Nicomachean Ethics

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In the book Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle uses his collection of lecture notes in order to establish the best way to live and acquire happiness. Aristotle says, “Virtue, then, is a state that decides consisting in a mean, the mean relative to us,.. .It is a mean between two vices, one of excess and one of deficiency.” The virtues that Aristotle speaks about in Nicomachean Ethics are: bravery, temperance, generosity, magnificence, magnanimity, and mildness. According to Aristotle, in order to live a happy life you must obtain these virtues and be morally good. Living a virtuous life is not an activity, but a predisposition. This means that you are genuinely inclined to act virtuously for the appropriate reasons.

Magnanimity is the virtue of honor, or having regards for oneself. As with the other virtues, magnanimity has an excess and a deficiency. One who exaggerates their self- regard is vain, and the one who deprecates their self- regard is pusillanimous. A person who attains the virtue of magnanimity realizes that they are great and honorable, but does not take these feelings of honor too far by being too proud or boastful.

The virtue of fear and confidence is bravery. Just like magnanimity, bravery also has an excess and a deficiency. The vice of excess for bravery is cowardice meaning that the person is too fearful, and the vice of deficiency is rashness meaning that the person is not fearful enough. With regards to the virtue of bravery, a person should do things for the sake of what is noble.

In the Greek tragedy Antigone, a civil war is taking place in the city-state of Thebes. Two brothers, Polyneices and Eteocles, are killed in battle, one from each side of the war. Creon, the ruler of Thebes, says that Eteocl...

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...she did whatever it took to get done what she thought was needed. It didn’t matter that she was going to be sentenced to death, she said that she would rather die than see her brother disgraced. I guess I can sort of see where these people would be coming from because she was willing to put her own life on the line to do what she felt was right. However, coming from Aristotle’s definitions and standards, I feel like this belief would be incorrect.

Keeping with Antigone’s fundamentals of a happy life, I believe that Antigone and Creon did not live fully happy lives. My reasoning behind this statement is: we have obviously seen that Antigone and Creon did not live morally virtuous lives. According to Aristotle’s definition of happiness, in order to be fully happy one must be morally virtuous. They are not morally virtuous, hence the fact, they are not fully happy.

