Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics
Aristotle was one of the most significant philosophers of all time. His ideas are unique and his arguments make sense. Reading Aristotle's arguments makes the reader think about their own belief and wonder if Aristotle's beliefs could be true. Many people have loved Aristotle and believed in everything that he had to stay. Others could argue with everything he has said. One thing that is sure is that he has a major impact on our beliefs and philosophies. In The Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle tries to prove that there is an end in life. He insists that life must have an end because everything else in the world has an end. By end he means a goal or final destination. What is the purpose of life? What are we striving for? He believes that happiness is this end and "most people say that happiness includes pleasure." (p.183). Some pleasures are good, however some pleasures are bad. So, if pleasures are bad then they can not be our goal. Aristotle questions bad pleasures. Would someone knowingly indulge in a bad pleasure? And how does this happen? People have different views about pleasure. Some believe "that no pleasure is good." (p. 184). There are many reasons to back this statement up. Some of the reasons are pl
Aristotle shows us that there is a difference between those who are self-indulgent and those who are incontinent. Self-indulgence is the pursuit of appetite. This is out of choice and it is giving into temptations. Incontinence is out of passion and it involuntary. Sometimes people act out of passion when they know what they are doing is wrong. However, this wrong act gives them pleasure so they pursue it. These people do know what is right. Their desire for pleasure is stronger than their desire to do that right thing. After people do incontinent acts they feel regret about doing it. However, next time they might do the same thing and feel the regret again. Aristotle's answer to the initial question asked, would someone knowingly indulge in a bad pleasure, is no. It is no because if the person fully knew it was wrong they would not have indulged in the pleasure. The answer to the question how does this happen, is because even though a person may know in their heart that it is wrong at the time the pleasure is indulged they do not realize that it is wrong. They do not realize it is wrong because of appetites. When Aristotle starts his argument it seems as though he is going to say that it is possible to knowingly engage in a bad pleasure, but as we read on the believe the opposite. easures have different processes and these processes are different from the end, "a temperate man avoids pleasure, " (p. 184), children can pursue pleasures, and other reasons. Other people believe "that some pleasu
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Approximate Word count = 1027
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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