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Aristotle ethics 3 page essay summary
Aristotle ethics 3 page essay summary
Essay on Nicomachean ethics
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In consideration to Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle’s view of the great-souled man is that of an individual that represents happiness and obtains the five virtues: wisdom, justice, bravery, self-control, and the overall goodness within an individual (happiness). The magnanimous person is very complex and displays the proper virtues at the proper time, and in the proper way. In addition, the great-souled man accommodates to his surroundings where he is honorable but not boastful in his actions. Aristotle believes that it is only possible to attain happiness within a political organization because happiness represents living well without being concerned with others, they solely live for the truth and not approval. Aristotle believes that happiness rests within an absolutely final and self-sufficient end. The reasoning behind this theory is that every man is striving for some end, and every action he does must be due to this desire to reach this final end. He believes that in order for a man to be happy, he must live an active life of virtue, for this will in turn bring him closer to the final end. Although some may believe that these actions that the man chooses to take is what creates happiness, Aristotle believes that these actions are just a mere part of the striving toward the final end. I believe that Aristotle’s great-souled man is the highest virtue of character; His actions are never too extreme and he is appropriate in all his manners. The magnanimous person is within the intermediate state of character. “The deficient person is pusillanimous, and the person who goes to excess is vain” (§35). The magnanimous person surrounds himself with great things. The great things occurs when “he receives great honors from excellent pe... ... middle of paper ... ...it is necessary to examine human virtue. Something is considered to have reason in two senses: that which has reason in itself and that which listens to reason. These two senses are the origin of the distinction between intellectual and ethical virtues, respectively. The understanding of virtue and happiness is justified in the ideal that happiness is to be found in pleasure, others that it is to be found in honor, and others that it is to be found in contemplation. Happiness is not found in living for pleasure because such a life is slavish. Nor is it found in seeking honor because honor depends not on the person but on what others think of him. In order to be successful in an organization it is key to find a balance between two extremes that is an end within itself, that’s why Aristotle strongly believes that happiness is acquired through political organization.
Humans, throughout recorded history, have searched for a proper way of living which would lead them to ultimate happiness; the Nicomachean Ethics, a compilation of lecture notes on the subject written by Greek philosopher Aristotle, is one of the most celebrated philosophical works dedicated to this study of the way. As he describes it, happiness can only be achieved by acting in conformity with virtues, virtues being established by a particular culture’s ideal person operating at their top capacity. In our current society the duplicity of standards in relation to virtue makes it difficult for anyone to attain. To discover true happiness, man must first discover himself.
In Aristotle 's Nicomachean Ethics, the basic idea of virtue ethics is established. The most important points are that every action and decision that humans make is aimed at achieving the good or as Aristotle 's writes, “Every art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and choice, is thought to aim at the good... (Aristotle 1094a). Aristotle further explains that this good aimed for is happiness.
Supportive readers of Aristotle’s works point out that the great-souled man lacks basic human decency and is exceedingly attached to honour. If the great-souled man does not think anything is great, yet devotes his entire existence to attaining superiority and greatness, no satisfaction will ever come from the attainment of greatness and honour due to the fact that according to Aristotle the great-souled man receives no pleasure from praise of honour itself. Furthermore, according to William David Ross the great-souled man portrays self-absorption, which is considered the bad side of Aristotle’s ethics. WILLIAM ROSS p.217 FOOTNOTE. Overall I believe that the great-souled man that Aristotle describes is an incoherent and not altogether pleasing human type. I believe that Aristotle should have illustrated a broader category for the great-souled man. A recent scholarship on Aristotelian greatness of soul criticizes that the great-souled man contains undesirable qualities inconsistent with a purported archetype of human excellence. I agree with Fetter, in that the limitations of the purely ethical life produce certain unresolvable disagreements in the character of the great-souled man such as the yearning for self-sufficiency and his permanent dependency on the goods of fortune, including the
In Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics we are given the Greek term Eudaimonia, its definition being a contented sate of being happy, healthy and prosperous. For Aristotle, Eudaimonia or happiness is our ultimate goal. Aristotle states that most people see happiness as something physical and this way of thinking is faulted because we do not have the appropriate image of a good life. He goes on to tell us that our view is faulted because most people are not virtuous. The reason for the deficiency in virtue found in society is that people are not thought virtue correctly from a young age. Aristotle believes that people can only reach their ultimate goal of happiness by living a virtuous life and making the right decisions. The quote given to us states
Aristotle is an ancient Greek philosopher, really the first philosopher to use the word “ethics”. His major book on ethics is titled Nicomachean Ethics (Bostock 1). In order to understand Nicomachean Ethics and apply it, we must first understand how Aristotle viewed the world. Aristotle sees the world in terms of ends, purposes, and functions. In nature, the end of the acorn is to become an oak tree. In human affairs, the end of architecture is to produce buildings; of shipbuilding, to produce ships; of medicine, to promote health. Humans too have a function, an ultimate end; this Aristotle calls eudaimonia. The traditional translation is happiness, but this translation is misleading. To put it most aptly eudaimonia “connotes overall success and prosperity and achievement, though it also connotes something that we may call...
