Throughout time there have been many outstanding figures that support different views on morality, ethics, and how to achieve happiness. Although there are many, I will be writing about philosophers Aristotle and Immanuel Kant, as well as the Dalai Lama and Jesus. Through his teachings, the philosopher Aristotle demonstrates that happiness does not equal pleasure; but defines happiness as a condition of the good person who succeeds in living well and acting well (McNamara, 2016). Similar to the views of Aristotle, the philosopher Immanuel Kant believes that “Morality is not property the doctrine of how we may make ourselves happy, but how we make ourselves worthy of happiness” (McNamara, 2016). The Dalai Lama preached that happiness is a choice …show more content…
Aristotle teaches that to be happy does not surmount to pleasures, because pleasures are not universal, but that happiness is the result of being a good person who is successful in living/acting well. His two theories outline his beliefs on how a person can become happy and what kind of mentality a person needs to have in order to be a good person. Although, Aristotle's concerns were never on the individual, his first concern were on the common good of the state. His theories on human excellence and the mean, were adopted in the 13 century by Thomas Aquinas (philosopher that taught catholicism) (McNamara, 2016). The theory based around Human Excellence was concentrated on the belief that human excellence comes from habits that are developed over time that represent what it means to be considered a human. An example of a good person, is one who uses reasons to control his/her own desires (McNamara, 2016). Aristotle believes that because humans demonstrate good virtues, then god must exist. Virtue can be accomplished only through practice and then goodness will overcome a person within. Aristotle's second theory, The Mean, evolves around one's actions maintaining balance. He teaches that if we don't like something, we shouldn't avoid that something completely, we should pick the …show more content…
Just as the title suggests, Jesus went to a crowd of people, sat on a mountainside and taught his disciples. Although there are many disciples Jesus taught in his Sermon, in this essay I will only be discussing three key points that stood out to me: Ask, Seek, Knock, Salt and Light, and The Narrow and Wide Gates. The discipline of Ask, Seek, Knock evolves around the concept that there is no such thing as a closed door. The quote “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be open to you” (McNamara, 2016), clarifies that no one is truly alone because there is always someone who is more than willing to help you. This discipline also comes back to the saying “treat other the way you want to be treated” because by doing that, only good and happiness can be the outcome of every situation. The Salt and the Light discipline focuses on the insides of a person. The salt can be viewed as the bad things happening around someone and the light can symbolize the person themself. This passage means that people should let the light within them, even though times are difficult, shine through for others to see (McNamara, 2016). Some people may view this as a wrong thing to do but if our talents are God given, we should show them off. This is what Jesus is trying to convey in the passage of The Salt and Light. The last discipline I will
Saying this is tough because Aristotle is clear that he believes all people seek happiness, i.e., people want to be happy (see bk I.4), but he points out that there are different conceptions of what it entails, e.g., some think it is wealth, others honor, others virtue, etc. Thus, you’ll want to maybe make it clear that Aristotle’s point is only that people seek out their own understanding of happiness, but not necessarily seek out what Aristotle himself thinks happiness actually is. We study it so we have a target and goal. This might be a key to the good life, but not the key. The key is to achieve eudaimonia, and a key component in achieving it would be to study
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...
In conclusion, Aristotle’s elucidation of happiness is based on a ground of ethics because happiness to him is coveted for happiness alone. The life of fame and fortune is not the life for Aristotle. Happiness is synonymous for living well. To live well is to live with virtue. Virtue presents humans with identification for morals, and for Aristotle, we choose to have “right” morals. Aristotle defines humans by nature to be dishonored when making a wrong decision. Thus, if one choses to act upon pleasure, like John Stuart Mill states, for happiness, one may choose the wrong means of doing so. Happiness is a choice made rationally among many pickings to reach this state of mind. Happiness should not be a way to “win” in the end but a way to develop a well-behaved, principled reputation.
Aristotle begins his ethical account by saying that “every art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and every choice, is thought to aim for some good; and for this reason the good has rightly been declared to be that at which all things aim” (line 1094a1). Though some things might produce higher good than others, Aristotle looks for the highest good, which he says we must “desire for its own sake” and our actions are not decided on some other goal beyond this good itself (line 1094a20-25).[1] This highest good is then realized to be happiness (line 1095a16-20).
One of Aristotle’s conclusions in the first book of Nicomachean Ethics is that “human good turns out to be the soul’s activity that expresses virtue”(EN 1.7.1098a17). This conclusion can be explicated with Aristotle’s definitions and reasonings concerning good, activity of soul, and excellence through virtue; all with respect to happiness.
He believes that happiness as a central purpose of human life and a goal in itself. The Aristotle example is that an order person who wants to be happy, he or she must live an active life of virtue, for this will in turn bring him closer to the final end. Some people may believe that these actions that the his or her choose to make is what creates someone happiness, but Aristotle believes that these actions are just a mere part of the striving toward the final
It was Aristotle’s belief that everything, including humans, had a telos or goal in life. The end result or goal was said to be happiness or “eudaimonia”. He explained that eudaimonia was different for each person, and that each had a different idea of what it meant. Further, he said that people must do things in moderation, but at the same time do enough. The theory, of “the golden mean of moderation” was the basis to Aristotle's idea of the human telos and concluded that living a virtuous life must be the same for all people. Aristotle maintained that the natural human goal to be happy could only be achieved once each individual determined his/her goal. A person’s telos is would usually be what that individual alone can do best. Aristotle described the humans as "rational animals" whose telos was to reason. Accordingly, Aristotle thought that in order for humans to be happy, they would have to be able to reason, and to be governed by reason. If a person had difficulty behaving morally or with ethics, he was thought to be “imperfect”. Moral virtue, a principle of happiness, was the ability to evade extremes in behavior and further to find the mean between it and adequacy. Aristotle’s idea of an ideal state was one where the populous was able to practice eth...
