Aristotle Essay examples

In his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle explores virtues as necessary conditions for being happy. A virtuous person is a person with a disposition toward virtuous actions and who derives pleasure from behaving virtuously. Aristotle distinguishes between two types of human virtue: virtues of thought and virtues of character. Virtues of thought are acquired through learning and include virtues like wisdom and prudence; virtues of character include bravery and charity, which are acquired by habituation and require external goods to develop. As a consequence, not all people can acquire virtues of character because not all people have the external goods and resources required to develop that disposition.

From the beginning of their evolution, human beings have been searching for the meaning of happiness. While many may see this to be an inconsequential question, others have devoted entire lives to the search for happiness. One such person who devoted a great deal of thought to the question of man's happiness was the famous ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle. In his book The Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle discussed the meaning of happiness and what it meant to live a good life. He asserted that the devise which has been invented to create what is good for man is called "politics;" and it "uses the rest of the sciences"¦so that this end must be the good for man." (Aristotle, I, ii) Aristotle also identified four general means by which people live their lives in order to gain happiness, but stated that only one was a means by which a person could actually attain it. According to Aristotle, it was not political power, wealth, or worldly pleasures by which a person could achieve real happiness, it was living a contemplative life.

“Happiness, then, is found to be something perfect and self-sufficient, being the end to which our actions are directed” (Page 15, 1097b, lines 20-2). Aristotle states that when one finds whatever makes them happy, not just happy for the moment but truly and permanently happy, that that is the day they have nothing left to seek in life. He says once one finds that happiness, one must pursue their endings for their own sake. “It is complete virtue in the fullest sense, because it is the active exercise of complete virtue; and it is complete because its possessor can exercise it in relation to another person, and not only by himself” (Page 115, 1129b, lines 30-3). Here Aristotle talks about how justice is also a virtue of man, and that it should be pursued which will lead to the journey of living an ideal life.

According to Plato, virtue is an innate ability of a man to go through intellectual suffering in order to think past the visible, material world, which is just “a shadowy imitation” of an ideal world of knowledge (Plato). Even though virtuous actions can be practiced, the original ability or quality is innate. Every single virtue fits into this Plato’s definition and contributes to a person’s knowledge of the intellectual world. For instance, classical virtue of fortitude enables a man to question even the most controversial topics. What is more, theological virtue of faith persuades a man that his suffering will eventually pay off. Once a person engages in virtuous activities, they attain wisdom, and wisdom, () finally leads to happiness. Considering all that, every virtue seems to be equally

Unlike happiness, virtue is not an activity, but a disposition and a state of being. More precisely, it is a disposition to behave in the right manner. In Aristotle’s description, virtues are the “means” and intermediate states between what he considers vicious states (excess and deficiency). In other words, they are the moderation of desiring too much and desiring too little. For example, the state of being courageous is considered a virtuous disposition because it moderates the states of being cowardly (deficit) and rash (excess). Furthermore, Aristotle describes the virtuous person as one whose passions and deliberation are aligned; someone whose possession of goodness allows their acts to be guided by the balance of their “means” and their rationality. This means that to achieve a virtuous state one has to consistently aim for the “mean” of their actions to the point where it’s instinctive. (Nic. Ethics II 6).

John Stuart Mill and Aristotle both address the idea of happiness as the goal of human life. They explain that all human action is at the foundation of their moral theories. Mill addresses the Greatest Happiness Principle, which is the greatest amount of pleasure to the least amount of pain. Similarly, Aristotle addresses happiness through the idea of eudaimonia and human flourishing. According to Aristotle, eudaimonia is happiness, it is the state of contemplation that individuals are in when they have reached actualized happiness. Also referred to as happiness or human flourishing, it is the ultimate goal of human beings. Happiness is “living well and acting well.” He explains that once general happiness becomes recognized as the moral standard, natural sentiment will nurture feelings that promote utilitarianism. According to Aristotle, happiness is a state of being. Both Mill and Aristotle agree that in order to attain true happiness, human beings must engage in activities that are distinct to humans and that make them happy. Aristotle’s idea of eudaimonia and human flourishing is a more compelling argument than Mill’s for happiness and the final end because Aristotle explains that the virtues bring human beings to happiness.

Throughout life, one must make difficult choices. People are often faced with decisions of the good (temptation and temporary and immediate pleasure) and the greater good (pain and sacrifice). The most important moral virtues are moderation, courage, and justice. Moderation keeps us from overindulging in limited goods, pleasure, and temptation. Courage is facing your fears, and justice (the laws) encourages people to behave virtuously and create relationships with others. Reaching happiness is highly dependent on living a balanced virtuous life.

