Striving for happiness is a fact about human life. It is considered one of the main goals of our life. Happiness is achieved when one flourishes, lives, and does well. An ethical life is a happy life. To lead an ethical life is to consider the happiness of others and to value yourself. Everyone desires to be fulfilled, but there is no point of being happy if our actions or intentions are bad. In order to achieve the life of complete virtue, we need to make the right choices and decisions.
In an ethical life, it is vital that one considers the happiness of everyone to achieve their contentment. Our happiness is not only based on our own work, but relates to the happiness of others. For instance, volunteering is found to be positively correlated
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One will only be able to help or consider the happiness of others by taking care of themselves first. The ethical practice is to act in good faith by bringing yourself to your enlightened state of mind. By meeting the physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional, one will be enable to be more attentive and caring to others.
John Stuart Mill is a philosopher who mentions that one can pursuit happiness by doing the right thing. His belief is that, “Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness”( Utilitarianism 2) . By making ethical decisions, one will not only bring happiness to themselves, but others as well. On the other hand, an unethical decision will lead to unhappiness. In ethical life, we have moral duty to perform action that will bring good outcome or prevent harm.
One who lives according to virtues can obtain a fully life of happiness. Even though pleasure can bring some happiness, living an ethical life that uses reason and respects people can bring a happier life. People can lead a happy life and be happy. Being morally virtuous such as not taking a person’s life, not lying, or stealing is a way to live a happy life. Someone who follows their virtue have no reason for them not to be able to to attain happiness. By not killing, lying, or stealing, one can be content in knowing they are good therefore bringing
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He states “ He is happy who lives in accordance with complete virtue and is sufficiently equipped with external goods, not for some chance period but throughout a complete life ” (Nicomachean Ethics, 1101a10). To achieve happiness is to have good moral, or complete virtue. One must not only be virtue, but also act in accordance with virtue. The life of virtue is crucial for happiness. Happiness is the final goal or the end of our life.
It is also important to think if one decision can make a person happy for a long period of time, or just for the moment. For example, someone decides to play video games instead of studying for an exam. Playing video games will make the person feel pleasure momentarily, not happiness. Eventually, circumstance will lead the person to feel regret, failure, and disappointed at their unethical decision. Unlike pleasure, happiness can’t be lost or gained in short amount of time; it is the ultimate value of our
There are two basic kinds of ethical judgments. The first have to do with duty and obligation. For example: "Thou shalt not kill, lie, or steal." "You just keep your promises." These judgments often uphold minimal standards of onduct and (partly for that reason) assert or imply a moral ‘ought.’ The second kind of judgment focuses on human excellence and the nature of the good life. These judgments employ as their most general terms "happiness," "excellence," and perhaps "flourishing" (in addition to "the good life"). For example: "Happiness requires activity and not mere passive consumption." "The good life includes pleasure, friendship, intellectual development and physical health." I take these to be the two general types of ethical judgment, and all particular ethical judgments to be examples of these. The main contention of this paper is that we must carefully distinguish these two types of judgments, and not try to understand the one as a special case of the other.
He believes that someone can 't just decide whether they were happy or not, but rather that there were certain virtues that if preformed would enable somebody to be happy. Virtues acts such as courage, temperance, wittiness, modesty, patience and friendliness are a few of these virtues. In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle defines virtue as “a characteristic involving choice, and that it consists in observing the mean relative to us, a mean which is defined by a rational principle, such as a man of practical wisdom would use to determine
In Utilitarianism the aim of our actions is to achieve happiness for the greatest number of people. “Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.” (Mill, 1971). Utilitarianism directly appeals to human emotions and our reactions to different events. Emotions are a fundamental Way of Knowing and influence both ethical and economical theories. In most cultures there are fundame...
