Aristotle And Aristotle's Theory Of Happiness And Happiness

Regardless of an individual’s place of birth, socioeconomic status, religious preference, or any other attribute that makes him or her unique, every human being possesses within him or herself a desire to flourish, or to be happy. This base yearning is the driving force behind the vast majority of decisions made by humans on a day-to-day basis. Choices influenced by a longing for happiness range from situations as simple as deciding what to eat for breakfast to the life-altering selections of a career and spouse. However, while all humans would certainly like to be happy, the method by which to achieve happiness is a heavily-contested topic. Some hold to the secular idea that acquiring large amounts of money, power, or influence is the key

According to Aristotle, to be happy is to be virtuous, and virtue is achieved by making choices that are in the middle of two extreme possible options. In the first book of his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle states that happiness is the “highest good” achievable (CITATION). To be good (and therefore happy), however, he insists on the necessity for an individual to also be virtuous. While the Greek philosopher includes metaphysical discussions and theology in an abstract sense in some of his writings, he does not base his subsequent definition of virtue on a specific set of divine decrees as the bible does. Instead, he delves into his own idea of virtue. To Aristotle, virtue, or “excellence,” is “a mean between two vices, that which depends on excess that which depends on defect. . .while excellence both finds and chooses that which is intermediate” (Aristotle, 1748). Out of context, this explanation sounds both somewhat vague and largely unhelpful in application to everyday life. Thankfully, the philosopher gives multiple examples of this idea at work. His most pervasive illustration in book two of Nicomachean Ethics relates to the amount of courage an individual possesses. On page 1748, he writes: “With regard to feelings of fear and confidence courage is the mean. . .the man who exceeds in confidence is

From the beginning, Jesus makes it clear that He is not doing away with any of the Old Testament laws, stating: “For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law…” (CIATION). Instead, Christ is merely adding a more personal connection to happiness in Him. To this end, he also says: “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father” (CITATION). This perfectly explains the second aspect of my personal view of human flourishing: while we achieve virtue by living by God’s commands, it is through a relationship with His son that makes us want to live virtuously in the first place and eventually find true