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Aristotle: The Ultimate End Goal

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Aristotles starting point is with the highest good. It is the ultimate end goal. The highest human good is always worth pursuing in its own right. It is an activity that is an end in itself. This conception allows him to isolate two features of what he determines the ‘end goal’ or ‘final purpose’. The first, it being the most perfect or most complete good and the second, that it be self sufficient. This end is not a subjective object of desire. It also cannot be assumed that this human good is something which all humans pursue. Rather, it is what we should pursue and as such provides us with a standard that can normatively evaluate the good of human life. The human good is activity of the soul in accordance with [rational] virtue, and if there …show more content…

Intellectual virtues which come from practical and theoretical wisdom. This requires experience and knowing the right way to do the right thing. This is reason in the strict sense. Then there are virtues of character e.g. courage and generosity i.e. moral virtues. and play a crucial role in perfecting our desires and emotions e.g. fear and greed, that we can become victim too.

Justice is said to be the the unity of all the virtues, it emcompasses them all. This means a person cannot really have one virtue in its entirety without having all of the virtues in their entirety. When confronted with virtues that conflict then, it would mean this only a perceived conflict since are ordered in relation to justice as a whole not in parts.

Natural justice is the same in all times and places. Comprised by the laws that order the universe and that order us toward our telos. For human beings, something that is naturally just must be in accordance with right reason. This is only way to reach a natural and happy end. Aristotle admits, it may be difficult to see the existence of this natural justice since governments vary and no perfect regime exists. We know this because we can observe the different definitions of justice that are implied by the laws of different

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In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle argues that the human good is the soul’s activity that expresses virtue. Aristotle concludes this from an invalid argument. On the one hand I do agree that the activity expressing virtue is a requirement for the human good. But on the other hand, I insist that the human good is a state and not an action. By modifying this argument, I believe we can reach a new conclusion that will help us better understand what Aristotle meant by these concepts.

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When it comes to Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, I believe that he has found a common thread in humanity in the fact that humans strive for the moderate in living virtuously. However, I would argue that the thread is varied enough to have no true worth in discerning the aspects of humanity. People have too different moralities and goals. Because Aristotle allows for these “local variations”, as Martha Nussbaum later terms in her defense of Aristotle, he is acknowledging that there cannot be an overarching analysis of humanity.

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In an attempt to amass an overall consensus of justice being desirable as a benefit to the health of the soul, and the necessity placed on maintaining its ideals as a virtue (as expressed by Socrates to resolve Thrasymachus 's definition); Glaucon extends his argument of justice to include the concept of the Three Kinds of Goods. As explained, all goods can be divided into three classes: as a mere means such as physical labor, as an end akin to joy, and as both a means and an end comparable to maintaining knowledge (book ii). Although an advocate for the belief that justice is coveted both as a means and an end, Glaucon alludes that most individuals classify justice under the first group: justice is no more than a mere means. He continues to elaborate on the idea that justice is viewed as a necessary evil, and that it is only maintained in order

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David Dalfonso Prof. Thomas Teufel Philosophy 1500 BMWA October 22, 2015 In the Republic, by Plato an ancient philosopher. Gluacon presents an argument concerning “the nature and origin of justice.” Gluacon uses the four premises to expand on “justice.”

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It can exist in a variety of situations and settings, including many different types of religions, morals, and literature. Since it is such a common concept, it is important to identify where the term came from, and to understand what it truly means. The concept of “the greater good” was created within the writings of influential philosophers such as Aristotle, Plato, and Cicero. Early on, the idea of “the greater good” was a pure concept, which consisted of having the social systems, institutions and environments all depend on each other to work in a manner that benefits all

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In Book I of the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle brings up the idea that in order to discover the human good we must first develop a certain understanding and identify the function of a human being. Aristotle’s function argument is brought up through his belief that the human function is rational activity, meaning that our good as human beings is rational activity performed fine because this is what leads to living well. The good Aristotle tries to get across can be seen in many different forms depending on how it is viewed, because of the idea that the main function of anything is to reach a final end, the final end is considered the good. “The end of medicine is health, that of shipbuilding, a ship, that of military science, victory…” (Nicomachean,

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To further understand the importance of virtues, one must learn about Aristotle’s doctrine of the mean. A virtue is a mean that sits between two extremes. For instance, as described by Dr. King, a person will want to have the virtue perseverance because they will comprehend the importance of knowledge and be motivated enough to finish their projects. On the excess side of that, a person would be intransigent. Having this characteristic means that someone does not know when to give up on a project, even when there are too many signs going against it.

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The new natural law theory claims that our views on what is good would be different if human nature were different. We do what we believe is good by reflecting on what we see on a daily basis. Aristotle’s book “Nicomachean Ethics” also helps to prove this theory. Aristotle believes virtue has to be practiced at a young age. He argues between the order of knowing and the order of being.

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The main principle of utilitarianism is happiness. People who follow this theory strive to fulfill the “ultimate good”. The “ultimate good” is defined as ultimate pleasure with out any pain. It is said that the pleasure can be of any quantity and any quality, but pleasures that are weighted more important are put at a higher level than others that are below it. This ethical theory also states that if society would fully embrace utilitarianism then people would naturally realize their moral standing in the

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PHL100-T0401-SUM#2-MOSSMAN-PATRICK In book 1 of The Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle argues that The Good for a human is not a state of being, but instead virtuous activity. Aristotle first states that each field of human accomplishment seeks some sort of end. He continues that ends can be desired as a means to further ends, simply as ends in themselves, or both. Accordingly, the final end, The Good that is being ultimately sought, would be that which is the end to which other ends are directed towards, and is desired solely for itself (NE.

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Many classical philosophers have given their voice to the nature of human life and what entails its climax. The very nature of human beings has been investigated, broadly, to establish a comprehensive understanding often pegged on morality. Yet, such thoughts have prompted diverse viewpoints with accompanying grounds or reasons. Happiness is an unending topic of discussion in philosophy. This paper explores the similarities and differences in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism to coin a position in whether or not happiness is the ultimate end that human society aspires to acquire.

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Warn Me! A silent and drizzle night lies in front of me. I think stars will shine brightly soon, because stars usually appear after the rain. My long hair also beautifully shines bathed by the moonlights.

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Epicurus states that humans cannot be unjust to animals because to be unjust we would need to have a contract with the animals and because they do not speak we can’t do that. However even if we do not have a moral contract we should still look at the way we treat animals as many ways are too cruel and we don’t blink an eye but we need to. Epicurus says that justice is a contract or an agreement to neither harm nor be harmed. Humans invent justice by making contracts with each other. The purpose of the agreement is to make other’s happy the laws must be just, make others happy and be useful.

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Introduction The founder of Microsoft doesn’t need and introduction. Bill Gates is one of the wealthiest person in the world. He is well known for his harsh “do as I say, not as I do,” leadership style in the workplace. He was a visionary, and his vision was to build a company or product that would forever change the world The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation were created by them both .Their

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We need to decide in every situation the right thing, to do for us. This eventually leads to the statements about finding the mean of all the virtues for yourself. Once you have achieved true happiness, you will be able to deliberate for any person in any scenario what the mean is for them and the right thing to do for all cases and all

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