Aristolte's View Of Human Virtue

In the Nicomachean Ethics, books one and two, Aristotle believes that "happiness is a certain kind of activity of the soul in accordance with complete virtue"(Nicomachean Ethics,1102a). Aristolte believes that the highest good and the end toward all human activity is happiness, which to Aristotle is the ability to reason so that one is able to succeed. A human is able to have happiness by having a virtuous life provided through many virtuous opportunities. However, in order to obtain virtue one must find the mean of two vices, which is a rather difficult goal. An important ideal of this view is that human virtue is nearly impossible to obtain, thus a problem becomes prominent when this belief contrast his view of human happiness. Aristotle

Aristotle states within the Nicomachean Ethics that there are two kinds of virtue, intellect and character. "Intellectual virtue owes its origin and development mainly to teaching for which reason its attainment requires experience and time; virtue of character is a result of habituation, for which reason it has acquired its name through a small variation on "ethos"" (Nicomachean Ethics,1103b). This statement explains that our opportunity to be virtuous is given to us through our personal circumstances. That we obtain virtues by exercising them. Throught habituation we become more virtuous, "similarity with courage: by becoming habituated to make light of what is fearful and to face up to it, we become courageous; and when we are, we shall be most able to face up to it" (Nicomachean Ethics, 1104b). This brings about another of Aritotles points about virtue, because we are praised or blammed based on our virtues, they can not be passions. For as this quote exercises that one would be praised within a situation not for actign courageous but for responding with the right amount of courage only when the cicumstanes call for it. Although, the action of implimenting this statement is more difficult then one would

"The virtue of character is a mean, and in what sense it is so; that it it a mean between two vices, one of excess and one of deficiency;" (Nicomachean Ethics, 1109a) The mean is not simply finding the middle ground between being to angry or not angry enough then utilizing that amount across a multitude of situations, because the mean of anger is dependant on each individual circumstance. This is why it is hard to be virtuous. One must "do them in relation to the right person, in the right amount, at the right time, with the right aim in view, and in the right way.."(Nicomachean Ethics, 1109a). Since the mean is so precise it is generally difficult for anyone to accomplish. Virtues are states of character that lie between the