First, we will explore the concept of happiness in Aristotle’s eyes and the different perspectives in which we will be analyzing it. According to Aristotle, happiness is the highest good in which humans ultimately strive to attain. Happiness is not a state of mind but an activity. To many in modern society, happiness is mainly defined as a temporary state of mind, but for Aristotle, happiness becomes a goal that must be achieved through the course of an entire lifetime. Happiness depends on acquiring a moral character, where one displays the main virtues of courage, gene...
In Nicomachean Ethics, one of Aristotle’s aims is to convince us that the good for humans is engaging in rational activity virtuously. It is important to note that, within the context of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, acting virtuously is defined as acting on the intermediate or most reasonable option between extreme actions and feelings (class). Function is defined as being a characteristic work of the specific thing or being in question, such as human beings. Aristotle also accepts the idea that well-being (or happiness) is the ultimate good (1097b, 20). Aristotle begins outlining this view by arguing that the good for whatever thing that has a function, such as a flautist, depends on its “characteristic action” or function, so the same must be true for a human
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
Each candidate has a general flaw, pleasure with a life run by desires, honor, a life that is not controlled by oneself, and wealth, where it is not the final good that one can have. It is through these rejections that Aristotle finds what makes the general features of a candidates for the good or happiness, which are self-sustainment, being the final good, and what the rejected candidates aren’t. For example, this good must not be obtained through other people, but by oneself, and cannot be used to get something greater, like wealth. It is through these general features that Aristotle thinks happiness and the good can be
ABSTRACT: This paper argues that Aristotle conceives happiness not primarily as an exercise of virtue in private or with friends, but as the exercise of virtue in governing an ideal state. The best states are knit together so tightly that the interests of one person are the same as the interests of all. Hence, a person who acts for his or her own good must also act for the good of all fellow citizens. It follows that discussions of Aristotle’s altruism and egoism are misconceived.
Book 1 of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics explores happiness and all the ways in which it can be defined and achieved. He begins by explaining that every action a person performs or any activity she participates in is seeking out some type of “good”. It is in Chapter 2 where he concludes there is a “best good” (Aristotle 1, 1094a20). He later maintains that “the best good is happiness…” (8, 1097b20). Aristotle wants his audience to suppose that “things achievable by action have some end that we wish for because of itself” because he wants them to understand that there are certain actions that lead to this “best good”. If his readers understand how to achieve happiness, then they can lead better lives.
Aristotle’s theories on ethics and how virtue ethics impact on social cohesion have been the subject of scrutiny since they were first conceived. While the argument for flourishing ethics as a viable alternative to other ethical theories seems compelling and beyond repute, there are some fundamental flaws in Aristotles reasoning when one examines his model of flourishing ethics within the context of the modern world. Aristotle’s theory hinges on the assumption that benefits attained by society through the actions of the individual, will also filter down to the individual and that the benefits attained by individuals will be equal. This theory does not allow for the motivations behind the decision-making process or the varying needs
The flourishing of humans through some kind of rational activity pertains to our functioning well according to nature. Aristotle claims that being an excellence human being is also good for the human being (Aristotle 103). This depends on the difference between things such as pleasure and pain and the state of the soul (Aristotle 25). By reason of pleasure and pain, by pursuing or avoiding these, men become bad (Aristotle 26). This is reflected in the state of one’s soul (26). As Aristotle says, “Pleasure in doing virtuous acts is a sign that virtuous disposition has been acquired” (Aristotle 25). However, pleasure and pain is found in all activities, so they are not good all the time (Aristotle 27). Therefore, pleasure and pain are not the final causes, or the highest goods (Aristotle 10), because they are not good for the human all the
In order to achieve happiness one must develop a good character and good habits, thus a virtuous life is created through constant practice. Virtuous thoughts and actions lead to good habits, which in turn lead to a better character. Consequently, one achieves happiness. In conclusion, Aristotle proves that a man leading a good life uses his reason to a virtuous end. Reason, being the attribute that makes man unique, is then used to its best ultimate end.
In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle explores virtues as necessary conditions for being happy. According to Aristotle the ‘best good’, happiness, is something that is complete and self-sufficient. Something is considered to be self-sufficient when through itself it creates a choice worthy, abundant life. Every other human action has some end; these ends are categorized as some type of good, either instrumental or non-instrumental. Instrumental goods, are goods that are not chosen for their own sake, but rather, for the sake of others. It is these instrumental goods that fall subject to our desires. If every good were desired for the sake of another, one would never be able to give an account for what they are ultimately aiming to achieve. A non-instrumental good, on the other hand, is a good that is always chosen for its own sake. Aristotle believes that this non-instrumental good is a final or complete good of all human actions, and that this ultimate end is happiness. Happiness, therefore, is what Aristotle