Antigone: Martin Luther King's Nonviolent Campaign
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In the play, Antigone, Antigone’s brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, killed each other over the throne of Thebes. Eteocles took the rightful throne to King after his father ran away in shame because he killed his own father and married his mother. As soon as Eteocles took the throne, he banished his brother, Polynices, so that he did not have to share the throne. Polynices went to create an army with the Argos Kings and mad Thebans. During the battle, Polynices and Eteocles fight to death and both of them die. Polynices is to rot to death and be eaten by the wild dogs and animals, while Eteocles gets the proper burial for he was the rightful king. In Martin Luther King Jr.’s...
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Antigone Deserves More Sympathy than Creon
2545 Words | 6 Pages
In the Antigone, unlike the Oedipus Tyrannus, paradoxically, the hero who is left in agony at the end of the play is not the title role. Instead King Creon, the newly appointed and tyrannical ruler, is left all alone in his empty palace with his wife's corpse in his hands, having just seen the suicide of his son. However, despite this pitiable fate for the character, his actions and behavior earlier in the play leave the final scene evoking more satisfaction than pity at his torment. The way the martyr Antigone went against the King and the city of Thebes was not entirely honorable or without ulterior motives of fulfilling pious concerns but it is difficult to lose sight of the fact that this passionate and pious young woman was condemned to living imprisonment.
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1762 Words | 4 Pages
The opening events of the play Antigone, written by Sophocles, quickly establish the central conflict between Antigone and Creon. Creon has decreed that the traitor Polynices, who tried to burn down the temple of gods in Thebes, must not be given proper burial. Antigone is the only one who will speak against this decree and insists on the sacredness of family and a symbolic burial for her brother. Whereas Antigone sees no validity in a law that disregards the duty family members owe one another, Creon's point of view is exactly opposite. He has no use for anyone who places private ties above the common good, as he proclaims firmly to the Chorus and the audience as he revels in his victory over Polynices. He sees Polynices as an enemy to the state because he attacked his brother. Creon's first speech, which is dominated by words such as "authority” and "law”, shows the extent to which Creon fixates on government and law as the supreme authority. Between Antigone and Creon there can be no compromise—they both find absolute validity in the respective loyalties they uphold.
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In spite of the fact that Aristotle was a companion and scholar of Plato, he didn't concur with Plato's speculations on ethical quality. In the same way as other Greeks, Aristotle did not have confidence in the presence of inalienably terrible practices.
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Antigone, as a character, is extremely strong-willed and loyal to her faith. Creon is similarly loyal, but rather to his homeland, the city of Thebes, instead of the gods. Both characters are dedicated to a fault, a certain stubbornness that effectively blinds them from the repercussions of their actions. Preceding the story, Antigone has been left to deal with the burden of her parents’ and both her brothers’ deaths. Merely a young child, intense grief is to be expected; however, Antigone’s emotional state is portrayed as frivolous when it leads her to directly disobey Creon’s orders. She buries her brother Polynices because of her obedience to family and to the gods, claiming to follow “the gods’ unfailing, unwritten laws” (Sophocles 456-457). CONTINUE
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338 Words | 1 Pages
Throughout Aristotle’s life and career as a philosopher, he modified and formulated many ideas that deal with the psyche and state of the mind and body. One of the most prevalent ideas that he studied was the quest for happiness. He had many theories about it, but most merged to become the Nicomachean Ethics
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2039 Words | 5 Pages
In Book I of Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle states that the ultimate human goal or end is happiness. Aristotle then describes steps required for humans to obtain the ultimate happiness. He also states that activity is an important requirement of happiness. A virtuous person takes pleasure in doing virtuous things. He then goes on to say that living a life of virtue is something pleasurable in itself. The role of virtue to Aristotle is an important one, with out it, it seems humans cannot obtain happiness. Virtue is the connection one has to happiness and how they should obtain it. My goal in this paper is to connect Aristotle’s book of Nicomachean Ethics to my own reasoning of self-ethics. I strongly agree with Aristotle’s goal of happiness and conclude to his idea of virtues, which are virtuous states of character that affect our decision making in life.
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1268 Words | 3 Pages
In Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, he discusses the principles of virtue, choices and a desire for an end. In the 5th chapter of book 3, Aristotle gives a possible argument of someone who objects to his beliefs “But someone might argue as follows: ‘All Men seek what appears good to them, but they have no control over how things appear to them; the end appears different to different men” (1114b). Based on the objector’s generalization, he or she believes that all men strive to find the ultimate good, but they don't have the freedom or the wisdom to see things for what they truly are.
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Virtue ethics is a theory about finding our highest good and doing so will develop a vigorous character within each person. Character is important because it shows that a person has certain beliefs and desires in doing the right thing and when the right thing is accomplished, happiness follows (Hartman, 2006). Virtue ethics derives from Aristotle and he concludes that by doing virtuous acts all through life happiness and respectable character will develop (Morrison & Furlong, 2013). Finding the highest good within oneself brings happiness and great character to that individual.
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In Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle frequently references the doctrine of the mean. This doctrine discusses how every behavior has a moderate behavior that stands in between two extremes. In Book II, he goes into detail on the difference between knowing something through learning and having the natural knowledge or ability. He applies this to his idea of man being “moderate” or “excellent”.
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Virtue Ethics: Aristotle Vs. Al’ Ghazili
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According to Aristotle the ultimate goal to reach is happiness (Fitterer). All of our acts in life have some aim and that aim should be directed towards the end goal, happiness (Aristotle). How do we reach happiness? Aristotle believes that happiness is achieved through developing good virtues and character that leads to doing virtuous acts, which gives our soul pleasure (Wooden, Covey). To understand good ethics and virtues we must learn from teachers, examples, and deep thought. By using intellect, reasoning, and intent these virtuous acts become more easily voluntary (Fitterer). Once these ethics are understood we have the capacity to live a good life and do the right thing in all aspects of life (Wooden, Covey). Good ethics and virtues allow us to make decisions in life with ease (Wooden, Covey). By using these ethics we will not only know what is good but we ourselves will ultimately become good, in turn leading us to happiness. Aristotle discusses some virtues that help us on the path to the ultimate goal of happiness.
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Aristotle’s discussion of generosity is quite simple, yet interesting to read about. In Nicomachean Ethics he describes generosity as the mean of wealth where wastefulness and selfishness are the excess and deficiency of the mean. Aristotle argues that generosity can involve giving money to people who need it or refusing money from those who cannot afford to give it. This means that virtuous generosity involves giving or refusing money in the right way, to or from the right people, at the right time, and in the right amount. He says that a man who exhibits generosity in a virtuous way will do so pleasurably; or at the very least painlessly because virtues are meant to be pleasurable.
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Aristotle's “doctrine of mean”states that virtues and vices are learned through habituation by acting in a virtuous way. In order to act in a virtuous way, one must acknowledge their action as a virtue, choose to do the action for the sake of virtue and do the action from a firm character trait. In other words, virtues are not natural but are instead an outcome of the experiences we have and what we learn. Furthermore, virtues and vices can be seen in a spectrum where vices are a result of acting too virtuous or not virtuous enough. In that case, virtues can be identified through the use of reasoning to determine what is too much and what is too little. However, as humans, Aristotle believes we are more inclined to act for our pleasure so we should be mindful of these when determining how we should act.
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1151 Words | 3 Pages
In this essay I will critically discuss Aristotle’s concept of virtue. I will illustrate how he was influenced by his predecessors and how he disagreed with them and developed his own philosophy. I will also describe how he defined the concept of virtue – what virtuous traits are and also how to be a virtuous person.
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Nicomachean Ethics

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