Aristotle On Happiness And Virtue Essay

Aristotle once stated that, “But if happiness be the exercise of virtue, it is reasonable to suppose that it will be the exercise of the highest virtue; and that will be the virtue or excellence of the best part of us.” (481) It is through Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics that we are able to gain insight into ancient Greece’s moral and ethical thoughts. Aristotle argues his theory on what happiness and virtue are and how man should achieve them.

The pursuit for happiness has been a quest for man throughout the ages. In his ethics, Aristotle argues that happiness is the only thing that the rational man desires for its own sake, thus, making it good and natural. Although he lists three types of life for man, enjoyment, statesman, and contemplative, it is the philosopher whom is happiest of all due to his understanding and appreciation of reason. Aristotle’s version of happiness is not perceived to include wealth, honor, or trivial

pursuits because these are all means to an end. Happiness is the finite, or the final end, and Aristotle argues that it is the result that matters rather than the procedure. In his ethics Aristotle states, “Thus happiness turns out to be an ‘activity of the soul in accordance with the perfect virtue.”(473) Excellence is the perfect virtue that Aristotle discusses at length in his ethics so as to inspire his fellow man to achieve greatness through thought and action.
It is on mankind’s quest for happiness that he obtains his virtue. Not only did Aristotle state that man acquires his virtues through his actions, he also argued that such actions were a character statement. To achieve virtues, man must not only do great things he must also take pleasure in these actions; he should feel it in is soul. This supreme state of being is divided into both intellectual and moral excellences and to obtain it a person must be educated, Greek, and a male. Slaves, women, and non-Greeks were all seen as beneath the Greek philosophical ideals and were not considered when Aristotle wrote this. Regardless, Aristotle championed that intellectual excellences were learned through instruction whereas, moral excellences result from custom. He also noted that virtues are really just the ‘means between the extremes’ and that neither too little nor too much of mankind’s emotion and thought are correct. Aristotle argues that, “Virtue, then, has to deal with feelings or passions and with outward acts, in which excess is wrong and deficiency also is blamed, but the mean amount is praised, and is right –both of which are characteristics of virtue. Virtue, then, is a kind of moderation inasmuch as it aims at the mean.”(476) For example, truthfulness versus lying, temperance versus self-indulgence, and, interestingly enough, pride versus humility which is the opposite of Christian theology. In Aristotle’s opinion, it is the pursuit of these virtues that ensure man a good and natural life.
In retrospect, I feel that I gained new insight into happiness and virtue because I read Aristotle’s Ethics.

His argument on what happiness really is differs from a modern perspective by the fact that Aristotle defines happiness as a means to an end and that makes it good and natural. A modern definition defines happiness as being more concerned with man’s journey rather than the end result. I do agree with his opinion that projecting goodwill into the world by being a model citizen will ensure that positivity will come back that way. For example a man who performs good acts will have a decent life and acquire his virtues along the way. I also agree with Aristotle’s notion of virtues being achieved through both thought and action. For example, ‘Pass it on’ is a fad that has become popular in recent years in which people do random acts of kindness for strangers just to ‘pass on’ the kindness with hopes that it will one day return. Aristotle’s Ethics is a theory of enlightenment for mankind on their journey to achieve happiness and

virtue.