In the book Nichomachean Ethics, Aristotle summarizes how ethics can be used to determine the best way for an individual to achieve happiness. After reading the text, there were a couple of themes that stood out the most to me. Happiness is a choice and with this happiness, friends are needed most of all.…
Prior to watching the film: Pleasure Unwoven, I was of the opinion that addiction was a choice. After watching the film, I understand that addiction is a disease but I feel that choice still has an important role to play, because if one for example the alcoholic did not chose to taste alcohol in the first place he will not become an alcoholic.…
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.…
Media identifies friendship in three types: reciprocity, receptivity and association. Friendship of reciprocity focuses more on equality, each person shares equally in giving and receiving in a relationship. Friendship of receptivity is the opposite. It is an inequality in giving and receiving. It’s a good inequality because each person in the relationship gains something. Friendship of association is described as a friendly relationship than a true friendship because there is great trust in the relationship.…
When friendships are dissolved, the consequences can be devastating. In Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics - VIII – IX he explains how humans learn from one another, and that humans are innately social animals (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics - VIII – IX, 148-149). Friendships are required in life learn about values. Without friends, humans would not be able to learn such values from each other, nor will they be able to confide in each other. Having friends in life allow for the mutual growth of both parties. Rebecca Traister writes in her article “What Women Find in Friends That They May Not Get from Love” her experiences with her friend Sara. Traister says, “In each other, we found respite, recognition, a shared eagerness to relax, take stock and talk about it all.” (Sara Traister, “What Women Find in Friends That They May Not Get from Love, 1), going on to say this relationship was mutual where they benefited from each other’s company. As they both grew together over time, much like Aristotle suggests is the value of friendship. Humans life are not fulfilled unless friends are there to support each other. As Traister says, “For many women, friends are our primary partner through life” (Sara Traister, “What Women Find in Friends That They May Not Get from Love, 5). In Traister’s case, the friendship she shares with Sara is a friendship of virtue.…
Happiness is all around the world, it is a very genuine and important thing, and everyone wants to be happy. Being happy is what makes life worth living, and it makes life a lot better in every way possible. What makes people happy though? Are bodily and external goods necessary to happiness? I would say no because by which they can make you happy, they are not necessary for human happiness. It’s not what things you buy, the pain, the suffering, or enjoyment your body might get. Human happiness comes from somewhere else within the human. Comparing and contrasting Aristotle’s and the Stoics’ view of human happiness will help give a better clear and logical understanding on what really happiness is and why I believe that bodily and external goods are not necessary for happiness.…
1. According to the text a full functioning completely happy person will be mentally, physically, spiritually, financially, professionally, creatively, and socially healthy & well rounded individual. Happiness involves being really alive and not just existing. Aristotle believes that a person should work hard doing what they love, they also shouldn’t devote their lives to acquiring riches since riches don’t provide happiness. One should also reject fame and public success to become happy as self sufficiency is believed to provide happiness. Happiness is a process starting from infancy. A happy life is a life where spiritual, physical and social needs are met under reason and moderation. I think Aristotle recipe of happiness involves a person making a conscience decision to do the right thing in all aspects of their life. I think the happiness he refers to is obtained by living a healthy life, being in tune with our psyche, having a career that we enjoy, having friends and family to love, and having enough riches to support ourselves without gloating about them.…
Numerous experts in modern time regard Plato as the first genuine political philosopher and Aristotle as the first political scientist. They were both great thinkers in regards to, in part with Socrates, being the foundation of the great western philosophers. Plato and Aristotle each had ideas in how to proceed with improving the society in which they were part of during their existence. It is necessary therefore to analyze their different theoretical approaches regarding their philosophical perspectives, such as ethics and psychology. This paper however will mainly concentrate on Aristotle's views on friendship and how it impacts today's society.…
Eudaimonia stands for happiness in Greek. Aristotle argues that the highest good for human beings is happiness. He insists that every action performed by humans is to pursue happiness. Aristotle also argues that human action is always aimed at some end or good. This "good" may not be viewed as a good action or any good by others, but for the doer of the action ("good"), the activity will be perceived as good and that it will bring a favorable outcome. Aristotle also said that all of our actions resulting in ends or goods form a hierarchy. This hierarchy, incorporates a ladder of things, and this ladder would categorize things according to their importance. And the most important thing would be on top of the ladder, thus being the ultimate end. This ultimate end is what all the actions aim to reach at or achieve. [This end must be self-sufficient, it must be attainable and it must be what we want]1. Therefore, because happiness includes all these, then it must be the highest good. An example of this ladder could be a person working hard to lose weight or trying to stay in shape. The bottom step of the ladder is the person working out in a gym, but why is the person working out? To lose weight or maintain their shape. Why does the person want to lose weight or maintain their shape? To look good physically and to be healthy. Why does the person want to look good or be healthy? To be attractive and to lead a stress-less and a comfortable life. And why does the person want to be attractive and/or lead a healthy life? To have peace of mind and to be happy. This example shows that every action is aimed at some end and the ultimate end to the action is happiness. Therefore based on the circumstances, the highest good is happiness and happiness alone.…