happiness is found by living in accordance with human dignity, which is a life in accordance
The problem we have in today’s society is that people work to acquire as much money and possessions as they can and they think this will achieve happiness. Unfortunately, nobody told these people that happiness cannot be purchased and our possessions will fade no longer keep our interest. As we engulf ourselves in our daily busy work, our relationships are becoming strained and we are distancing ourselves from real happiness. We are seeking the means of work and money as an end, and we are chasing the wrong things in life. We hide from our unhappiness by watching television or partake in activities to distract ourselves from our problems. We need to find true happiness and this is found in becoming virtuous, creating good friendships,
He says that happiness is a certain sort of activity of the soul in accord with complete virtue (Nicomachean Ethics 1102 a5). Aristotle makes it thoroughly clear that happiness is an essential part of the human life and that achieving eudaimonia is the ultimate goal of this life. Aristotle draws interesting conclusions of happiness coinciding with the development of good virtues, and a good physical and mental well being. Aristotle describes happiness as being an activity. He describes happiness as something that we do and not who we are.
Our virtues show our character and thoughts. If we are virtuous in every aspect of our lives and are willing to help anyone with the right intentions and thoughts, it brings us to more happiness later on in life. You obtain happiness at the end of your life when you can look yourself in the mirror and can say you have forgiven your enemies and bad decisions you have made and can say to yourself I do not regret anything I have done. If you can honestly do this, you can say you have happiness.
Most people think that the highest end is a life of pleasure. Hedonists have defined happiness as " an equivalent to the totality of pleasurable or agreeable feeling.';(Fox, 3) Some pleasures are good and contribute to happiness. Not all ends are ultimate ends but the highest end would have to be something ultimate; the only conceivable ultimate end is happiness.
In Book I of Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle states that the ultimate human goal or end is happiness. Aristotle describes the steps required for humans to obtain happiness. Aristotle states that activity is an important requirement of happiness. He states that a happy person cannot be inactive. He then goes on to say that living a life of virtue is something pleasurable in itself. The virtuous person takes pleasure in doing virtuous things. The role of virtue is an important one for Aristotle. Without virtue, it seems one cannot obtain happiness. Virtue acts as a linking factor to happiness.
The pursuit for happiness has been a quest for man throughout the ages. In his ethics, Aristotle argues that happiness is the only thing that the rational man desires for its own sake, thus, making it good and natural. Although he lists three types of life for man, enjoyment, statesman, and contemplative, it is the philosopher whom is happiest of all due to his understanding and appreciation of reason. Aristotle’s version of happiness is not perceived to include wealth, honor, or trivial
Happiness is the ultimate goal for everyone in life. Aristotle's definition of " happiness is happiness is the activity of the soul in accord with perfect virtue. To become a better person, we must practice virtuous acts regularly. After a while, these acts will become a habit and so the virtuous acts. part of our every day life and the person will be leading a virtuous life.
According to Aristotle, “Happiness is an exercise of the vital faculties in accordance with perfect virtue (Arête) or excellence.” In achieving happiness
...that happiness is not found in amusement for it is too incongruous to end in amusement, and that our efforts and sufferings would be aimed at amusing ourselves. A flourishing life—a happy life, is one that consists of numerous requirements having been fulfilled to some degree. These include those things that preserve and maintain physical welfare such as, a certain level of material wellbeing, health, satisfaction, good familial and friendship bonds, and a comely appearance. Additionally, certain intellectual and moral needs ought to be met as well. It is a well-ordered and just state and community that preserves the freedom to have such a life. Thus, eudaimonia—happiness—for Aristotle is an inclusive notion consisting of life in accordance with intellectual and moral virtues, rational contemplation, and securing certain physical needs, such that one is flourishing.
Aristotle argues that being happy is also being good. Once you have achieved happiness that is the end, and because it is something final it should be where all actions aim. Aristotle says that this is a truism, meaning that of course we should always aim to be happy because it is supreme good. The idea behind this links back to virtue and why being virtuous leads to happiness. Each individual has different abilities and skills which will lead to their own specific type of happiness. Happiness does not come in the same form for everybody, but ultimately when one is excellent at what they do, they will achieve happiness. In this paper, I will explain why the virtuous life is the equivalent of the happy life.
...attainment of happiness is oftentimes difficult, so we are morally justified in searching to essentially reduce the amount of unhappiness and pain experienced by the human beings impacted by some of our actions. According to Mill, the absence of pleasure is only acceptable when it is for the greater good of humanity.