Aristotle: Nicomachean Ethics, Essay Example

Aristotle opines in the Nicomachean Ethics happiness is human activities are guided by what people consider as good. Critically, Aristotle opines that all human activities are a means to the higher end considered good. For human beings, the highest human good can be viewed in terms of happiness. However, Aristotle opines that albeit human activities aim at achieving some ends, happiness doesn’t sum up all that human beings aim to achieve. Furthermore, the very definition of happiness can be viewed from an objectivist perspective that reiterates the need for applying virtues to all human activities. Aristotle takes an objectivist point of view because he believes that happiness is dependent on individuals. More importantly, happiness is a central goal of human existence and the central purpose of human existence.

“Without friends, no one would want to live, even if he had all other goods.” Aristotle analyzes happiness based on having all worldly possessions but lacks important factors that define life and existence. Aristotle in the Nicomachean Ethics reiterates that human beings should not aim at happiness but should instead aim at happiness. Furthermore, in his book, Aristotle doesn’t necessarily state that human beings ought to live successful and happy lives but what happiness consists of. Moreover, according to Aristotle, human beings believe that happiness can be viewed in the physical form. That is, happiness means that having a good life and achieving the honor. Chapter 8 to 11 of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics asserts that the soul remains even after death. Aristotle opines that the soul represents the organization between the matter and form of the natural being, enabling it to fully actualize. Touching on life after death, Aristotle contends that human beings somewhat reincarnate in their descendants’ present life after death. According to Hirji (2018), Aristotle viewed that happiness should be considered from a person’s life as a whole. More specifically, defining happiness should be considered even after a person dies. Aristotle reiterated the happiness could be defined in terms of flourishment, fulfillment, and success.

Social life in Ancient Greek can be viewed based on fulfillment and success. Focusing on the afterlife, Aristotle believed that a happy life entails pleasure and takes an objectivist purview by opposing the view that pleasure is bad. Furthermore, Aristotle (1153) opines that the mind is healthy when the body and soul are virtuous. Individuals who are sick experience pleasure through the process of restoration of their health. In understanding what pleasure is, Aristotle contends that individuals view pleasure based on how they define it to others. Aristotle’s objectivist view considers the fact that pleasure can be viewed as either bad or good. Qualifying pleasure requires a conceptualization of the natural state. Therefore, individuals in the afterlife impact the view of the current generation of pleasure.

Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics opines that good and virtue require a psychological conceptualization. Basically, Aristotle is trying to say that the man who displays character excellence will, on most occasions, do what is considered the right thing. In referring to good virtues, Aristotle contends that bravery in the perfect context entails regulating individual body appetites. For individuals who act bravely, the highest aim is achieving a successful life. Furthermore, Aristotle believes that activities that aim to achieve a successful life can be likened to man’s pleasurable virtues.

Furthermore, in demystifying the ‘good’ and ‘virtue,’ Aristotle holds that virtue is somewhat practical and good is the purpose of ethics ultimately. ‘So virtue is a purposive disposition, lying in a mean that is relative to us and determined by a rational principle, by that which a prudent man would use to determine it.’ The quote by Aristotle reiterates that virtue is a mean disposition that disaggregates vicious parameters of deficiency and excess.

Aristotle takes a skeptical position in this quote by asserting virtue is a purposive disposition. More importantly, Aristotle opines that virtue is not something individuals sit on but rather an impetus that causes individuals to act virtuously. While individuals can be viewed as mean, the definition of the mean should be pegged on the situation within which individuals are thrust into. ‘Between friends, there is no need for justice, but people who are just still needing the quality of friendship; indeed friendliness is considered to be justice in the fullest sense….’ Aristotle contends that justice canopies all the virtues salient to human beings. Taking a psychological root, Aristotle holds that the concept of justice entails a fair exchange. Friendship, according to Aristotle, entails both giving and receiving.

“Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim, and end of human existence’. Aristotle, in this quiet, opines that achieving happiness defines human life. In reviewing Plato’s criticism of descriptivism, an Aristotelian school of thought would opine that happiness can be defined. The perception of descriptivism entails both reference and meaning. Therefore, Plato’s rejection of descriptivism from an Aristotelian purview should be treated with a low degree of skepticism. Aristotle defines happiness as the end goal of all human existence. By doing so, Aristotle contends that descriptivism is a vital framework for illustrating all human good and virtue.

Bibliography

Hirji, S. (2018). Acting Virtuously as an End in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 1006 – 1026.