Sigmund Freud And Aristotle's Theory Of Happiness

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Aristotle, an ancient Greek philosopher, and author of Nicomachean Ethics, presented his theory of happiness which incorporates major ideas controversial to many. To Aristotle, happiness is not a temporary state mind, but rather, a long term goal, and in effort for humans to achieve this goal, we need to have good morals, or as he states, “complete virtue.” Haidt, author of The Happiness Hypothesis, presents two ideas himself: the attachment theory and the adaptation principle. They both offer two different views which validate and refute Aristotle’s theory of happiness. Finally, Sigmund Freud’s “Civilization and its Discontents” presents the idea that society has tarnished the human being in irreversible ways. From these texts, it is clear that the attachment theory is accommodated by the Aristotelian envision of happiness since it complies with his idea that social attachments are necessary to be fully happy. However it is also evident that the adaptation principle as well as Freud’s “Civilization and its Discontents” pose a problem for Aristotle since they refute his theory of happiness by rejecting this same idea that societal influence brings happiness.
First, we will explore the concept of happiness in Aristotle’s eyes and the different perspectives in which we will be analyzing it. According to Aristotle, happiness is the highest good in which humans ultimately strive to attain. Happiness is not a state of mind but an activity. To many in modern society, happiness is mainly defined as a temporary state of mind, but for Aristotle, happiness becomes a goal that must be achieved through the course of an entire lifetime. Happiness depends on acquiring a moral character, where one displays the main virtues of courage, gene...

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...as little creating a need for more leading to jealousy of others. This is not addressed by Aristotle as he believes that we must be virtuous to be happy, which in itself does not accommodate a feeling of jealousy or greed. Furthermore, Freud’s view of civilization complies with that of the adaptation principle in that society has created a need for wanting more. Society has played a restrictive role on the outlook of humans which shows how Aristotle’s theory of happiness is not valid. Freud believes we should not have to live in a place where we are constantly judged and told which morals are right and wrong. Aristotle believes that we must act according to these morals to be happy which Freud believes makes us unhappy. All in all, there are many different takes on Aristotle’s view of happiness and they all shed light on different topics to be intrinsically examined.

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