Aristotle Research Paper

In the work, Nicomachean Ethics, the philosopher Aristotle creates a guideline for those who are serious about pursuing happiness. Aristotle's recommendations for finding happiness are not accepted today without some struggle and careful examination. In Aristotle's time, slaves, women and children were not truly considered human; so in many cases the philosopher is directing his words towards free males only. It is necessary to understand that by overlooking this discrimination and applying it to all people, one can discover the timeless wisdom of Aristotle.

Aristotle’s work, The Nicomachean Ethics, consists of numerous books pertaining to Aristotle’s Ethics—the ethics of the good life. The first book discloses Aristotle’s belief on moral philosophy and the correlation between virtue and happiness.

Happiness? Is happiness the best good? In book 1 chapter 7 Aristotle brings up the topic happiness and is it the best good for humans. He says “But presumably the remark that the best good is happiness is apparently something [generally] agreed, and we still need a clearer statement of what the best good is. Perhaps, then, we shall find this if we first grasp the function of a human being” (1097b22-25 Aristotle). That statement is saying the main function of Humans is to look for happiness. Aristotle thinks happiness is to broad of an assumption and that there are several types of happiness that branch off of happiness its self.

Although, as Aristotle believes, everything we do in our life leads to some good, he makes it clear that some goods are subordinate to others, and that the greatest good is happiness. He believes that the knowledge of this good carries weight for our way of life, and makes us better able, like archers who have a target to aim at, to hit the right mark (Aristotle 2). To possess the ability to achieve this ultimate end; however, we must first have some sort of understanding as to what happiness is. The definition of happiness typically varies from person to person, some think it’s pleasure or something found in someone you love, others believe it lies in wealth and success, but Aristotle defines it as

Aristotle makes a number of claims in Book I of Nicomachean Ethics that deal with the idea of Happiness and how to obtain it. His stance can be seen when he makes the claim, “Happiness, on the other hand, no one chooses for the sake of these, nor, in general, for anything other than itself.” Aristotle is stating that the end goal of life is to achieve true happiness. We do not work any further towards something else once we are truly happy. We also see this when he says “Happiness, then, is something final and self-sufficient, and is the end of action.” Aristotle thought that our end goal was happiness. It shows how highly he regarded it. Another idea he brings to light is that happiness cannot be obtained in the short term. Aristotle says, “For one swallow does not make a summer, nor does one day; and so too one day, or a short time, does not make a man blessed or happy.” Here he argues that just as the birds singing doesn’t make a perfect summer, happiness is not true in a temporary or daily setting, only at the end of our lives can we determine true happiness. Aristotle believes that short term goals can be okay, but we need a rational and virtuous life in order to obtain the real idea of happiness.

Aristotle, the son of Nicomachus(Aristotle), known as ‘the philosopher, was born in 384 B.C.E, in a small city named Stagira in northern Greece. During his lifetime, he studied variety of subjects and brought knowledge to all aspects (Blackburn). He viewed that as a human, a subject who’s determined goal is to reach virtue and Arête, is connected with nature and its balance (Golden Mean). Aristotle also viewed a good life as political questions. He analyzed that human’s basic shape of desire and aim is formed at the age of six (Hare). The good life, then, was defined by Aristotle as ‘the activity of the soul in accordance with virtue.’ According to Aristotle, a good life is maintaining the balance of virtue and vice, and Eudaimonia of the soul in that one would be satisfied with the accomplishments done (Bambic).

He is honored to be author of ‘The Nicomachean Ethics,’ which was in fact the 1st book ever written on the subject of ethics. The book is greatly influential, even in modern times. By an analysis of Aristotle’s literature, it can be observed that he primarily focused on preaching to be ‘virtuous’ rather than focusing on the theories of what ‘virtue’ is. According to him, in whatever way we choose to act, some action that is focused on achieving the desired end result or ‘good’ results comes from that person’s own perspective. Aristotle claimed that the maximum good which a person have desire to achieve is basically an end-point itself , a person’s action or struggles is for achieving that ‘end-point’, it may be regarded as a point of maximum satisfaction. Aristotle critically concluded that the happiness of a person satisfies these conditions completely, and hence the highest attainable good is regarded as happiness.

