristotle concluded that happiness is not a moment to moment experience of pleasurable things but rather a way of characterizing how one’s life is being conducted. Happiness is living and having lived a good life”. (Janaro & Altshuler, 2009)…

    • 1333 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Summary of 'Happiness: Enough Already'
    • 741 Words
    • 22 Pages

    Summary of 'Happiness: Enough Already'

    Sharon Begley in “Happiness: Enough Already” argues that being extremely happy may be a goal of anybody but it also can be “the end of the drive for ever-greater heights of happiness” (455). Begley claims that “being happier is not always better” (455) and an excessive happiness may affect badly to people’s life. She points out that people who reach the highest level of happiness don’t feel motivated to move forward since they are already satisfied. The author goes on insists that happiness does not last long because “negative emotion evolved for a reason” (456). She presents many cases of famous people who experienced negative emotions to create their well-known works showing the need of sadness in every lifetime. Furthermore, people desire to gain more and more happiness causing them the fear to experience sadness. Therefore, what they once considered normal sadness is regarded as a psychiatric illness now. The author then concludes that everything would be much better if “the single-minded pursuit of happiness as an end in itself” (458).…

    • 741 Words
    • 22 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics: The Golden Mean And Virtue
    • 686 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics: The Golden Mean And Virtue

    Aristotle believes that through reason a person can achieve happiness or Eudaimonia. In his Nicomachean Ethics, happiness is achieved by fulfilling your function well. Humankind’s function is to exercise reason. This ethical conduct is achieved by following the Golden Mean, were one should always seek a middle ground between two extremes. I believe that life can benefit by following reason and a person could use a Golden Mean to determine the right action, however there are some instances where it shouldn’t be followed. In this essay I defend using the Golden Mean and virtue to live a good life, but provide specific examples where it shouldn’t be followed.…

    • 686 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Eternal Happiness by Way of Subjective Reflection
    • 772 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Eternal Happiness by Way of Subjective Reflection

    This paper will deal with the claim that eternal happiness can be obtained by way of subjective reflection, rather than objective reflection, which is found in Soren Kierkegaard's Concluding Unscientific Postscript To Philosophical Fragments. Writing under the pseudonym of Johannes Climacus, Kierkegaard discusses how eternal happiness can be achieved. Climacus' unique position and emphasis on the human being as an existing individual leads to his subjective basis for truth. I will begin by clarifying the terms Climacus uses in his argument, and then go on to defend his commendation of subjective reflection over objective reflection.…

    • 772 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    The Pursuit Of Happiness In Rasselas The Happy Valley
    • 1851 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The Pursuit Of Happiness In Rasselas The Happy Valley

    Like the causes of good and evil, Imlac explains to the prince that the circumstances of life are “so various and uncertain, so often entangled with each other, so diversified by various relations, and so much subject to accidents which cannot be foreseen, that he who would fix his condition upon incontestable reasons of preference, must live and die inquiring and deliberating” (Johnson 42). In this regard, there is no tangible substance to the word ‘happiness’ since the infinite variables of life inhibit such a term from having any definitive meaning. Therefore, Rasselas’ greatest folly may be that he believes the circumstances of a man’s life are chosen by the man himself, but fails to consider that a man’s way of life may, in reality, be determined by how he reacts to such…

    • 1851 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More

Related Topics