Although the words are new the ideas are old. Aristotle's writing in his Nicomachean Ethics sparked much debate centered on his concept of the best life. Aristotle writes that the function that is the activity of mans life is reason. He argues that just as the best harpists are the most skilled at playing the harp so also the best men are those who excel at reason. This is rather problematic for many readers. What then, is necessary for the realization of the good life? Clearly a life of study is desirable. One cannot spend all of ones time studying, however. This newly acquired reason must be used in everyday actions. Obviously a life of study offers little varied life experience. Balance against all of this is the reality of life. The need to eat, drink, and provide a roof over ones head are necessary to the life of study.

The answer to these questions is closely related to Aristotle's views of virtue. Essentially there is a "mean" that lies between ex

One of the arguments brought to bear by critics of Aristotle is this argument that man's happiness is dependent on only what he does. This creates a mass of people who are happiest when they are each pursuing their own interests. This is, however, contrary to the idea of a society, a group of people working together toward a common goal. That men are political creatures was taken for granted by Aristotle, this means that man is unlikely to remain happy for long when out of the company of other men. Therefore man must strike a balance between acting completely according to reason and acting in accord with the city, which is not necessarily the same thing. There may be more than one equally reasonable yet mutually exclusive answer to a problem confronting a city. Good men may fall into disagreement over the exact course to tread. There is no ready answer to this problem. Man must sacrifice some of his independence of action in order to exist in a society. The only real solution is only a partial solution and is the one provided by nature. That is that those who will be least happy with decisions are often the ones who make the decisions. Their per

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Approximate Word count = 776
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)