Nichomachean Ethics

Aristotle finally takes the initiative as a philosopher to answer the question to what the purpose of life is. His response is happiness. The purpose of Aristotle’s theory is to achieve the greatest possible happiness by maintaining appropriate virtues. I agree with Aristotle’s goal of happiness and conclude to the idea of virtues which are virtuous states of character that affect our decision making.

Aristotle gives reasons to why he claims happiness to be the purpose of life. Aristotle believes happiness is the purpose of life because, a person, when giving reasons to why they make the decisions between multiple choices they will conclude to the same idea, which is, whichever choice allows that person to achieve the most happiness. Aristotle then concludes that, the foundation of our decision making is that people will base their moral decisions off the amount of enjoyment they receive compared to the trouble of performing the action. The root of our decision making must be a state of character within us, in this case, that weights our delights against our burdens.

Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics deals with virtues of the soul. These virtues if maintained properly would allow a person to be truly happy. These virtues are states of character developed by habitual action, which are often times formed while we are emerging that will subsequently affect all of our moral decisions. A virtue’s state of character is concerned with choice; and not involuntary or non-voluntary actions. Just as how we do not deliberate about external things we also cannot be responsible for things that we cannot affect the consequences of, or are not within our ability to deter.

The voluntary, non-voluntary and the involuntary actions are all r...

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...must be done in the right way, to the right things, as well as to whether it was for the right reasons, at the right time, and if his confidence to do such actions was inspired by reason of morals, or if it was just raw emotions, all must be considered in order to determine the morality. Aristotle believes virtues is the most effective means of happiness so we must strive to build it within ourselves so that we may become moral.

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Aristotle “The man who indulges in every pleasure and abstains from none becomes self-indulgent, while the man who shuns every pleasure, as boors do, becomes in a way insensible; temperance and courage, then are destroyed by excess and defect,.” -(1) page 955

The Basic Works of Aristotle – These virtues are concerned with passions and actions of choice.