What is the Best Way To Live Your Life?

1272 Words3 Pages

In Nichomachean Ethics Aristotle explores the most important question that we humans can ask; what is the best way of living our lives? Throughout this book he establishes logical arguments and supports them to attempt to prove that happiness is the ultimate goal in life and that everything we do pursues it. He begins his argument by stating that everything that we do in everyday life we do because we believe that it is fundamentally good. Aristotle makes the observation that while we pursue that which is good, the way that we pursue it differs greatly. There are so many actions and things which we can do while pursuing what we believe is good that it is illogical to believe that one of these actions is the ultimate end. Aristotle states "An end pursued in its own right is more complete than an end pursued because of something else, and that an end that is never choiceworthy because of something else is more complete than the ends that are both in their own right and because of this end" (Nichomachean Ethics, 134). What exactly does this statement mean and how does it tie into Aristotle's grand scheme of leading the best lifestyle of happiness?

The first part of the statement simply says that an end that requires nothing else but itself is closer to the ultimate end then an end that is a subordinate to other ends. For instance, if I go to school simply to get a better job once I graduate and make more money than I am pursuing an end that is less complete. On the other hand if I go to school simply to educate myself because I love knowledge and wish to improve myself then that end is superior to going to school for money. Since knowledge is not a subordinate end to other ends then it is more complete. The goal is also always mor...

... middle of paper ...

...tional side of our soul must be able to control our irrational in order to achieve virtue is reason enough to discredit his theory. I believe that in order to be happy we must satisfy our desires as much as possible. If our desires are irrational then why do we have them? He says that since god gave us reason we must use it, but we desires too! Why shouldn't we use our desires to overpower our reason? I just don't see why we shouldn't do what makes us immediately satisfied in life because it is too short. I also believe that imposing all these perfect virtues of characters upon people is absurd. Why does being courageous make someone any less happy then someone that is a coward? I believe that being yourself is key to happiness and constantly shaping your personality and traits in order to mold into a perfect human being is wrong.

Works Cited
Nichomachean Ethics

Show More
Related

  • Six Types Of Character In Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics

    1079 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are two categories that he puts them in irrational and rational. In irrational he has two parts vegetative which is no share in reason. This means that no matter what the body digest or blood pumps and it cannot be stopped because it is part of the bodies job to do. The second part of the irrational is the appetitive which has a potency to share in reason. The desires conform to reason and it does not control the person. The second category is rational and it has reasoning or also known as intellective and this means that the person thinks with reason. For example, in math class two plus two will always be four. Appetitive and reasoning are to work together. If not a person cannot be considered virtues and therefore cannot be happy. A person has to feel the correct feeling for a specific situation to be able to be considered good or correct. For a person to be considered good they need to have appetitive and be rational of these things to make them virtues. Also the person needs to not neglect feelings because they are supposed to feel a certain feeling for a specific situation that is supposed to be that way. If the person does not feel it or refuses it, then they are not doing what a correct good and virtues person does. Only the good man has the objective feeling and action only when the person feels the correct emotions in the right way. A person that sees something sad should react sad because it is the correct feeling. They should not feel happy or glad of that sad situation or they are not a considered a good

    Read More

  • Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics

    338 Words  | 1 Pages

    As Socrates also believed, Aristotle thought that the life of the philosopher was the most pleasant and had the potential to bring the most happiness to oneself. Happiness is a state that is interpreted differently by each person. Aristotle describes happiness as a final end meaning that is not chosen as a means to something else. As health is the goodness, or completeness, of a person’s body, happiness is the goodness of a person’s soul. For that reason, one should not seek happiness in itself, but should seek deserving to be happy. This is the same as one not seeking health, but deserving the health by exercising and eating correctly.

    Read More

  • Aristotle and the Book of Nicomanchean Ethics

    1511 Words  | 4 Pages

    Aristotle and the Book of Nicomanchean Ethics In Book I of Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle states that the ultimate human goal or end is happiness. Aristotle describes the steps required for humans to obtain happiness. Aristotle states that activity is an important requirement for happiness. He states that a happy person cannot be inactive.

    Read More

  • Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics: Happiness

    1043 Words  | 3 Pages

    From pursuing pleasure to avoiding pain, life seems to ultimately be about achieving happiness. However, how to define and obtain happiness has and continues to be a widely debated issue. In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle gives his view on happiness. Aristotle focuses particularly on how reason, our rational capacity, should help us recognize and pursue what will lead to happiness and the good life.';(Cooley and Powell, 459) He refers to the soul as a part of the human body and what its role is in pursuing true happiness and reaching a desirable end. Aristotle defines good'; as that which everything aims.(Aristotle, 459) Humans have an insatiable need to achieve goodness and eventual happiness. Sometimes the end that people aim for is the activity they perform, and other times the end is something we attempt to achieve by means of that activity. Aristotle claims that there must be some end since everything cannot be means to something else.(Aristotle, 460) In this case, there would be nothing we would try to ultimately achieve and everything would be pointless. An ultimate end exists so that what we aim to achieve is attainable. Some people believe that the highest end is material and obvious (when a person is sick they seek health, and a poor person searches for wealth).

