Aristotle’s account of morality and his concepts of moral virtue arise from his understanding of human nature. He noticed that every action of man has some end in view, and these ends seem to be an endless chain. For this reason, he he asked “what is the highest good?” for humans. He concludes that happiness is the highest good, and the ultimate purpose for human life, and is the only goal to pursue in itself. Many activities are directed towards various virtues such as honor, a good reputation, wealth and pleasure, but are ultimately acted upon because it will bring about happiness. To be an ultimate end, an act must be self-sufficient and final, and happiness seems to be “that which is always desirable in itself, and never for the sake …show more content…
The idea of happiness is not a morally worthy pursuit, and only actions which come from respect to moral law, poses moral value. Contrastly to Aristotle, happiness cannot be the moral motivator of human action. For Kant, happiness is simply getting what you want and is not the basis for his system of ethics. It is powerless as a function of the basis of morality. For example, getting what you want may mean preventing others from getting what they want, so it seems impossible for everyone to be happy, and therefore moral. Kant does not agree with Aristotle on the claim that if you are moral, you are happy. He takes into account many instances where being moral does not lead to happiness, and where happiness does not entail morality. He goes on to explain that many people do not seem to know what makes them happy… “The concept of happiness is such an indeterminate concept that, although every human being wishes to attain this, he can still never say determinately and consistently with himself what he wishes and wills” (?????). Many tend to believe that attracted wealth will bring about happiness, but as studies show there is a cap where happiness levels off at a certain income, and it’s actually not that high. He states that as finite beings we
A professor of history at Florida State , Darrin M. McMahon, in his New York Times article, “In Pursuit of Unhappiness”, (11-29-2005) he persuades that happiness is a relentless desire to achieve if you find it on your own. the article written by McMahon he quotes that ”Those only are happy who have their minds fixed on some object other than their own happiness..”. He uses evidence to support his claim by using philosophers John Stuart mill and Carlyle quotes to prove that they all have similar views on how to achieve being happy and be cheerful. It's better to do something that makes you carefree rather than waiting for happiness to come “knocking at your door” as if you gain contentment as pure luck. Sometimes it is better to be bliss
Socrates, one of the most famous Greek philosophers, believed that one can achieve happiness when he said, ¨By harmonizing our desires we can learn to pacify the mind and achieve a divine-like state of tranquility.¨ What Socrates was trying to say was that if people work together and have similar desires, then achieving the ultimate goal of happiness would be much easier. Trying to achieve a desire may be tough, but having someone there to help makes it less difficult. John Locke, an English Philosopher, would disagree with Socrates since he stated, ¨The necessity of pursuing happiness is the foundation of liberty.¨ Which meant that one did not need all of the desires in life to achieve happiness. Locke believed that having the ability to be free and make decisions for oneself is the best way to have a happy. Simply having family, friends, or someone helping to achieve desires in life is one way of achieving happiness as Socrates said, but also through freedom and choices one makes on their own as John Locke would say.
Happiness exists not only as an emotion, but as a state of mind. Before Adam and Eve sinned, they are said to be happy and content because they lived in a world where emotions such as envy and greed did not exist. Because they sinned, the world they knew fell, and humans have lived in the world of non-happiness from then until the present. In the 18th Century, people began to think of happiness not as something that is only in the afterlife, but as something that can be obtained on Earth as well. The Declaration of Independence, one of the most well-known works of the 18th century, states that everyone has the undeniable right to pursue happiness.
According to Aristotle, an individual can achieve happiness only by realizing all the works and activities in accordance with reason throughout his lifetime. He claimed that happiness consists in cultivating and exercising virtue and it is the ultimate purpose of human existence, as stated in his work Nicomachean Ethics “He is happy who lives in accordance with complete virtue and is sufficiently equipped with external goods, not for some chance period but throughout a complete life”. However, such Aristotelian concept of happiness inevitably contradicts the understanding of history as development which maintains that fulfilling the work of human exceeds the limits of an individual and thus can only be achieved in the course of history. Three
Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics begins by exploring ‘the good’. Book I argues that, unlike other goods, “happiness appears to be something complete and self-sufficient, and is, therefore, the end of actions” (10:1097b20-21). In other words, happiness is the ultimate good. But how does one achieve happiness? Aristotle formulates this in the context of work, since for all things, from artists to horses, “the good and the doing it well seem to be in the work” (10:1097b27-28).