Aristotle was born in 384 BC, at Stagira, in Macedonia, the son of a physician to the royal court. At the age of 17, he went to Athens to study at Plato's Academy. He remained there for about 20 years, as a student and then as a teacher. When Plato died in 347BC, Aristotle moved to Assos, a city in Asia Minor, to counsel Hermias, the ruler. After Hermias was captured and executed by the Persians in 345BC, Aristotle went to Pella, the Macedonian capital, where he became the tutor of the king's young son Alexander, later known as Alexander the Great. In 335, when Alexander became king, Aristotle returned to Athens and established his own school, the Lyceum. Upon the death of Alexander in 323BC, strong anti-Macedonian

Aristotle found that there are two kinds of virtues of the soul. First, there are virtues of thought, such as wisdom. Next, there are virtues of character, such as generosity. The main focus of his virtue ethics lies in the virtues of character. Aristotle assumed that these virtues are learned through habit. For example, whereas intellectual virtue may arise from reading a book, the adoption of virtuous character is inherited solely by practice. Therefore, it is through a person's upbringing that moral virtues are cultivated, and it is through the habit of thinking virtuously that one can excel towards happiness.

The expanse of time that the term “Ancient Greece” defines is all the way from around 7,250 BCE when the first evidence of burial sites were discovered in Argolid, Greece, during the Mesolithic Period, to around the year 30 BCE when Cleopatra died in Alexandra, Egypt (1). That is the better part of 7,200 years. Trying to fit all of that information into five to seven pages would be nearly impossible. That is why I will be focusing on the Classical Era of Greece which spans from about 500 BCE to around 320 BCE. During this time in Greece there were many conflicts and wars, but there was also much growth in the cultural aspects of their society.

Aristotle’s theory will be discussed in full length on his theory of virtue. Now Aristotle did believe in a multitude of theories that are all based off of virtue, but also the soul. To Aristotle, virtue is an excellence, which comes after happiness and achieving our final goal. When Aristotle talks about an individual’s final goal and excellence of that

Virtue ethics was written by a Greek philosopher names Aristotle. Aristotle believed that every human’s goal was happiness. Some philosophers argued that happiness only came from following a set of rules, while Aristotle argued that the best way to have happiness is to cultivate a virtuous character. The two kinds of virtues he recognized were moral virtue and intellectual virtue. The virtue that should be focused on to develop a virtuous character is moral virtue. According to Aristotle, while we are born with a capacity to be virtuous, being virtuous is like a skill that we need to learn and practice to be good at. The key element to being virtuous is being able to find the mean or right amount of our various emotions, dispositions, and actions. Aristotle wrote: “Anybody can become angry- that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for

Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and scientist who lived from 384-322 B.C who was born in Stagira, Macedonia. His father played a major role in society as a physician in the royal court. Young Aristotle took a liking to Plato and decided to go to his academy at the age of seventeen. For the next twenty years, Aristotle remained there first as a student then as a teacher. After the death of Plato, Aristotle moved to Assos in the Asia Minor where he tutored his friend Hermias who was the ruler there and decided to marry his niece. After his death he then tutored Alexander the Great at the capital of Macedonia known as Pella. Later in his life, Aristotle decided to move back to Athens, Greece to open up his own school known as Lyceum.

According to Aristotle, intellectual virtues belong in the ‘rational’ fragment of the soul and moral virtues lie in the ‘irrational’ measure of the soul However, they are both dependant on reason. Although Aristotle recognised many virtues, he was an advocate for the notion of the existence of only four cardinal virtues. His proposal proved to be popular in the society that he lived in, being acknowledged by Plato and other bodies. The four cardinal virtues are: courage, a virtue which ensures control in the interest of goodness, temperance, a virtue which diminishes wants and desires by limiting them to reason, justice, the only virtue that consists of expressing care for other beings. A human that possesses the virtue of justice has the ability to practise this virtue on other human beings and not solely on themselves. The final and one of the most important virtues is prudence, a logical virtue of practical reason by which we separate the good and the methods of achieving it. Aristotle accentuates that virtues are pragmatic skills and hence experience guides us towards becoming more dexterous in avoiding deficiency. Although familiarity with the vices as extremes supports us in our aspiration for the mean, the wider connotations of the doctrine is that only through experience will we as humans come to know the right pretences and

Aristotle believed that the goal of all human life is to achieve ultimate happiness. Happiness is the final Utopia or the end of “a life worth living.” Human instinct is characterized by achieving personal fulfillment, thus leading to happiness. Aristotle warns against going astray and “preferring a life suitable to beasts” by assuming happiness and pleasure are equal. Living a life preferred by beasts incapacitates a person from achieving the end Utopia. Even though Aristotle does not equate the two, he does stress that minimal pleasure is required to achieve happiness. Someone lacking in vital necessities such as food, clothing, and shelter are not capable of achieving happiness due to their lack of pleasure.