In chapter13, book one of Nicomachean Ethics, the reader is introduced to the virtues and is provided with a clear understanding of virtue through the human happiness and human good. Human virtue is also virtue of the soul but not of the body because the focus is on human happiness and human good. So happiness is an activity of the soul, which would make human virtue part of virtue of the soul (1102a15). So, since happiness is an activity of the soul, then human virtue must be further assessed.
To continue on, the soul is seen to have two parts; one is irrational and the other is rational. The irrational part of the soul is focused on the vegetative and appetitive. The vegetative part is what keeps a person alive; it gives someone the ability to breathe. This can be applied to the section where the non-rational part is seen as “the cause of nutrition and growth” and states that it seems to be plantlike and shared (1102b35). The plantlike example is used to express the meaning that vegetative part is what keeps us alive because plants help with oxygen and help through photosynthesis. The appetitive part of the soul is based on desire; specifically desire based off of emotions. This part administers a person’s impulse. Therefore, the irrational part of the soul also seems to share a common principle with the rational element. The vegetative aspect does not share the same principle as the rational principle, which has reason. The appetitive aspect does in a way share the same principles as the rational part because it listens and follows reason. So reason can be found in two ways; that which has reason in it and that which listens to reason. In section 1103a5-11, Aristotle points out a significant difference between ethical and mor...
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...exity be avoided?
It is true that virtues are not feelings because we are not moved by feelings because we do good and bad things depending on our virtues and vices not through how we are feeling. Someone will not commit murder because of his or her feelings but because of their vices that are playing in their head. No one is forced to do anything because of his or her feelings. Also the excellence of virtue is needed because it is what makes something good and allows it to function well. For example I believe god created excellence in our bodies and the ways in which we were created because through the excellence we are able to survive, breath, walk, and function well. This virtue is what makes us as people good because I believe we are all born good but what can change that is if a person develops bad habits, which would lead him or her to not function properly.
For Aristotle, happiness is defined as “an activity of soul in accordance with complete excellence... (Aristotle 1102a). This means that actions exercised through, and guided by, human virtues turns out to be a good that is an “... activity of soul in conformity to excellence...” (Aristotle 1098b). Therefore, the characteristic allowing a person to perform well is virtue. To further explain this concept you can use the example of
Melissa is more likely to be attracted to Aristotle’s basic orientation and his view on the soul. Melissa’s mind set leans more towards the scientific thought process when it comes to life and death. Like Aristotle her beliefs are more of the here and now. Making due with the reality put in front of them. Even though Melissa’s thoughts and beliefs mostly come with facts she still has some belief that there is something beyond the body that makes Matthew who he is, Matthew. But with that belief she also thinks without brain function there is no Matthew to save. It is a body with no ability to think and live. So like Aristotle she does think that there is a soul that is a part of our bodies. But without the ability to think then you are not living.
There are two categories that he puts them in irrational and rational. In irrational he has two parts vegetative which is no share in reason. This means that no matter what the body digest or blood pumps and it cannot be stopped because it is part of the bodies job to do. The second part of the irrational is the appetitive which has a potency to share in reason. The desires conform to reason and it does not control the person. The second category is rational and it has reasoning or also known as intellective and this means that the person thinks with reason. For example, in math class two plus two will always be four. Appetitive and reasoning are to work together. If not a person cannot be considered virtues and therefore cannot be happy. A person has to feel the correct feeling for a specific situation to be able to be considered good or correct. For a person to be considered good they need to have appetitive and be rational of these things to make them virtues. Also the person needs to not neglect feelings because they are supposed to feel a certain feeling for a specific situation that is supposed to be that way. If the person does not feel it or refuses it, then they are not doing what a correct good and virtues person does. Only the good man has the objective feeling and action only when the person feels the correct emotions in the right way. A person that sees something sad should react sad because it is the correct feeling. They should not feel happy or glad of that sad situation or they are not a considered a good
Although both philosophers believe that you have to be moral in order to be good, their definitions of both happiness and moral virtue differ. Aristotle’s goal in, “The Nicomachean Ethics,” is to argue that there is such thing as a chief good as well as to argue his definition of happiness. virtue is a mean; but in respect of what is right and what is right and best, it is an extreme (Aristotle, 42).” Here Aristotle explains that moral virtue is determined by reason and that it avoids the states of too much, excess, or too little, deficiency. He believes that our soul is the principle of living because it is inside of us.
Foremost, the word virtue itself means needing to do good and avoid evil in its two
Through books one to three in Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle distinguishes between pain and happiness, clarifying the endless war that men face in the path of these two extremes. Man’s quest for pleasure is considered by the self-conscious and rational Aristotle; a viewpoint traditionally refuted in contemporary, secular environments.
As mentioned before Aristotle acknowledges that each soul has different “parts.” They are the potentialities the soul has which include nutrition, perception, and understanding. However there are other parts that stem off of these potentialities. One of those is the “desiring part” of the soul. These desires include appetite, emotion and wish. To summarize, the “parts of the soul” are potentials the soul has for actuality. For Aristotle, the soul gives the body sensation and in doing so, give it a purpose.
One of Aristotle’s conclusions in the first book of Nicomachean Ethics is that “human good turns out to be the soul’s activity that expresses virtue”(EN 1.7.1098a17). This conclusion can be explicated with Aristotle’s definitions and reasonings concerning good, activity of soul, and excellence through virtue; all with respect to happiness.
In spite of the fact that Aristotle was a companion and scholar of Plato, he didn't concur with Plato's speculations on ethical quality. In the same way as other Greeks, Aristotle did not have confidence in the presence of inalienably terrible practices.
...importance of virtue here is that, virtues are needed for living well; But in order to obtain
In Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, he devotes two whole books to discoursing the different types of friendships and the importance of friendship to the contribution of happy person. More so, the nature of the good of friendship for the good person is an important to the work as a whole. Friendship provides a bridge between the virtues of character and the virtues of intellect.
The meaning of eudaimonia, etymologically, is ‘good spirit’ and it is generally translated as ‘happiness’; in Aristotelian terms, ‘happiness’ represents the highest human good and it is also the representation of the soul’s virtues. The identification of the soul parts as the contributors and main elements for the function of the most important human activity (reasoning), marks the inevitable psychological asset of Aristotle’s thinking; specifically, the classification of human virtues derives from the analysis of the soul’s types, attributing to human beings the ability of reasoning which distinguishes human beings from the rest of ‘natural bodies.’ Indeed, reason exists in two parts of the soul, namely the rational and the appetitive (desires or passions), and so it expresses within two different virtues, the moral and intellectual ones.
Thus, when virtues involves in some personal pain, the idea of purpose or need become very important as it deeply depends on self-control. Self-control becomes extremely important when virtues entails stepping out from person’s comfort zone, here you can distinct a virtuous person from others. A virtuous person can control himself and abide to rules and morals whatsoever, while people with no self-control but claiming being virtuous might forget their morals and values in some situations. In conclusion, I argue that there is a connection between virtues and happiness, however I have showed some situations that virtues may lead to unhappiness or confusion.
Virtue, then deals with those feelings and actions in which it is wrong to go too far and wrong to fall too short but in which hitting the mean is praiseworthy and good….
Aristotle argued and disagreed with Plato’s views of the self and soul being a separate from the body. Aristotle’s view is that all humans have a soul, yet they cannot be separate from the body in which they reside. To him, there are four sections of the soul; the desiderative and vegetative parts on the irrational side are used to help one find what they are needing and the calculative and scientific parts on the rational side are