Aristotle’s entire argument can be summarized to the following statement: a complete life lived in an ethical manner is genuine happiness. Distinguished with honor, happiness is the principle of actions and the cause of all

Aristotle’s first book in the Nicomachean Ethics, tackles the pursuit and function of man. Aristotle believes that because of mans rationality and intelligence, there must be one great purpose to all that we do. It cannot be something as basic as the gratification of pleasure since we are superior creatures, and it must be something beyond each sole virtue since there is not a complete end in themselves. Aristotle comes to the conclusion that this final end or “good”, must be happiness and uses the first book in the series to not only state his theory, but to also be a guide so that the reader may live a good life and earn the final and self- fulfilling good on to which all their actions aim.

Aristotle defines happiness as an ultimate good, and is pursued by every individual, not because it is a means to an end to another state but rather for its sake. It is this qualification that makes a distinction between happiness and pleasure seeking (LaFollette, 370).

Is it pleasure, honor, wealth, knowledge or can it be different? Aristotle explains that happiness is not found by living for pleasure because such a life can be. Also, Aristotle clarifies that the happiness of people can be found by defining the proper function to the soul. This function cannot be one that both plants and animals can also perform, because it must be specific for human beings. Therefore, the function must be a part of the practical or rational part of a human’s life. Practical is implying a determined conduct, which is only possible for rational beings. It follows, then, that happiness consists in the action of the rational part of a human. The ultimate good of humans should naturally flow from performing functions right. And to establish true happiness an action must continue with progressions throughout a lifetime (Rosenstand 2013 p.457-458). Aristotle's argument can be seen as distorted when he proposes only human beings with the full use of reason can be deemed happy since he claims happiness from reasoning. Aristotle argues that reasoning is what sets humans apart from animals along with the ability to carry out actions that only humans can

Aristotle, the last of the great Greek philosophers. He roamed Ancient Greece from 384 BC until his death in 323 BC. In this time, he wrote an enormous amount of works, a variety of books from metaphysics to politics and to poetry. His variety is exceptionally impressive. His greatest known works are the Athenian Constitution and Nicomachean Ethics. Aristotle’s works of Ethics explore a vast area of topics. He states, “The goal of the Ethics is to determine how best to achieve happiness.” In order to achieve happiness, one must live a virtuous life, in the mind of Aristotle.

Aristotle thinks happiness is the highest good because, according to Aristotle, happiness is the full development and use of our intellectual capabilities. Happiness is about being pleased and self-sufficient so you don’t have to rely on others. The best way to obtain this is a life of contemplation, something we can engage in constantly. Contemplation is the best and most pleasant activity humans can do because its helps them realize their nature. The wisest man will try to imitate the action of God, the unmoved mover. The people who can contemplate and dedicate themselves to the intellectual hunt, are the only ones who can experience the pinnacle of human happiness.

Over 2,300 years has passed since Aristotle wrote Nicomachean Ethics, yet his theory of happiness is still relevant today. In these lectures, Aristotle explores the purpose of human existence. Finding this purpose would later result in discovering how one should act in order to achieve happiness. Aristotle argues that virtues, such as honor, pleasure, and understanding, are only chosen “for the sake of happiness, supposing that through them we shall be happy”(Aristotle, 8). He claims that everyone would agree that all goods, like wealth and pleasure, are means towards obtaining pure happiness. Therefore, happiness is always the end itself. This revelation would in turn help find the function of the human being.

In Book 10 of Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle argues that the good life is really the contemplative and philosophical life. Before making these claims, he explains how happiness relates to the good life. Happiness is something that humans look for by themselves. In a way happiness is its own virtue and because of this, happiness has to be the highest ranked virtue. Because it is the best virtue, happiness must belong to the most intelligent beings in our society. The most intelligent beings in our society in essence make all the decisions and contemplate about the world, the galaxy and everything in the universe. This is how he makes his first claim. Happiness is correlated with the good life and the good life must involve the contemplative.