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Aristotle notion of happiness
On virtue and happiness
Virtues connection to happiness
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In the Declaration of Independence, it states that all men, being equal by nature, have the equal right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is interesting from Thomas Jefferson’s point of view that he says that we have the right to pursue happiness. When he said this, what did he mean in ways of understanding it and pursing this happiness? To live, as we have experienced, is itself a means to living well. The same applies to freedom. We cannot pursue happiness if we cannot freely carry out the choices we make. “If everything is determined for us, if the pattern of our life is imposed upon us, there would be no sense in talking about planning our lives or about adopting a plan for living well.” We need to stay and be alive in order to live well. To live well, we need a planned effort. To make an effort, we need the liberty and freedom to carry that out. Since these things are needed to pursue happiness, we have a right to them. The question is, do we need to live well? If not, what was Thomas Jefferson referring to when he wrote in the Declaration that every man had the right to pursue happiness? Should happiness be pursued? This is answered through Aristotle’s philosophy. On happiness, Aristotle states, “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.” “This end is realized through continuous acting in accordance with virtues which, like happiness, must be desired for themselves, not for the short term pleasures that can be derived from them.”
“Living well, or happiness, is the ultimate or final end of all our doing in this life—that which we seek for its own sake and for the sake of no further good beyond it. We also saw that we do in fact desire certain thing...
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... Mean, it only applies for virtues, not vices and of relativism of a person’s context.
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Jancar, Barbara. The Philosophy of Aristotle. New York: Thor Publications, 1963.
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1. "My happiness needs no higher aim to vindicate it. My happiness is not the means to an end. It is the end."
"It's a small phrase when you think about it: "the pursuit of happiness." It's somewhat over-shadowed in the Declaration of Independence by the weightier notions of "life" and "liberty." In today's mass culture, it even comes close to being banal. Who, after all, doesn't want to pursue happiness? But in its own day, the statement was perhaps the most radical political statement ever delivered. And when we try and fathom why it is that the United States still elicits such extreme hatred in some parts of the world, this phrase is as good a place to start as any." "What power four little words still have. And what carnage they must still endure to survive. "
A Vision Achieved Jefferson envisioned a government that allowed its citizens to exercise inalienable rights. In exact words, he states, “ We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” To be more evident, how can we define these “inalienable rights” of “life”, “liberty”, and the “pursuit of happiness?” Have these inalienable rights, achieved Jefferson’s goal? I am convinced, Jefferson’s revolutionary vision of life, liberty, and happiness has at last been achieved in America.
Humans, throughout recorded history, have searched for a proper way of living which would lead them to ultimate happiness; the Nicomachean Ethics, a compilation of lecture notes on the subject written by Greek philosopher Aristotle, is one of the most celebrated philosophical works dedicated to this study of the way. As he describes it, happiness can only be achieved by acting in conformity with virtues, virtues being established by a particular culture’s ideal person operating at their top capacity. In our current society the duplicity of standards in relation to virtue makes it difficult for anyone to attain. To discover true happiness, man must first discover himself.
Jefferson's text was extremely taboo especially without the support of a reputable country. Thomas Jefferson's words were also courageous and daring. In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson used the words in the preamble - life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness - in which he uses happiness to mean property. He also gives examples of the tyrant qualities King George possesses and attacks the king's character and his skills as a leader.
...ust be happiness. Furthermore, he asserts that since we must start from our own experience, we must be brought up in fine habits to be more easily capable of fine things. Chapter five elaborates on this point, proposing that people reach their interpretations of happiness according to the kinds of lives they lead. Three kinds of lives are introduced. The first is of the many, who see happiness as pleasure, and this concept is dismissed as vulgar and only suitable for animals. Second is the cultivated, who are active in politics and see happiness as having honour. However, this too is dismissed as superficial, as being honoured depends on others opinions. The cause of honour, virtue, is considered as well, but also dismissed as possessing virtue does not equate to happiness. Third is the life of study, which is postponed, perhaps for another book in this work.
happiness is found by living in accordance with human dignity, which is a life in accordance
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.
Virtue, then deals with those feelings and actions in which it is wrong to go too far and wrong to fall too short but in which hitting the mean is praiseworthy and good….
In the book, The How of Happiness, author and researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky sets her book apart from other self-awareness books by being the first to utilize empirical studies. She uses data gained through scientific method to provide support for her hypothesis. This hypothesis consists mainly of the idea that we have the ability to overcome genetic predisposition and circumstantial barriers to happiness by how we think and what we do. She emphasizes that being happier benefits ourselves, our family and our community. “The How of Happiness is science, and the happiness-increasing strategies that [she] and other social psychologists have developed are its key supporting players” (3).
Happiness, to Aristotle, is a term for which much exactitude must be made. He understands that, "Happiness both the refined and the few call it, but about the nature of this Happiness, men dispute." As such, he goes to great lengths to attain a fairly accurate accounting of what he sees as Happiness. He begins by illustrating that Happiness is an End, establishes what he finds the work of Man to be, sets conditions on being happy, and then explains where in Man the cultivation of Happiness is to be sought. The result of all these ideas is his fully developed sense of Happiness, an understanding vital to his conception of Ethics.
Happiness is the goal of every human beings according to Aristotle, however what does happiness imply? It is in his attempt to define happiness and to find a way to attain it that Aristotle comes across the idea of virtue. It is thus necessary to explain the relationship between these two terms. I will start by defining the good and virtue and then clarify their close link with the argument of function, I will then go into more details in explaining the different ways in which they are closely related and finally I am going to give an account of the apparent contradiction in Book X which is a praise of the life of study.
Happiness is the ultimate goal for everyone in life. Aristotle's definition of " happiness is happiness is the activity of the soul in accord with perfect virtue. To become a better person, we must practice virtuous acts regularly. After a while, these acts will become a habit and so the virtuous acts. part of our every day life and the person will be leading a virtuous life.
The movie Pursuit of Happyness shows how a person became a homeless then eventually how he survived from being a homeless. Then, to being a multi millionaire. Even though he experienced how hard life can be he still pursued to reach his goals in his life for his son. This movie shows how a homeless person stand up and pursue to be successful.
According to Webster dictionary the word Happiness in defined as Enjoying, showing, or marked by pleasure, satisfaction, or joy. People when they think of happiness, they think about having to good feeling inside. There are many types of happiness, which are expressed in many ways. Happiness is something that you can't just get it comes form your soul. Happiness is can be changed through many things that happen in our every day live.