Eudaimonia, Term Paper Example

Question # 1. What are the general and specific definitions of Eudaimonia?

General Definitions

Eudaimonia, sometimes referred as eudemonia, has been considered a Greek word generally means as welfare or happiness; nonetheless, the term ‘human flourishing’ has been presented as a more exact meaning. It consists of, by etymologically, the words ‘eu’ means ‘good’ and ‘daimon’ means a kind of supernatural being.

Eudaimonia also can be defined as a contented situation of being healthy and happy and prosperous; e.g. “the city was ultimately on the upbeat situation after our current troubles.”

Specific Definitions

Aristotle, in Nicomachean Ethics, (1980) states that all people agrees that Eudaimonia is the greatest good for anyone in the human being, but there is an important disagreement on what type of life considered as living and doing well; i.e. eudaimon:

Orally there is a very common agreement; for both the basic run of men and people of greater refinement say that it is [Eudaimonia], and identify living well and faring well with being happy; but with regard to what [Eudaimonia] is they differ, and the many do not give the same account as the wise. For the former think it is some plain and obvious thing like pleasure, wealth or honor. (Aristotle, 1980)

Therefore, as Aristotle highlights, saying that eudaimon life has been considered a life that is desirable objectively, and signifies living well, is not asking very much. Anyone wants to be eudaimon; and everybody gives consent that being eudaimon is concerned to living well and to the well being of an individual. The really complex question is to identify just what types of activities make possible for someone to live very well. Aristotle provides numbers of popular beginning of the human life for human beings. The components that he reveals are (1) a life of political activity, (2) a life of pleasure and (3) a rational life.

Question # 2. What are the characteristics of and how does “practical” reason or practical wisdom differ from “theoretical reason”?

Eudaimonia is a significant idea in the Aristotelian political philosophy and ethics, together with the concepts “aret?”, most usually interpreted as excellence, virtue and phronesis, often translated as moral or practical wisdom. In the works of Aristotle, Eudaimonia was taken as an idea for the greatest human good, and so it is the purpose of realistic philosophy, counting political and ethics philosophy, to experience (and also consider) what it in fact is, and how it can be accomplished.

The account of Aristotle is incorporated in the Nicomachean Ethics and the Eudemian Ethics. In summary, for Aristotle, Eudaimonia consists on the activity, displaying virtue according to the reason. This Eudaimonia’s concept taken from the essentialist understanding of human nature of Aristotle, the view that reason (logos sometimes interpreted as rationality) is universal to human beings and that the perfect work (ergon) or function of any person is the fullest or most exact exercise of reason. Generally, well being is gained by proper development of one’s highest and most human capabilities and human beings are “the rational animal”. It follows that Eudaimonia for a human being is the attainment of excellence (arête) in reason.

According to Aristotle, Eudaimonia actually requires activity, action, so that it is not sufficient for a person to possess a squandered ability or disposition. Eudaimonia requires not only good character but rational activity. Aristotle clearly maintains that to live in accordance with reason means achieving excellence thereby. Moreover, he claims this excellence cannot be isolated and so competencies are also required appropriate to related functions. For example, if being a truly outstanding scientist requires impressive math skills, so that one might say “doing mathematics well is necessary to be a first rate scientist”. From this it follows that Eudaimonia, living well, consists in activities exercising the rational part of the psyche in accordance with the virtues or excellences of reason. Which is to say, to be fully engaged in the intellectually stimulating and fulling work at which one achieves well-earned success. The rest of the Nicomachean Ethics is devoted to filling out the claim that best life for a human being is the life of excellence in accordance with reason. Since reason for Aristotle is not only theoretical but practical also, he spends quite a bit of time discussing excellences of character which enable a person to exercise his practical reason (i.e., reason relating to action) successfully.

Aristotle’s ethical theory is Eudaimonist because it maintains that Eudaimonia depends on virtue. However, it is Aristotle’s explicit view that virtue is necessary but not sufficient for Eudaimonia. While emphasizing the importance of the rational aspect of the psyche, he does not ignore the importance of other ‘goods’ such as friends, wealth, and power in a life that is Eudaimonia. He doubts the likelihood of being Eudaimonia if one lacks certain external goods such as ‘good birth, good children, and beauty’. So, a person who is hideously ugly or has “lost children or good friends through death,” or who is isolated, is unlikely to be eudaimon. In this way, “dumb luck” (chance) can preempt one’s attainment of Eudaimonia.

Question # 3. What are the characteristics of the four lifestyles?

