The boxing drama starring Russell Crowe and Renee Zellweger and directed by Ron Howard is based on a true story of one man's extraordinary fight to save the family he loved. "Cinderella Man" tells a boxing story we've all heard before, Fighter gets knocked down, fighter struggles, fighter ultimately wins, but this story is different. This movie characterizes what actually happened to James J. Braddock, the celebrated athlete whose boxing comeback became a sign for hope during the Great Depression. This film captures the depression era when hopelessness was constant and hope was nothing more than a dream. That dream is Jim Braddock (Russell Crowe) who captures the character. His talk, his walk, his style in the ring are all perfect and also aspiring.…
Federalists, as founded by John Adams and Alexander Hamilton who persist in faith like there should be a strong central government and loose view of constitution. It means they regard anything not forbidden in the constitution is allowed for federalist government. Dealing with foreign countries, they prefer trading and communicating with Britain since they have one of the world’ most powerful navy which is convenient for import and export. They also raised up the idea of forming a national bank which is favored by the businessman. Their military policy of large peacetime army is opposed to Democratic republicans that peacetime army should be small. For other policies, democratic republicans favored weak central government and strict view of…
Though Aristotle does not explicitly speak of meaning, he surely considered the reality of impartial values and meaning. While his primary concern was on the happiness gained by accounting for these values, he does not say that the happy life means the meaningful. However, we can infer that he thought that the good life and the meaningful life are equals. Therefore, Aristotle’s plan in order to live a good life is understandable, and is a guide to a meaningful life.…
Discussion question 1 it discusses how Aristotle seems to have a low opinion of the pursuits of most people. In Book 1, Chapter 5 he mentions that “the many” who seek pleasure or gratification as the highest good are slaves to their passion and thus live a life like grazing animals. Aristotle suggests that such a life is not self-sufficient and unworthy of human beings. Do we agree with Aristotle’s statement? Why or why not? Do you understand why he would make such claims? I agree with Aristotle statement that he made about people who seek the pleasure and the gratification as the highest goods are living in a life like grazing animals. It seems to be that Aristotle has a very low assumption on people because of what they need to be happy.…
Aristotle believed that we as humans have natural obligations that provide happiness. Happiness consists of pleasure and the capacity to develop reasoning.…
In Book 1, Aristotle states “but in every activity and undertaking, it is the end, for it is for the sake of this that they all do the rest” (Arist. EN 1.7, 1097a21, trans. Rowe). By excising this rationality for goodness, it ultimately leads to happiness, which is the reason for all action. Here, Aristotle supplies his teleological perspective that humans are goal or purpose oriented. For businesspersons, the goal could be considered to supply goods and services while adding value to all stakeholders. Although, Aristotle would argue that the goal of the businessperson is not an end in itself, rather it is a subordinate end that creates means to higher ends. Thus, to understand how to be a good person, one must understand the higher end purpose, happiness, which is pursued for its own sake. Aristotle's conception of happiness focuses on the activity of success and fulfillment (Green, R. M. G. A., 2013, p. 9). Aristotle considers happiness as an activity. For the businessperson this could mean receiving a promotion. Happiness is not a single activity, rather it is the consistent exercise of reason and appropriate virtues that lead to success and fulfillment (Green, R. M. G. A., 2013, p. 10). The virtues…
Aristotle believes that one’s accomplishments in being happy are the driving force to a “Good Life”. The good life creates a happiness that relates to one functioning well and reason. Aristotle believes that it takes time, hard work and restraint to get to the employ the habits of reasoning and according to him everything has a purpose (Rachels and Rachels, pg 54). Aristotle states that “Good” has rightly been defined as “that at which all things aim” and that people identify happiness with living well or doing well (Sommers & Sommers, 2010).…
The argument is also sound. I have already proven its validity, now I must show that the conclusion is actually true. If Aristotle is going to claim that one cannot reach a state of happiness without being engaged in virtuous action, then it does logically follow that this type of unfailing virtue that Aristotle so vividly describes cannot possibly be reached without contemplative action. Some opposing views of Aristotle say that a life totally based off acts of contemplation is not realistic in our world. But Aristotle is careful to note, in response to this issue, that of course, living a life fully dedicated towards contemplation is too high of a life for humans (Bk. X, Ch. 7). Rather, contemplation is a divine, internal presence within a person. When situations arise that do not…
