Happiness as the Ultimate End of Human Action

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Recommended: Happiness in the specific sense

I believe there are two types of people in this world: Those who are happy. And those who genuinely believe that after purchasing a new luxury car they can “Be Happy.”. While the latter may find their new addition quite valuable, the former finds their self-fulfillment through a process of more sharpened quality. Those who choose to obtain the “good life” through the acquisition of goods and services are said to be misled regarding the true meaning of happiness. This false interpretation of self-satisfaction is what many of us strive for today. We want an immediate ‘feel good’ fix, which we often tend to pay for later. We use pleasure, wealth, and honor as a means to identify those who are the happiest (Stumpf and Feiser 84).

Greek Philosopher, Aristotle analyzed a fundamentally different nature of happiness. Every human action must have an end; an ultimate, self-sufficient end. He believed that happiness exclusively stands as the furthest end of all human action. This sort of happiness, however, differs from our perceived conception of happiness today. In this context, happiness is another word for good. True happiness is found within the soul by aiming to implement the most virtuous solution possible, in all situations (84). It will further be explained how this rendition of happiness is obtained and why it is the highest end that can be achieved through human action.

As humans, we have an innate desire for pleasure in all forms. Whether it is money, food, or sex, this Appetite is the largest and most irrational part of the soul. It will do anything and everything it can to get not only what it wants, but what it needs. It begins as an instrumental desire where we only want it for what it can bring us. However,...

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...en you are truly happy with yourself, you are free within yourself. You are of total gratification and at the ultimate end of human achievement. With your soul, you are free.

Works Cited

Lorenz, Hendrik, "Ancient Theories of Soul", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2009 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = .

Stumpf, Samuel E., and James Fieser. Philosophy: History and Readings. 8th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. 53-85. Print.

Ross, W.D., ed. "Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle." The Internet Classics Archive. Web Atomics, n.d. Web. 02 Dec 2013. .

Nagel, Thomas. "Aristotle on Eudaimonia." Phronesis. 17.3 (1972): 252-259. Web. 05 Dec. 2013.

YouTubeWeb. 02 Dec 2013. .

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