The Apology And Nicomachean Ethics

A big question of western civilization is how one achieves human excellence. The answer lies in the words of two well-known philosophers, Socrates and Aristotle. Throughout Plato’s, The Apology, and Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, the two tell all as to what it means to be a genuine, good person. In Socrates defense speech he explains to the jury what it means to be a just person, shown through his own actions in Greek society. Aristotle writes about what it takes to achieve happiness and how in doing so one becomes a virtuous person. As told by Aristotle views, and Socrates actions, living a life full of virtuous and just actions and ultimately achieving happiness from them is what makes a genuine and good person. Throughout The Apology,
In everything that some human does there is always an end that is trying to be achieved. When seeking an end, Aristotle says that the most complete end is that which is chosen for itself and not on account for something else stating that, “Happiness above all seems to be of this character, for we always choose it on account of itself and never on account of something else. Yet honor, pleasure, intellect, and every virtue we choose on their own account- for even if nothing resulted from them, we would choose each of them- but we choose them also for the sake of happiness, because we suppose that, through them, we will be happy. But nobody choose happiness for the sake of these things, or, more generally, on account for anything else.” (Aristotle 11) By saying this, Aristotle is suggesting that a virtuous person will perform virtuous deeds, not only because they think that they are the just things to do, but also because in doing so they gain happiness. In order to live life as a righteous person one must have reason and will to be able to decipher the middle term and stay away from the vices. Aristotle writes, “Virtue is concerned with passions and actions, in which the excess is in error and the deficiency is blamed; but the middle term is praised and guides one correctly, and both [praise and correct guidance] belong to virtue. Virtue, therefore, is a certain mean, since it at any rate, is skillful in aiming at the middle term.”(Aristotle 35) In measuring your actions and passions, one must make sure not to troll into the vices through excess and deficiency but stay in the middle where the middle term resides, and there you will find the virtues that lead to happiness. With that, the cardinal virtues of courage, justice, prudence, and moderation are those that will allow you to achieve happiness to its fullest capacity (Lecture 9/28). In a truly good person,