Aristotle states that everything that a man does is for an end purpose. He defines happiness as actions in accordance with reason. If humans live out their lives to their full potential and live according to reason and with virtues, than they can obtain happiness. In today’s world, many think that happiness is got from money, success, and fame. Many people believe that these things are essential for happiness. Aristotle suggests, it is what we do in our life, not what we gain from our life, like money or success, which gives us happiness. He argues that happiness does not occur instantly. In our world today, we want to feel happiness instantly. However, Aristotle does not rely on this idea. He believes that happiness comes over time and the things that happen in short lived moments do not truly make us happy, but that the activities or virtues, we engage in over time give us happiness in the end. He contends that by achieving certain virtues, it leads to happiness in the long run, not in an instantaneous moment. In our society today, Aristotle’s ideas on happiness would not be useful. In Aristotle’s perfect world, everyone would be virtuous and happy. Unfortunately, that is not how our society works today. Aristotle’s ideas are inaccurate because many people gain happiness out of doing unvirtuous actions. For example, Hitler gained some sort of happiness out of murdering Jews.…
In the quest to find out what is the ultimate human good, Aristotle dedicated Book 1 of the Nicomachean Ethics to provide an account of what is the ultimate human good, and what it consists of. This essay will examine why Aristotle thinks that eudaimonia (happiness), is the ultimate human good. Through this discussion, we will see Aristotle suggest four central views which are critical to eudaimonia being the ultimate human good. Firstly, one has to live a life according to one’s function. Secondly, natural, virtuous activity is required in order to live a life of happiness. Thirdly, one requires possessing external goods such as wealth, power and friends in order to be happy. Last but not least, in order to live a life of happiness, one has to live a whole life in accordance to virtue in order to determine if the person lived a happy life.…
The course of history has shown that during times of confusion or disaster, people's true human nature emerges. Unlike the view of Gandhi, in these moments humans behave violently and are concerned with self-interest, supporting the Athenian's view of human motivation. In the History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides gives ample support of this view of human nature. Generally regarded as one of the first true historians, he wanted to view the world as it really was and firmly insisted on sticking to the facts. Thucydides subjected human nature to an extremely cold and reductive analysis, which could be regarded as pessimism, but he considered to be realism. Generally people want to maintain a positive self-concept of themselves which causes them to agree with the overly idealistic views of human nature, such as that presented by Gandhi.…
According to Aristotle every activity aims at some good, which is happiness, and that we should do so by aiming for excellence through rational activities. Happiness is being able to do well in life and live well; however, he argues that many believe happiness has to do with your wealth, pleasure, or honor. People who are wealthy are not aiming for the good they are simply seeking it for another purpose. For example, when you have a lot of money and you want the new iPhone. Well now that you purchased the phone you have to purchase a new case and a new charger and then the next best iPhone becomes available for purchase and repeat. There is no end to the cycle of wealth because people are always seeking other means, which happiness is the…
When comparing the contemplative lifestyle to the moral virtuous lifestyle, one finds the differences to rest on the three types of good: goods of the body, external goods, and goods of the soul.…
Aristotle believes that ethics originate from real world experiences, that there is not a set of rules to apply to life that will mold us into ethical beings, but rather the “individual exists in relationship with others” (Brannigan, 2005:61). Thus, ethics is based upon how the individuals relate to each other and the cultivation of good character. How do we cultivate good character? Aristotle states we must fulfill our human nature. He tells us that all things existing in nature have their own specific end purpose, which he refers to as telos (Greek term for specific end). For example, an apple seed’s telos would be to grow into an apple tree and produce apples. Aristotle tells us that only humans are capable of using logos as a form of thought, and that all humans are, by nature, rational animals. Therefore, the human’s end purpose is to “fulfill our human nature as rational animals by properly exercising our reason” and he also asserts that, “only in this way can we be genuinely happy” (Brannigan, 2005:62).…
The basic idea behind Aristotle’s book is that the ultimate goal in life is to achieve true happiness. This particular idea makes the most sense to me. “Happiness, then, is found to be something perfect and self-sufficient, being the end to which our actions are directed” (Aristotle, Page 15). This quote states that happiness is the final, the end and all other things will lead up to this. Happiness is stated to direct our actions because people all want to be happy. This idea gives people the feeling of “self-sufficient” because no other person can make another person achieve the ultimate good because it is all dependent on the person. Happiness is a perfect thing because no one truly knows what it is until they reach it themselves. The idea of happiness is subjective around the world given the different cultures so it is impossible to even begin to describe specifically how to reach the ultimate good. He also says "Since happiness is a certain sort of activity of the soul in accord with complete virtue, we must examine virtue; for that will perhaps also be a way to study happiness better" (Aristotle, 16). Happiness is a virtue and in order to know happiness then you need to have an idea of what a virtue is. Virtue is the behavior showing high moral standards. Moral standards are important in all culture and especially in the Geek culture because of the gods who…