ARISTOTLE - happiness

A detailed Summary of ARISTOTLE - happiness

In Aristotle's essay, he "focuses particularly on how reason, our rational capacity, should help us recognize and pursue what will lead to happiness and the good life."(Cooley and Powell, 459) He refers to the soul as a part of the human body and what its' role is in pursuing true happiness and reaching a desirable end. Aristotle defines "good" as that which everything aims.(Aristotle, 459) Humans have an insatiable need to achieve goodness and eventual happiness. Sometimes the end that people aim for is the activity they perform, and other times the end is something we attempt to achieve by means of that activity. Aristotle claims that there must be some end since everything cannot be means to something else.(Aristotle, 460) In this case, there would be nothing we would try to ultimately achieve and everything would be pointless. An ultimate end exists so that what we aim to achieve is attainable. Some people believe that the highest end is material and obvious (when a person is sick they seek health, and a poor person searches for wealth).

Most people think that the highest end is a life of pleasure. Hedonists have defined happiness as " an equivalent to the totality of pleasurable or

Happiness is a journey, not a destination. If we travel down life's dusty road thinking we will find happiness at the end, we will be disappointed. Unless we

Some people believe that happiness is achieved through wealth, honor, pleasure, or even virtue. Aristotle argues that wealth cannot constitute happiness because it is simply a monetary value that can be used only to gain happiness. Honor cannot make people truly happy because it focuses more on the people that are honoring them. Happiness is not directly experienced through pleasure. Virtue is not happiness because a person may be virtuous and not use or apply it to their life. Aristotle believes happiness to be a combination of these four elements: "the happy person is one who expresses complete virtue in his activities, with an adequate supply of external goods, not just for any time but for a complete life."("Aristotle's...",1) To experience happiness is to possess and make use of each of these qualities.

"All human beings desire pure and complete happiness, an active realization of their capacities; this goal can be achieved in many ways." (unknown, 1) It is noticed that happiness is achieved through a virtuous life, but it is also a direct result of getting away with wrongdoings, realizing truth, demonstrating restraint, overcoming problems, and letting go of rage or misery. Happiness is also awarded to us by living for the present and planning for the future, making others happy, taking pride in enemies' misery, surrounding yourself with others, and experiencing some peace

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Approximate Word count = 1049
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: People