It is critical to recognize Mill’s argument that a degree of contentment can exist in periods of less happiness. However, Aristotle’s view of perceiving wellbeing or goodness as ultimate is more pronounced. Worth emphasizing, Aristotle deeply explores his arguments basing them on functions of a rational man and virtues out of habits. Today, a virtuous citizen is one whose actions are inward, in response to conscience and moral obligations as a member of society. Such a person, not waivered with intensities of pleasures, honor, and wealth but seeks to have a satisfactory level of happiness with friends, co-workers, and family among other
Thus, when human function is done well, it is in accordance with virtue and best human life is achieved. In addition, it can be inferred that since Aristotle’s definition of happiness is to be virtuous, performing rational activity well can lead to happiness. In addition, Aristotle states, “if there are more than one virtue, in accordance with the best and most complete” (1098a18). This means that eventually there will be one virtue that is inclusive of all virtue and that displays an end, and this virtue will be in line with the self-sufficient and inclusive concept of happiness as the chief good. If this inclusive virtue and good is achieved, ultimate happiness will be achieved as well.
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’.
In his more specific discourse on the nature of happiness, Aristotle comes to the conclusion that happiness lies in the contemplative life because “contemplation is the highest form of activity” (Aristotle 268). Aristotle views the activities of the mind to be the most sophisticated element of human life, and thus he believes the greatest good must come from the greatest aspect of life. In this view of happiness, Aristotle assumes that “happiness is an activity in accordance with virtue,” and that in order to live the contemplative life, one must also live a morally virtuous life (Aristotle 270). This connection between morality and contemplation coincides with Aristotle’s view of the superiority of contemplation over all other human activities.
Aristotle proposes that eudaimonia is the most intrinsically valuable. Eudaimonia is defined as happiness, or well-being. Happiness is probably the best English word to translate eudaimonia, the term also has relations with fulfillment, success, and flourishing. A person who is eudaimon is not just merely enjoying life but is relishing life by living magnificently. One’s reputation and success, different than one’s emotional welfare, can be affected after death, which makes Aristotle’s discussion of eudaimonia after death significantly more relevant.
Aristotle applies patience, carefulness and descriptive approach to the goal of ethics. The central issue for Aristotle is the question of character or personality; what does it take for an individual human being to be good person? Every situation has a final cause the good of which it aims and Aristotle argues that since there cannot be an infinite regress of mercy extrinsic goods, there must be a highest good at which all human activity ultimately aims.
In order to do this, we need to 'know thyself ' and become as learned as we can, knowing the good for all, while also being humble. We are all naturally good people, so we must promote the good in the world. According to Aristotle, however, happiness, his goal for all humans is not that easy to obtain. He claims that "happiness is a certain sort of activity of the soul in accord with virtue (Aristotle, p.12). On the Aristotelian model of how to obtain happiness, it deals a great deal with the issue of particulars.
At the end of everyone’s lives, the goal appears to be about attaining happiness. Describing how to obtain happiness has been an issue that was debated in the past but is still talked about now . In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle expands on his view of happiness and he focuses particularly on how reason helps recognize and pursue what will lead to happiness and the good life. I feel that Aristotle’s philosophies on happiness are important works within the field of philosophy and he considered one of the………of it . In this paper, I will explore Aristotle’s beliefs regarding happiness then compare and contrast them to those of Martin Seligman.
The definition of happiness incorporates different aspects of religion, science, and philosophy. To me, being happy means that someone has discovered who they truly are and what they believe in. A study on the Jewish
For Aristotle, happiness is the end and purpose of human existence. To pursue happiness is to go for telos. Happiness is neither pleasure nor virtue, but an exercise of virtue. Happiness cannot be achieved until the end of one’s life. Hence, it is a goal not a temporary state.