To start, according to Aristotle, the end of every action aims at a good (1094a1-10). He goes on to say that the highest good is the most complete, that it is good in itself and is not chosen to gain something else. Aristotle believes that the highest good that every action aims for is happiness, because it is self-sufficient (1097b1-10). For example, why does a person want a high paying job? So they can earn money. Why does a person want money? So they can get things. Why does a person want to get things? So they can become happy, or believe that it would give them happiness. Aristotle comes to this conclusion by taking into account the opinions of people, realizing that almost everyone is trying to obtain happiness (1095a10-20). In addition, Aristotle believes the means for achieving happiness are through the excellence of one's being. The term Aristotle uses here is aretê, or virtue. Essentially, virtue is the excellence of something, in this case moral action (1095b20-30). Virtue leads to happiness because it "seems to be more durable even than the kinds of knowledge" (1100b10-20). Earlier, Aristotle came to the conclusion that happiness is something that is not changed easily. If ...
Steven Jensen speaks on the subject of ethics and happiness. One of the points that I resonated with was the idea of whether a just or unjust life can lead to happiness. Secondly, what actually consists of a happy life? The last point was the deciphering of the relation between human law and religion with morality and ethical beliefs. Can an unjust life lead a person to happiness?
Perceptions of Happiness: Aristotle Aristotle’s most explored subject matter can be argued to be “happiness”. He believes that happiness is the main goal (end) or “highest good” in every person’s life. Many questions arise when debating the concept of happiness as it seems to not have a single definition but is more of a general idea involving many different things in life. In Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics, he touches on the concept of happiness being different for every person and it may depend on one’s virtues and values. As much as I do agree upon Aristotle’s views on the importance of happiness in one’s life, it is only to an extent.
1.) Aristotle begins by claiming that the highest good is happiness (198, 1095a20). In order to achieve this happiness, one must live by acting well. The highest good also needs to be complete within itself, Aristotle claims that, “happiness more than anything else seems complete without qualification, since we always…choose it because of itself, never because of something else (204, 1097b1). Therefore, Aristotle is claiming that we choose things and other virtues for the end goal of happiness. Aristotle goes on to define happiness as a self-sufficient life that actively tries to pursue reason (205, 1098a5). For a human, happiness is the soul pursuing reason and trying to apply this reason in every single facet of life (206, 1098a10). So, a virtuous life must contain happiness, which Aristotle defines as the soul using reason. Next, Aristotle explains that there are certain types of goods and that “the goods of the soul are said to be goods to the fullest extent…” (207, 1098b15). A person who is truly virtuous will live a life that nourishes their soul. Aristotle is saying “that the happy person lives well and does well…the end
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.
Aristotle feels we have a rational capacity and the exercising of this capacity is the perfecting of our natures as human beings. For this reason, pleasure alone cannot establish human happiness, for pleasure is what animals seek and human beings have higher capacities than animals. The goal is to express our desires in ways that are appropriate to our natures as rational animals. Aristotle states that the most important factor in the effort to achieve happiness is to have a good moral character, what he calls complete virtue. In order to achieve the life of complete virtue, we need to make the right choices, and this involves keeping our eye on the future, on the ultimate result we want for our lives as a whole. We will not achieve happiness simply by enjoying the pleasures of the moment. We must live righteous and include behaviors in our life that help us do what is right and avoid what is wrong. It is not enough to think about doing the right thing, or even intend to do the right thing, we have to actually do it. Happiness can occupy the place of the chief good for which humanity should aim. To be an ultimate end, an act must be independent of any outside help in satisfying one’s needs and final, that which is always desirable in itself and never for the sake of something else and it must be
His philosophical theory was very simple and he wanted to teach people how to be happy. He stated “In all our activities there is an end, which we seek for its own sake, and everything else is a means to this end…Happiness is this ultimate end. It is the end we seek in all that we do.” What Aristotle means is that everything we do in our daily activities and actions is all leading up to the end result which is happiness. For example, I work and attend school full time and everything that I do is sub goals leading towards being a successful person which causes me to be happy. Aristotle says happiness is also found in our feelings. A personal example is I love my family and it makes me happy having people to care about and to support them. Sub goals on the way, such as making an A in a class or finishing college and getting a degree are self-awarding pleasures that create happiness. Those are a few examples that make me happy and doing well and succeeding is the key to happiness. For happiness to happen in general, people need to have a reason or virtue in our lives. That everyone has their strong suites about themselves and we need to express and share them with others to help others grow as well. What I understand from Aristotle’s theories of happiness is that our feelings and good actions and being able to control them is what makes us
Happiness can be viewed as wealth, honour, pleasure, or virtue. Aristotle believes that wealth is not happiness, because wealth is just an economic value, but can be used to gain some happiness; wealth is a means to further ends. The good life, according to Aristotle, is an end in itself. Similar to wealth, honour is not happiness because honour emphases on the individuals who honour in comparison to the honouree. Honour is external, but happiness is not. It has to do with how people perceive one another; the good life is intrinsic to the...