    Read More

  • Agustle Virtue Analysis

    1155 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle lays a foundation of goods and supreme goods. “Every art”, he says, “and every inquiry, and similarly every action and pursuit, is thought to aim at some good; and for this reason the good has rightly been declared” (Aristotle, 46). The chief good is that “which we desire for its own sake” (Aristotle, 47). The chief good for humans is happiness, which people equate with many different things. The reason why happiness is the chief good is because it is sufficient in itself. Aristotle says “the general run of men…identify living well and doing well with being happy” (Aristotle 48). For example, it is thought that if one is happy with their job, they are more inclined to do a good job because they are content. As Aristotle continues on he defines the supreme good in yet another way, saying, “…Human good turns out to be activity of soul in accordance with virtue” (Aristotle, 55). For Aristotle, a rational human being is also a happy and virtuous one as well. Rationality distinguishes humans from animals. At this point, it is suggested that one’s life can only be examined as a whole and not as he or she lives. “One swallow does not make a summer, nor does one day”, says A...

    Read More

  • Aristotelian versus Kantian Ethics

    1474 Words  | 3 Pages

    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 ...

    Read More

  • Aristotle: Ethics and the Virtues

    2252 Words  | 5 Pages

    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).

    Read More

  • Aristotle: The Pursuit of Happiness

    1374 Words  | 3 Pages

    On Aristotle’s search to find the highest good of a human being, he first asked what the ergon, or task, of being human is. His main focus was mostly on what the purpose or goal of human existence should be. Aristotle said that everyone is trying to reach happiness, whether it is by having money, love, or being honored. However, according to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, he believes that the good we are trying to reach is one ultimate level of experience and that it is “desirable in itself and never for the sake of something else.” All the other good that we experience throughout our lives is just pushing us toward the one thing that will make us happy in the end. Although we may think of being happy as a state of mind, Aristotle thought of it as how you lived your life. In other words, the happiness will not come and go within a couple of minutes or hours. It is a goal that is reached “at the end of one’s life and is a measurement of how well one has lived up to their full potential as a human being” (Shields).

    Read More

  • Kant's and Aristotle's Ethics

    1297 Words  | 3 Pages

    Aristotle’s Strength is his belief in moderation (Book480). Aristotle believes the ultimate goal in life is to be happy and people will do what makes them happy. He defined the highest good as “eudaimonia” (Chaffee 477). To a...

    Read More

  • Aristotle's Theory Of Happiness Essay

    1245 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of Plato's Theory On Human Nature

    914 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing

    1860 Words  | 4 Pages

    Aristotle describes three types of life in his search for human flourishing: lives of gratification, politics, and contemplation. He contends that there is a single Idea of Good that all men seek, and he finds that happiness, or eudaimonia, best fits his criteria. Aristotle investigates the human purpose to find how happiness is best achieved, and finds that a life of activity and contemplation satisfies our purpose, achieving the most complete happiness in us. Aristotle is correct regarding the necessity of activity, but restricts the theory to only the life of study. We will reject this restriction, and instead allow any life of virtue and productivity to substitute for Aristotle’s life of study. One primary means of remaining active to achieve happiness includes loving friendships, which only happen to the virtuous. Thus human flourishing is living a life of virtue, activity, and productivity.

    Read More

  • The Nature of Man as Political Animal

    1732 Words  | 4 Pages

    Aristotle is defining happiness as the complete and sufficient good for human beings. In other words, happiness is desired for itself and not for the sake of anything else, it satisfies all the desires and has no evil mixed with it. Happiness according Aristotle is "being happy" and by "living well" and "doing well."(Nicomachean Ethics, 6) This depends on what individual consider living well and doing well. Many might think that living well involves wealth, honor and success whereas other might disagree arguing the living well means leading a good spiritual and religious life. However, the end, which we all want to achieve, is happiness, even thought it has different meaning and some might consider what is good for them also being good for another person. In all of the activities there is some end and we seek it for its own sake. If everything else is the same mean to these same ends, it will obviously be our highest and best end. Happiness is something always ...

    Read More

  • Live Your Life

    847 Words  | 2 Pages

    Three small words can bring inner happiness to me and others. Having the ability to change your attitude towards life and what defines one will create a feeling of peace. Living your life can bring good and bad regrets, but by the choice we make can bring happiness, and a meaningful life. The goal of this essay is to show what credo I live by and what defines me as a person. Having the power to live with the choices I had made, determination towards a goal, and finding a deeper meaning to life.

    Read More

  • How to Live a Long Life

    1320 Words  | 3 Pages

    Do you dream of living a long, healthy life? Fortunately, it is much easier to achieve this dream today, in a world that is more technologically and medically advanced than ever before. Because of these favorable advances, the life expectancies in most countries have increased. It is not enough, however, to solely rely on technology and medicine to increase your life expectancy. In order to make your dream a reality, you need to take a few additional steps. To improve your chances of living a long life, you should eat and drink healthy, have a consistent sleep routine, be physically and mentally active, reduce causes of stress and depression, avoid and/or quit smoking, and abstain from overindulgence.

    Read More

More about What is the Best Way To Live Your Life?

Open Document