People have defined happiness as some kind of good of a human being. In Nicomachean Ethics: Book I, Aristotle defines happiness as the activity of living well, which in the Greek word is called eudaimonia. He tends to think that happiness is how we balance and moderate our lives to seek the highest pleasures, which he calls maintaining the mean. In the following excerpt from Book I, Aristotle talks about how happiness presumably consists in attaining some good or set of goods. “Now goods have been divided into three classes, and some are described as external, others as relating to soul or to body; we call those that relate to soul most properly and truly goods, and psychical actions and activities we class as relating to soul” (Book I pg. 7). He is saying that since happiness consists in attaining some good that there are three different types of goods that you can attain; an external goods, which consists of wealth or honor, goods of the body, which is health or physical strength, and lastly goods of the soul, which consists of knowledge, education, and friendship. Aristotle goes on to say how only certain goods are necessary for happiness. “It is correct also in that we identify the end with certain actions and activities; for thus it falls among goods of the soul and not among external goods. Another belief which harmonizes with our account is that the happy man lives well and does well; for we have practically defined happiness as a sort of good life and good action” (Book I pg. 7). He is saying that only certain goods such as health are the necessary preconditions for happiness and that other goods such as wealth is just something extra that help fill out a good life for a virtuous person, but the possession of virtue or excellence is the element of happiness. Aristotle also adds that humans seek different goods that make them happy compared to animals because humans have a rational capacity that when exercised perfects our natures as human beings.…
Aristotle was a greek philosopher who wrote the book “Nicomachean Ethics”. Aristotle’s view of human natures centers around humans achieving happiness. Too him happiness is our highest goal in life. Aristotle points out that most people in this world have a false view of what happiness really means. Most think of it as physical pleasure like eating, sex, or honor. These people have an imperfect view of what it means to be alive and what it means to be happy. The reason people have a false idea of happiness is because they lack virtue. Virtue is behaving in the right manner. Such as being courageous in life or being a coward. If one is courageous they will find happiness in being such while the coward would find happiness in the opposite but that is a false happiness. Aristotle takes the reader through the true meaning of being alive. He talks about many different aspects of achieving the good life and being happy; he stresses on topics like eudaemonia, classes of goods, and our telos and function in this world.…
Friendship is a virtue or at least involves virtue. Friendship is always a special thing but people tend to forget about how much its value is. Friendship is not just necessary, but also noble.Friendship consists of goodwill between two people. You can only have a few friends being that its take some precious time to build a real friendship. Aristotle’s speaks about how there are three kinds of friendship. The first is friends of utility, where both people receive some benefit from each other. Aristotle believed that this is the type of friendship that is for the old. Aristotle argued that they “are at such a time of life pursue not what is pleasant but what is beneficial.” The second is friends of pleasure, where both people are attracted to each other, good looks, or other their pleasant qualities all together . aristotles says this friendship is for the young. Aristotle argues that the young because “...quickly become friends and quickly stop...” and “...love and stop loving quickly...” The third is friends of excellence, where both people admire the other’s excellence and help one another strive for excellence. Aristotle says this about friends of excellence “...complete sort of friendship between people who are good and alike in virtue...”friends of virtue or excellence is hard to come by especially in the world we live in today because it is so much individualism. According to Aristotle the first two friendships are accidental, because in these case friends are only thinking about their own utility and pleasure, not are going to change over a period of time. If a friendship is based on excellence it will be a long lasting relationship, because excellence is a quality. This kind of friendship is the one everyone wants to have and it overlooks the other two friendships. This kind of friendship though is hard to find and takes a lot of time to progress but it is worth it. It is nothing like having a real and true friend. Friends who want the same thing will…
Cicero urges that people put friendship before everything else, but this is where the contradiction in his words and thoughts lie. If friendship was said to be the greatest gift given aside from wisdom, then why did men only befriend those who benefit him? By befriending someone who subsidizes the friend, money, wealth, power and status is being put before friendship. Greed seems to be the common theme in each view on what a friendship should be. Although Cicero has good intentions in this dialogue, there are…
The concept of Amicitia according to Cicero describes the true nature of friendship, which is conceivable only between good men who are virtuous and who follow the nature. The more man is virtuous the more he can become a true friend. Then if the virtue is the basis of true friendship, it should not be focused on material things than the other can offer to their friends. The friendship of Cicero goes on to describe the bonds of friendship among the less significant that man can give, but it becomes durable the more men are related to each other. No matter what happen if it is bounded in authentic friendship, then it will not be deteriorating of anyone else.…
The purpose of life has been discussed since the beginning. No one knows the meaning of life, and if they do, they’re not telling. Even trying to write off life as having no point doesn’t satisfy anyone; it doesn’t’ make a difference. Brittany doesn’t like the egocentric view that humans take as to say the answer purpose of life exists solely within themselves, not animals or other species.…