Aristotle's View On Happiness: The Life Of Happiness

Introduction

Εὐδαιμονία often referred to in the English language as happiness, is Aristotle’s idea of what happens when a person lives ethically and morally in search of the good that will make a person truly happy. Although it would be more realistically translated as well-being, prosperity or flourishing, his view on happiness is more to do with the mental health of an individual. Εὐδαιμονία is one of the few things that is pursued for its own sake, one does not try to obtain it for any other purpose or person, this means it has a complete end and is final.

Happiness

Aristotle defines happiness or Εὐδαιμονία for a human being as the life of rational activity in accordance with virtue, although, in saying this, there are suggested to be

For example, being honoured by a king is a much more highly regarded than being honoured by a peasant, of course this can change due to context, in situations like rebellions or revolutions against the crown. The third is one thought to be the life of philosophers such as Aristotle, the life of contemplation. This life was argued by Plato in The Republic to be the best life one could choose to live, this is because it is the most knowledgeable. Despite what life makes any given person the happiest, it must be self-sufficient or it is not Εὐδαιμονία, Aristotle’s view on happiness is not one of temporary circumstance. It is one that continues to be throughout a person’s life, it is independent and cannot be added to in any way to improve it, and this is because there is no higher good. Because of the permanent state that Εὐδαιμονία is, there have been questions raised about such a thing “can we be happy and not know it?” “Can we think we are happy and not be?” Raising such questions in regard to happiness

In the search for the highest good, he assumes that is has three characteristics that stand out despite what the highest good is, these are always the same. It must be desirable for its own sake. Aristotle thinks the way for a human being to be happy in life is for them to successfully lead a life full of rational activity, this is because rationality is the defining human feature, but he also believes it should be in accordance with virtue in order to have a healthy soul. The Aristotelian system has the concept of ‘natural kinds’, Aristotle found this idea appealing. It consists of Species, Genus and Differentia, these ideas separate living things into their natural kinds, for people it would be said that animal is out genus. Human is out species and the differentia, which is what makes us different is our ability to reason and be rational. Because of what human beings are and our ability to be rational, we are unable to live like any other sort of animal because to be happy we must actualise and use our capacity to be rational through activity. Having split the soul up into three parts Aristotle was then able to determine what part happiness was associated with. He came the conclusion that because happiness has to do with the actions one makes it must come from the rational