Aristotle's and Modern Thought

A detailed Summary of Aristotle's and Modern Thought


Aristotle's thoughts of ethics conclude that all humans must have a purpose in life in order to be happy. I believe that some of the basics of his ideas still hold true today. This essay points out some of those ideas.

It was Aristotle's belief that everything, including humans, had a telos or goal in life. The end result or goal was said to be happiness or "eudaimonia". He explained that eudaimonia was different for each person, and that each had a different idea of what it meant. Further, he said that people must do things in moderation, but at the same time do enough. The theory, of "the golden mean of moderation" was the basis to Aristotle's idea of the human telos and concluded that living a virtuous life must be the same for all people. Aristotle maintained that the natural human goal to be happy could only be achieved once each individual deter


As one reads though the translations of Aristotle's thoughts, you begin to realize the complexity, yet the common sense of his work. Modern day people have a goal in life, to achieve a certain amount of success and to live life relatively happy. Most agree that to get to that goal, the populous must conform and participate within an ethical society. Although pleasure and wealth play a great role towards happiness, to live an ethical life amongst good friends, and not causing disruption in the lives of others is the true sense of virtue. Aristotle's teachings speak of the same theories of todays, and without doubt still influences modern thought.

mined his/her goal. A person's telos is would usually be what that individual alone can do best. Aristotle described the humans as "rational animals" whose telos was to reason. Accordingly, Aristotle thought that in order for humans to be happy

Some common words found in the essay are:
Accordingly Aristotle, Modern Aristotle's, Instead Aristotle, humans happy, pleasure wealth, aristotle's idea, goal life,

Approximate Word count = 605
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

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