Skepticism

A skeptic life style of life is a style where a person who doubts because of a lack of substantial evidence. A pseudoskeptic is a person who doubts because of a conflict with his existing beliefs. True Believers are never skeptical toward their own beliefs. Skepticism has positive and negative connotations among different groups. Some groups see skeptics as the bad guys because they feel pressured by criticism as attempts to humiliate them. Other groups wish to take on the credibility of skepticism by pretending to be skeptics themselves (these are pseudoskeptics) and trying to make real skeptics look like True Believers of the opposite belief. These are the people who claim that science is a faith/religion.

Rationalism

Rationalism is the belief that the world we live in can be understood by the use of reason. The Rationalist Association argues for a rational approach to human problems, proposes reasoned alternatives to religious dogmas, aims to advance a secular system of education and wishes to defend freedom of thought and civil liberties.

Reason is a tool for solving problems, creating strategies, debunking nonsense and undermining dogmas. However, feeling, compassion and imagination are also important in driving and enriching our actions and thoughts. The strength of reason is that it is a powerful tool of understanding and a means of arriving at rational decisions. Human choices are not always made with complete rationality, but it is preferable to aim for the reasonable than to choose without thought.

The scientific process is powered by the use of reason. Much progress has come through scientific understanding, although the application of science, such as atomic explosions or genetic modification, can sometimes be dangerous. Imagination and empathy enable us to envisage the outcome of the application of science. The arts too can enlarge our concept of being human.

Rationalists have questioned the claims of religious thinkers and religious institutions. They may be agnostics or atheists, but they doubt the claims of the supernatural on the grounds of lack of reasonable evidence. The attitudes and injunctions of religions seem unconvincing when examined in the light of reason.

Rationalists envisage that the use of reason will lead to human progress – even if not in a steady upward course. Rationalists reckon that the sum of human progress may be increased by the careful and consistent use of reason.

Empiricism

Empiricism life style is a theory of knowledge that asserts that knowledge comes only or primarily via sensory experience. One of several views of epistemology, the study of human knowledge, along with rationalism, idealism and historicism, empiricism emphasizes the role of experience and evidence, especially sensory perception, in the formation of ideas, over the notion of innate ideas or traditions.

A central concept in science and the scientific method is that it must be empirically based on the evidence of the senses. Both natural and social sciences use working hypotheses that are testable by observation and experiment. The term semi-empirical is sometimes used to describe theoretical methods that make use of basic axioms, established scientific laws, and previous experimental results in order to engage in reasoned model building and theoretical inquiry.

Philosophical empiricists hold no knowledge to be properly inferred or deduced unless it is derived from one’s sense-based experience. This view is commonly contrasted with rationalism, which asserts that knowledge may be derived from reason independently of the senses. For example John Locke held that some knowledge (e.g. knowledge of God’s existence) could be arrived at through intuition and reasoning alone. Similarly Robert Boyle, a prominent advocate of the experimental method, held that we have innate ideas. The main continental rationalists (Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz) were also advocates of the empirical scientific method.

Illusion

An illusion is a distortion of the senses, revealing how the brain normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. While illusions distort reality, they are generally shared by most people. Illusions may occur with more of the human senses than vision, but visual illusions, optical illusions, are the most well known and understood. The emphasis on visual illusions occurs because vision often dominates the other senses. For example, individuals watching a ventriloquist will perceive the voice is coming from the dummy since they are able to see the dummy mouth the words. Some illusions are based on general assumptions the brain makes during perception. These assumptions are made using organizational principles, like Gestalt, an individual’s ability of depth perception and motion perception, and perceptual constancy. Other illusions occur because of biological sensory structures within the human body or conditions outside of the body within one’s physical environment.

References

Aristotle, et.al. (1980). The Nicomachean Ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Berlin, Isaiah. (2004). The Refutation of Phenomenalism, Isaiah Berlin Virtual Library.

Anscombe, G. E. M. (1958). Modern Moral Philosophy. Philosophy 33; repr. in G.E.M. Anscombe (1981), vol. 3, 26–42.

Bolender, John. (1998). Factual Phenomenalism: A Supervenience Theory. New York: Wiley.

Ackrill, J. L. (1981). Aristotle the Philosopher. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0192891189

Aristotle. (1984). The Complete Works of Aristotle. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Long, A. A., and D.N. Sedley. (1987). The Hellenistic Philosophers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Norton, David L. (1976). Personal Destinies. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Vlastos, G. (1991). Socrates: Ironist and Moral Philosopher. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0801497876

McMahon, Darrin M., (2005). Happiness: A History. New York:  Atlantic Monthly Press.

McMahon, Darrin M. (1999). The History of Happiness. London: Thomson Gale.