Preview

Virtuous Person Is the Happy Person

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
524 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Virtuous Person Is the Happy Person
Virtuous person is the Happy Person

Is virtuous person the happy person? Does virtuousness leads to happiness? Aristotle claims that virtuous activity controls happiness. From this line, it is understandable that the virtuousness is the source of happiness. What are the components or the elements that form virtuousness then? How does one become a virtuous person to achieve happiness in a life? What is the definition of happiness? What are the qualifications and necessities to become a virtuous human being? Can the animals be virtuous living being too? Does the happiness is the ultimate goal in a life time? These are some of the questions that need to be debated exploring the views and thoughts of the philosophers and thinkers. This paper will mainly focus on the views and ideas of the Aristotle to seek answers for the above questions. The love of wisdom as the book (The Great Conversation, p...?) says is to begin by asking questions to seek the reasons and truth.
The general form of justification that the virtuous person is the happy person has been agreed by both Plato and Aristotle. However, the method of approach to ethic is quite different as given by different philosophers especially Plato and Aristotle. For instance, the basic ethical question such as what makes for a good life has various view points and reasons. The argument that the happiness is living virtuously has been greatly debated and clarified by Aristotle. According to Aristotle, happiness is being termed as eudaemonia, which means “well being” or human “flourishing” (Melchert 188). The conception of the ethical virtues and of human flourishing (happiness) continues to exert great influence in philosophical debate. In simple language term, eudaemonia can be described as a contented state of being happy, health, and prosperous.
The book “The Great Conversation” says everyone desires happiness (Melchert 188). The philosophical question is why everyone wants to be happy and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The virtue of ethics as define by Aristotle in its simplistic form is to discover the nature of human happiness. Happiness is the highest good and the end at which all our activities ultimately aim. The difficulty is that people don’t agree on what makes for a happy or good life, so the purpose of the ethics is to find an answer to this question. The answer is imprecise because practical circumstances vary a great deal when considering a person’s life as a whole.…

    • 308 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    PHI2000 The Good Life

    • 1319 Words
    • 6 Pages

    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).…

    • 1319 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Aristotle’s ethics focuses on virtues of character and good habits. His big term he uses is eudemonia, which means happiness.…

    • 514 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    ‘Aristotelianism is defined as happiness as the quality of a whole life time.’ “Happiness is the purpose for which we live. Aristotle concluded that happiness is not a moment to moment experience of pleasurable things but rather a way of characterizing how one’s life is being conducted. Happiness is living and having lived a good life”. (Janaro & Altshuler, 2009)…

    • 1333 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    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.…

    • 1794 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Goldcoast Erosion

    • 365 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In recent decades erosion has become a major issue to beaches around Australia, since beaches are temporary features. There is always sand being removed and sand being added to them, often, they change drastically during the year, depending upon the frequency of storms. Eventually, a beach erodes because the supply of sand to the beach cannot keep up with the loss of sand to the sea. The Sand dunes and vegetation help to hold the sand in place when wind or water tries to erode it away. The environment can be affected by erosion in several ways. First and the most obvious, houses that are built along the shore are at risk of being washed away if more sand is being removed from the beach in the winter, and not enough sand is returned in the summer. Secondly, animals that live on the beach are at risk for losing their homes. The amount of sand on the beach, and how it is deposited can also affect the shape of the shoreline, which can have an effect on the type of waves that are produced at the beach. The type of waves produced at the beach will also ultimately have an impact on beach erosion.…

    • 365 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Plato’s writings on happiness are seen as a representation of Socrate’s view since Plato was his student, and presents his writings on happiness in three dialogues, namely Euthydemus, The Symposium and The Republic. As to necessary conditions for happiness in the Euthydemus, he argues first that happiness is what everybody desires; it is the end or goal of all our activities, unconditional good; secondly, he says that happiness does not depend on external things but rather how those things are used. For instance, one cannot claim that money brings happiness, but rather how money is used is what determines happiness. An ignorant person will waste away the money and end up worse than before, but a wise person will use the money well for his own good, and the same applies to external things, such as looks or even…

    • 674 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    It is clear that Aristotle thinks happiness is what every human desires. He defines happiness as the highest good (Ethics 1095a), which by definition every person pursues as an ultimate end (1094a). Furthermore, he says that happiness can only be achieved through fulfillment of our characteristic activity, which is the thing that something does which makes it be that thing; for example, the characteristic activity of a flute-player is playing the flute. The good of anything with a characteristic activity is to perform that activity well (1097b). The characteristic activity of a human, says Aristotle, is a life concerned with reason (1098a), or more specifically, the activity of a soul concerned with reason. Therefore, the good of a human is to perform this activity well; that is, to live a life in accordance with virtue. Because this is a good of the soul, and goods of the soul are the best type of good (1098b), and because achieving the good of a human is the ultimate goal of being a human, Aristotle says that a life in accordance with…

