In chapter 23, America finally faced Great Depression from the 1929 to 1941 after the World War was finished. At this decade, America experienced many hard ordeals such as massive unemployment, excessive credit, collapse of most banks in the United States, and economical collapse. On October 24, 1929, in the United States, the stock market was fallen down, and this event was a sign of that great depression would start. President Hoover didn’t put much effort to this crisis to solve the problem even though American citizens criticized about his behavior. President Hoover didn’t agree with the direct federal relief to the poor, and this act led people into making conservative and militant association.…
In Aristotle 's Nicomachean Ethics, he is not trying to prove a Supreme Principle or a Rule to follow as a Utilitarian or a person of Deontology would suggest but rather, Aristotle is concerned with virtue ethics; a cultivation of character to be morally good. He does reach the conclusion that happiness is the final end that human beings are trying to achieve, and the activity of contemplation is the most complete happiness. Secondly, to further give reasoning as to why contemplation is superior over deliberation, a discussion of the relationship between philosophical wisdom and practical wisdom will be mentioned. In conclusion, Aristotle 's argument claims that moral life is a secondary happiness to contemplation. He gives evidential reasoning which will be discussed to show that he does not undermine his Virtue Ethics by making this claim.…
The idea that non-virtuous people is possible to be better off than virtuous people like Priam seems to acknowledge that happiness is ultimately determined by luck. Indeed, by emphasizing that certain amount of fortune is necessary to happiness, Aristotle focuses on the relationship between luck, virtue, blessedness and happiness in Chapter 8 of Book 1. In the end, he takes a more intermediate stand toward fortune, claiming that virtue is the determinant of happiness and luck is relevant and complex in a happy life. Virtuous activity itself would be enough to lead one toward happiness. Meanwhile, moderate luck and bad luck have no significant influence on the happiness of virtuous person. On the other hand, extreme luck will make virtuous person blessed while extreme bad luck will make him unhappy. Finally, a vicious person will never be happy. With extreme luck he is still unhappy and without it, he will be miserable. The extreme misfortune, falling upon virtuous person like Priam, is defined by its very nature instead of quantity. For Priam, as suggested by Aristotle, even if he survives the war he will still be virtuous yet unhappy. In other words, luck is something that has its own value, which increase or decrease (might to negative amount) quantity of happiness, and has no impact on the quality of happiness and virtue.…
Revised Thesis: People’s ambitions are often geared to the success of others who are wealthy and powerful, which, in turn, prevents them from achieving true intrinsic happiness.…
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…
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.…
This is a vagina condition also referred to as Gardnerella Vaginitis that can produce vaginal discharge that is a result from an overgrowth of normal bacteria. This will cause a woman to have a vaginal discharge with a foul odor. It is not dangerous but it can cause bad symptoms. If any woman has this problem they should also be checked for more serious infections such as Chlamydia and Gonorrhea.…
In this paper I will argue that Aristotle’s conception of eudaimonia disproves Mill’s utilitarian view that pleasure is the “greatest good.” The purpose of this paper is to contrast Aristotle’s and Mills views on the value of happiness and its link to morality. First I will describe Aristotle’s model of eudaimonia. Then I will present Mill’s utilitarian views on happiness and morality. Lastly, I will provide a counterargument to Mill’s utilitarian ethical principles using the Aristotelian model of eudaimonia.…
As the discussion on defining happiness thickens in the Republic, Socrates starts comparing the makings of a good city to a good soul as a way to successfully segue into explaining what the true meaning of happiness is. He explains that a well-functioning city is equivalent to happiness. If a city is stable and flourishing, then the city as a whole would be happy and the citizens would also be happy, especially if they are free from any internal or external conflicts. Though some can argue that there is no correlation between the well-being of a city and its citizens, one cannot simply ignore that a poorly functioning city directly influences the state of living of its citizens negatively; how can the citizens be happy if their city isn’t functioning…
Aristotle and Utilitarians seem to voice different opinions when it comes to pleasure. Aristotle discusses pleasures to be a negative and is something not to indulge on frequently or often. He further explains how valuable it is that humans use the power of reason and critical thought to guide themselves throughout life towards happiness. Utilitarianism or The Greatest Happiness Principle speaks upon pleasure being the absence of pain. “It is better to be a human dissatisfied than a pig satisfied…” was the simplest line throughout the whole text as it infers, in comparison to a pig, a morally good human who is unhappy is deemed better off than an immoral human satisfied by their own wrong doings. Utilitarianism understands that it is too much to ask of one to act in the greater good of society, but when making decisions they need to be either for the pleasure it provides or as a means of pleasure. All this…
What is happiness, and how can one achieve true happiness? This is the ultimate question of life and what every person is seeking an answer to. Many feel that they have found their answer in belonging to the faith of their choice, but what is it that their faith teaches them that brings them happiness? The Philosophers Socrates, Plato and Aristotle all have a similar view on what happiness is and how to achieve it. Aristotle's view is based on Plato's and Plato's is based on Socrates' teachings; this is why they are similar but they are all important and different with each philosopher's personal views and beliefs.…
The Greeks had many ideas that contributed to the big concept of happiness. One of the many ideas that I learn from Greek philosophies is the idea of Agnostic, From a Greek meaning “unknown” or “unknowable”. This is commonly used to describe a person who does not patiently disbelieve in god but who asserts that nothing about god, including his existence, can be known for a certain. Another concept that compromises the idea of happiness is morality, in other words, depending on your beliefs distinguishing right from wrong. I will be comparing and contrasting how some of the ideas that I learned in my humanities class intertwine each other with the idea of happiness.…
Question 7: Aristotle says we cannot really be happy without certain external goods that are not fully in our control: good family, friends, financial security, children, beauty. Do you agree? Do our external circumstances determine if we have a good life? Or can we have a good life by becoming independent of external circumstances?…
Epicurus had a slightly different definition of happiness which was linked with the principle of hedonism. Actually, Epicurus believed that happiness was pleasure (Miller 607). One of the theory of hedonism is that everyone wants to be happy and what makes people happy is pleasure. Epicurus believed that people should then seek it. Finding pleasure means that all desires must be satisfied (Miller 607). Epicurus thought there were three types of desires: natural and necessary, vain and empty and natural, but not necessary. Also, he mentioned that happiness was self-sufficient (Miller 608). Everyone has what it takes to makes them happy inside of them. This ancient philosopher considered that some people are able to adjust their desires depending…
Many things have changed since Epicurus wrote on his philosophy of happiness around 307 BC, but in this century we can still obtain happiness as long as we have Epicurus’ three foundations of freedom, friendship and an analyzed life. He says that happiness does not come from money and money is not required to obtain happiness as long as the essentials are met. (de Botton, ND) There is comfort taken in the ideas of Epicurus because the three things needed for happiness can be accessed by everyone. The philosophy of Epicurus is not as prominently applied in this century as it should be and our society could benefit if more people in the twenty-first century followed the ideas of Epicurus, but everyone needs to be offered of choice to apply this…