    • 1551 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Aim of Man

    • 699 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Aristotle starts off in his essay explaining the definitions of Good, Primacy of Statecraft and the study of Ethics. He defines good as where all things are to be aimed, for example health. He then defines Statecraft as citizens of a state, a country, and of the world need to do good for their own good but more importantly for the good of the state. He also characterizes various types of good. Finally, the definition on study of Ethics. This talks about the pure excellence of justice that involves the disagreements and agreements of uncertainty and certainty. Aristotle also talks about happiness and where a certain point can be overlooked and how arguments can be led from first principles. First principles came about in a variety of ways: by induction, direct perception, and habituation. The question then leads to where the sources of happiness come from but a result of virtue of learning or some kind of training. Because the virtue of learning and the some kind of training is rewarded by a blessing that is generally shared but with the exception of the virtue being stunted. Aristotle concludes his essay by examining the most human element, the soul, and its relationship to virtue. Aristotle’s definition of happiness is, “Happiness is a certain activity of the soul in accordance with perfect virtue”.…

    • 699 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Philosophy 120w

    • 1079 Words
    • 3 Pages

    It is obvious that everyone desperately wants to achieve happiness. In the opening sections of Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle says the following “…rational agents (us) choose and deliberate with a view to their ultimate good, which is happiness; it is the ultimate end, since we want it for its own sake…” To achieve this ultimate end as Aristotle says, our happiness needs to be complete. To reach that goal, the five components need to be combined. The first component being Human function.…

    • 1079 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    End of Life Care

    • 15224 Words
    • 61 Pages

    When a loved one is dying, conversations about the end of life can be uncomfortable and difficult. Still, discussing end-of-life care is important.…

    • 15224 Words
    • 61 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Aristotle

    • 980 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Aristotle believes that there is only one goal, one ultimate end for every individual—that is eudaimonia, translated as happiness, not as a feeling but happiness as the highest human good or a life full of activity. He claims that a person should live a way of life distinct from the lives of animals, where they only live for the sake of living or pleasure.1 As human beings, people should use their power of speech to communicate and make rational decisions within a polity, striving to live their lives up to their full potential and to their full capacity for a happy life.2 The life of politics, the via activa, is thus the key to the chief good or the best life for humans; however, the life of action must be of certain type of quality, in accordance with reason, since different actions may lead to the good or the bad life. In other words, a person’s actions must be in line with arête, with virtue or excellence.3…

    • 980 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    There is an article in the news regarding the pricing of milk over the last couple of years. According to this article milk sales set records in 2014, but due to plummeting prices dairy farmers are due to take a huge loss. The issue here is that in 2014 dairy farmers could hardly keep up with the demand of milk so prices were really high. Dairy farmers were forced to do whatever they could to produce more milk to keep up with the demand. This included them expanding their farms, buying new machinery, and purchasing more cows. This year so far milk sales have decreased and dairy farmers are stuck with large amounts of inventory that they can’t do anything with. This called for them to lower the price of the milk to under three dollars a gallon in hopes that people would buy more milk.…

    • 392 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Virtue is the key to a meaningful and happy life. According to ancient philosophers, Socrates and Aristotle, developing virtue is vital in order to lead a successful, fulfilling life. Though both men differ in their interpretations of a "good life," they both agree that the supreme life is one of virtuous meaning. Each of the philosophers have devised and implemented their own definitions and guidelines to acquire and practice a virtuous disposition. While it is agreed that knowledge and practice are the key to virtuosity, the philosophers disagree on fundamental rules to follow. The inherent question to be explored concerns the idea of virtue; what is it and how does one acquire it? The answer is anything but simple, but a blend of both philosophies can shed light on the two men 's view on practicing a virtuous life. Socrates and Aristotle believe in distinct ends to a common mean.…

    • 1948 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Kant Vs Aristotle

    • 1774 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Despite several overlapping similarities between Aristotle and Kant on virtue ethics, there are fundamental differences between their view on the source of virtuous action. In this paper, I will argue, the underpinning behind each respectable view differs; as Aristotle believes virtuous action derives from choices lying in the mean whereas, Kant does not hold that virtuous action lies in the mean, but rather, holds they proceed from duty acting in accordance with universal principles. The fundamental difference presented is that Aristotle, through an empirical lens, believes an action is virtuous when it lies in the mean between extremes of excess and deficiency. Thus, virtuous action leads to a life of happiness, which is an “activity…

    • 1774 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays