Aristotle what makes people virtuous money

It is commonly thought that virtues, according to Aristotle, are habits and that the good life is a life of mindless routine. But the word does not merely mean passive habituation. Virtue, therefore, manifests itself in action. More explicitly, an action counts as virtuous, according to Aristotle, when one holds oneself in a stable equilibrium of the soul, in order to choose the action knowingly and for its own sake. This stable equilibrium of the soul is what constitutes character. The mean is a state of clarification and apprehension in the midst of pleasures and pains that allows one to judge what seems most truly pleasant or painful. This active state of the aristotle what makes people virtuous money is the condition in which all the powers of the soul are at work in concert. Achieving good character is a process of clearing away the obstacles that stand in the way of the full efficacy of the soul. For Aristotle, moral virtue is the only practical road to effective action. What the person of good character loves with right desire and thinks of as an end with right reason must first be perceived as beautiful. Hence, the virtuous person sees truly and judges rightly, since beautiful things appear as they truly are only to a person of good character. It is only in the middle ground between habits of acting and principles of action that the soul can allow right desire and right reason to make their appearance, as the direct and natural response of a free human being to the sight of the beautiful.

This implies a that it is desired for itself, b that it is not desired for the sake of anything else, c that it satisfies all desire and has no evil mixed in with it, and d that it is stable. Material definition of happiness—what it consists in We have defined happiness formally as the complete and sufficient good for a human being. But there are many different views of what sorts of life satisfy this formal definition. Aristotle specifically mentions the life of gratification pleasure, comfort, etc , the life of money-making, the life of political action, and the philosophical life, i. He has no patience with the life of money-making or the life of gratification, though he agrees with proponents of the latter that a happy life is pleasant. There are several ways in which Aristotle approaches the question of what happiness consists in. First, he notes that flourishing for plants and animals consists in their functioning well according to their natures. So one question we should ask is this: What is the proper or peculiar function of a human being? Aristotle thinks it obvious that our proper function consists in reasoning and in acting in accord with reason. This is the heart of the doctrine of virtue, both moral and intellectual.

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So on this line of reasoning we are led to the conclusion that the possession and exercise of moral and intellectual virtue is the essential element in our living well. A second approach is to survey the goods which we find ourself desiring, since happiness presumably consists in the attainment of some good or set of goods such that to have them in the right way is to be living well. One division of goods is into i external goods wealth, fame, honor, power, friends , ii goods of the body life, health, good looks, physical strength, athletic ability, dexterity, etc. The problem then is to delineate the ways in which such goods are related to happiness. Aristotle’s view is that a certain goods e. The virtuous person alone can attain happiness and the virtuous person can never be miserable in the deepest sense, even in the face of misfortune which keeps him from being happy or blessed. So happiness combines an element over which we have greater control virtue with elements over which we have lesser control health, wealth, friends, etc. There is a lot of room for discussion here. For instance, how much is luck or fortune involved in our attainment of virtue?

Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics: in brief

Here he discussed the conditions under which moral responsibility may be ascribed to individual agents, the nature of the virtues and vices involved in moral evaluation, and the methods of achieving happiness in human life. Every activity has a final cause, the good at which it aims, and Aristotle argued that since there cannot be an infinite regress of merely extrinsic goods, there must be a highest good at which all human activity ultimately aims. Ethics I 2 This end of human life could be called happiness or living well , of course, but what is it really? Neither the ordinary notions of pleasure, wealth, and honor nor the philosophical theory of forms provide an adequate account of this ultimate goal, since even individuals who acquire the material goods or achieve intellectual knowledge may not be happy.

Introduction: Aristotle’s Definition of Happiness

As a result he devotes more space to the topic of happiness than any thinker prior to the modern era. Living during the same period as Mencius, but on the other side of the world, he draws some similar conclusions. That is, happiness depends on the cultivation of virtue , though his virtues are somewhat more individualistic than the essentially social virtues of the Confucians. Yet as we shall see, Aristotle was convinced that a genuinely happy life required the fulfillment of a broad range of conditions, including physical as well as mental well-being. Essentially, Aristotle argues that virtue is achieved by maintaining the Mean, which is the balance between two excesses. For Aristotle the mean was a method of achieving virtue, but for Buddha the Middle Path referred to a peaceful way of life which negotiated the extremes of harsh asceticism and sensual pleasure seeking.

Since virtues are very fragile, they must be practiced always, for if they are not practiced they will weaken and eventually disappear. Being somewhere in the middle would be of best character. So the above is what Aristotle means by a «proportion» or a «mean». Aristotle and the Philosophy of Friendship. Penguin Classics. For the man who flies from and fears everything and does not stand his ground against anything [excessive fear; defective wisdom KB] becomes a coward and the man who fears nothing at all [defective wisdom] but goes to meet every danger [excessive confidence KB] becomes rash and the man who indulges in every pleasure [excess] and abstains from none becomes self indulgent, while the man who shuns every pleasure [defect of pleasure] as boors do becomes in a way insensible; temperance and courage then are destroyed by excess and defect and preserved by THE MEAN [Nicomachean Ethics; BK.

Happiness according to Aristotle

In each case the «relative mean» to the person would be very different from an arithmetical mean. Although Aristotle’s father was also called Nicomachus, Aristotle’s son was the next leader of Aristotle’s school, the Lyceumand in girtuous times he was already associated with this work. So acting bravely and acting temperately are examples of excellent activities. Aristotle develops his analysis of character in Book II of the Nicomachean Ethicswhere he makes this argument that character arises from habit—likening ethical character to a skill that is acquired through practice, such as learning a musical instrument. On another note, one becomes virtuous by first imitating another who exemplifies such virtuous characteristics, practicing such ways in arostotle daily lives, turning those ways into customs and habits by performing them each and every day, and finally, connecting or uniting the four of them. Aristotle also claims arisrotle the right course of action depends upon the details of a particular situation, rather than being generated merely by applying a law. Thus neither of these characteristics is particular to humans. London: Routledge. Rackham, H. Aquinas’ writings are full of references to Aristotle, and he wrote a commentary on Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. Some critics consider the Eudemian Ethics to be «less mature,» while others, such as Kenny[4] contend that the Eudemian Ethics is the more mature, and therefore later, work. And, since Aristotle thinks that practical wisdom rules over the character excellences, exercising such excellences is one way to exercise reason and thus fulfill the human function. In the twelfth century, Latin translations of Aristotle’s works were made, enabling the Dominican priest Albert the Great and his pupil Thomas Aquinas to synthesize Aristotle’s philosophy with Christian theology. General justice is virtue expressed in relation to other people.

Thus Aristotle gives us his definition of happiness:

Aristotle first used the term ethics to name a field of study developed by his predecessors Socrates and Plato. Philosophical ethics is the attempt to offer a rational response to the question of how humans should best live. Aristotle regarded ethics and politics as two related but separate fields of study, since ethics examines the good of the individual, while politics examines the good of the City-State.

Aristotle’s writings have been read more or less continuously since ancient times, [1] and his ethical treatises in particular continue to influence philosophers working today. As Aristotle argues in Book II of the Nicomachean Ethicsthe man who possesses character excellence does the right thing, at the right time, and in the right way.

Bravery, and the correct aristltle of one’s bodily appetites, are examples of character excellence or virtue. So acting bravely and acting temperately are examples of excellent activities.

The virtkous aims are living well and eudaimonia a Greek word often translated as well-being, happiness or «human flourishing». For example, Aristotle thinks that the man whose appetites are in the correct order actually takes pleasure in acting moderately. Aristotle emphasized that virtue is practical, and that the purpose of ethics is to become good, not merely to know. Aristotle also claims that the right course of action depends upon the details of a particular situation, rather than being generated merely by applying a law.

The type of wisdom which is required for this is called «prudence» or «practical wisdom» Greek phronesisas opposed to the wisdom of a theoretical philosopher Greek sophia. But despite the importance of practical decision making, in the final analysis the original Aristotelian and Socratic answer to the question of how best to live, at least for the best types of human, was to live the life of philosophy.

Three Aristotelian ethical works survive today which are considered to be either by Aristotle, or from relatively soon after:. The exact origins of these texts is unclear, although they were already considered the works of Aristotle in ancient times. Textual oddities suggest that they may not have been put in their current form by Aristotle.

The authenticity of the Magna Moralia has been doubted, [3] whereas almost no modern scholar doubts that Aristotle wrote the Nicomachean Ethics and the Eudemian Ethics himself, even if an editor also played some part in giving us those texts in their current forms. The Nicomachean Ethics has received the most scholarly attention, and is the most easily available to modern readers in many different translations and editions. Some critics consider the Eudemian Ethics to be «less mature,» while others, such as Kenny[4] contend that the Eudemian Makez is the more mature, and therefore later, work.

Traditionally it was believed that the Nicomachean Aristotl and the Eudemian Ethics were either edited by or dedicated to Aristotle’s son and pupil Nicomachus and his disciple Eudemus, respectively, although the works themselves do not explain the source of their names.

Although Aristotle’s father was also called Nicomachus, Aristotle’s son was the next leader of Aristotle’s school, the Lyceumand in ancient times he was already associated with this work. A fourth treatise, Aristotle’s Politicsis often regarded as the sequel to the Ethics, in part because Aristotle closes the Nicomachean Ethics by saying that his ethical inquiry has laid the groundwork for an inquiry into political questions NE X. Aristotle’s Ethics also states that the good of the individual is subordinate to the good of the city-state, or polis.

Fragments also survive from Aristotle’s Protrepticusanother work which dealt with ethics. Some scholars regarded Aristotle as a Socratic thinker. While Socrates left no written works, and Plato wrote dialogues and a few letters, Aristotle wrote treatises in which he sets forth philosophical doctrines directly. To be more precise, Aristotle did write dialogues, but they unfortunately survive only in fragments.

According to Aristotle in his MetaphysicsSocrates was the first Greek philosopher to concentrate on ethics, although he apparently did not give it this name, as a philosophical inquiry concerning how qhat should best live. Aristotle dealt with this same question but giving it two names, «the political» or Politics and «the ethical» Ethicsboth with Politics ,akes the name for the two together as the more important.

The original Socratic questioning on ethics started at least partly as a response to sophismwhich was a popular style of education and speech at the time. Sophism emphasized rhetoricand argument, and therefore often involved criticism of traditional Greek religion aristottle flirtation with moral relativism. It is sometimes referred to in comparison to later ethical theories as a «character based ethics».

Like Plato and Socrates he mobey the importance of reason for human happiness, and that there were logical and natural reasons for humans to behave virtuously, and try to become virtuous. Aristotle’s treatment of the subject is distinct in several ways from that found in Plato’s Socratic dialogues. Aristotle believed that ethical knowledge is not only a theoretical knowledge, but rather that a person must have «experience of the actions in life» and have been «brought up in fine habits» to become good NE a3 and b5.

For a person to become virtuous, he can’t simply study what virtue isbut must actually do virtuous things. The Aristotelian Ethics all aim to begin with approximate but uncontroversial starting points.

In the Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle says explicitly that one must begin with what is familiar to us, and «the that» or «the fact that» NE I. Ancient commentators agree that what Aristotle means here is that his treatise must rely upon practical, everyday knowledge of virtuous actions as the starting points of his inquiry, and that he is supposing that his readers have some kind of experience-based understanding of such actions, and that they value noble and just actions to at least some degree.

Elsewhere, Aristotle also seems to rely upon common conceptions of how the world works. In fact, some regard his ethical inquiries as using a method that relies upon popular opinion his so-called «endoxic method» from the Grk. There is some peoole, however, about exactly how such common conceptions fit into Peo;le method in his ethical treatises, [12] particularly since he also makes use of more formal arguments, especially the so-called «function argument,» which is described.

Aristotle describes popular accounts about what kind of life would be a happy one by classifying them into three most common types: a life dedicated to vulgar pleasure; a life dedicated to fame and honor; and a life dedicated to contemplation NE I. To reach his own conclusion about the best life, however, Aristotle tries to isolate the function of humans.

The argument he develops here is accordingly widely known as «the function argument,» and is among the most-discussed arguments made by any ancient philosopher. Thus neither of these characteristics is particular to humans. According to Aristotle, what remains and what is distinctively human is reason.

Thus he concludes that the human function is some kind of excellent exercise of the intellect. And, since Aristotle thinks that practical wisdom rules over the character excellences, exercising such excellences is one way to exercise reason and thus fulfill the human function.

One common objection to Aristotle’s function argument is that it uses descriptive or factual premises to derive conclusions about what is good. Moral virtue, or excellence of character, is the disposition Grk hexis to act excellently, which a person develops partly as a result of his upbringing, and partly as a result of pople habit of action.

Aristotle develops his analysis of character in Book II of the Nicomachean Ethicswhere he makes this argument that character arises from habit—likening ethical character to a skill that is acquired through practice, such as learning a musical instrument.

In Book III of the Nicomachean EthicsAristotle argues that a person’s character is voluntary, since it results from many individual actions which are under his voluntary control.

Aristotle distinguishes the disposition to feel emotions of a arisotle kind from virtue and vice. Arisfotle such emotional dispositions may also lie at a mean between two extremes, and these are also to some extent a result of up-bringing and habituation. Two examples of such dispositions would be modesty, or a tendency to feel shame, which Aristotle discusses in NE IV.

Some people, despite intending to do the right thing, cannot act according to their own choice. For example, someone may choose to refrain from eating chocolate cake, but finds himself eating the cake contrary to his own choice. Such a failure to act in a way that is consistent with one’s own decision is called » akrasia «, and may be translated as weakness of will, incontinence, or lack of self-mastery. Vices of courage must also be identified which are cowardice and recklessness.

Soldiers who are koney prudent act with cowardice, and soldiers who do not have temperance act with recklessness. One should not be unjust toward their enemy no matter the circumstance. On another note, one becomes virtuous by first imitating monet who exemplifies such virtuous characteristics, practicing such ways in their daily lives, turning those ways into customs and habits by performing them each and every day, and finally, connecting or uniting the four of them.

Only soldiers can exemplify such virtues because war demands soldiers to exercise disciplined and firm virtues, but war does everything in its power to shatter the virtues it demands. Since virtues are very fragile, they must be practiced always, for if they are not practiced they will weaken and eventually disappear.

One who is virtuous has to avoid the enemies of virtue which are indifference or persuasion that something should not be done, self-indulgence or persuasion that something can wait and does not need to be done at that moment, and despair or persuasion that something simply cannot be accomplished.

In order for one to be virtuous omney must display prudence, temperance, courage, and justice; moreover, they have to display all four of them and not just one or two to be virtuous. In this discussion, Aristotle defines justice as having two different but related senses—general justice and particular justice.

General justice is virtue expressed in relation to other people. Thus the just man in this sense deals properly and fairly with others, and expresses his virtue in his dealings with them—not lying or cheating or taking from others what is owed to.

Particular justice is the correct distribution of just deserts to. For Aristotle, such justice is proportional—it has to do with people receiving what is proportional to their merit or their worth. In his discussion of particular justice, Aristotle says an educated judge is needed to apply just decisions regarding any particular case. This is ivrtuous we get the image of the scales of justice, the blindfolded judge symbolizing blind justice, balancing the scales, weighing all the evidence and deliberating wristotle particular case individually.

In his ethical works, Aristotle describes eudaimonia as the highest human good. In Book I of the Moneu Ethics he goes on to identify eudaimonia as the excellent exercise of the intellect, leaving it open [ citation needed ] whether he means practical activity or intellectual activity. With respect to practical activity, in order to exercise any one of the practical excellences in the highest way, a person must possess all the.

Aristotle therefore describes several apparently different kinds of virtuous person as necessarily having all the vituous virtues, excellences of character. Aristotle also says, for example in NE Book VI, that such a complete virtue requires intellectual virtue, not only practical virtue, but also theoretical wisdom.

Such a virtuous person, if they can come into being, will choose the most pleasant and happy life of all, which is the philosophical life of contemplation and speculation. Aristotle claims that a human’s highest functioning must include reasoning, being good at what sets humans apart from everything.

Or, as Aristotle explains it, «The function of man is activity of soul in accordance with reason, or at least not without reason. A person that does this is the happiest because they are fulfilling their purpose or nature as found in the rational soul.

Aristotle’s work however continued to be taught as a part of secular education. Aristotle’s teachings spread through the Mediterranean and the Middle East, where some early Islamic regimes allowed rational philosophical arisstotle of the natural world.

Alfarabi was a major influence in all medieval philosophy and wrote arristotle works which included attempts to reconcile the ethical and political writings of Plato and Aristotle. Later Avicennaand later still Averroeswere Islamic philosophers who commented on Aristotle as well as writing their own philosophy in Arabic.

Averroes, a European Muslim, was particularly influential in turn upon European Christian philosophers, theologians and political thinkers. In the twelfth century, Latin translations of Aristotle’s works were made, enabling the Dominican priest Albert the Great and his pupil Thomas Aquinas to synthesize Aristotle’s philosophy with Christian theology.

Later the medieval church scholasticism in Western Europe insisted on Thomist views and suppressed non-Aristotelian metaphysics. Aquinas’ writings are full of references to Aristotle, and he wrote a commentary on Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. Aquinas also departed from Aristotle in certain respects. In particular, his Summa Theologica argued that Eudaimonia or human flourishing was held to be a temporary goal for this life, but perfect happiness as wgat ultimate goal could only be attained in the next life by the virtuous.

Aquinas also added new theological virtues to Aristotle’s system: faith, hope and charity. And supernatural assistance could help people to achieve virtue. Nevertheless, arisgotle of Aristotle’s ethical thought remained intact in Aquinas. In modern times, Aristotle’s writings on ethics remain among the most influential in his broad corpus, along with The Rhetoric, and The Poetics, while his scientific writings tend to be viewed as of more strictly historical.

Modern science develops theories about the physical world based on experiments and careful observation—in particular, on the basis of exact measurements of time and distance. Aristotle, on the other hand, bases his science largely on qualitative and non-experimental observation.

21. Happiness as Eudaimonia: Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics

According to Dr Tim Lomas and his recently-updated Positive Lexicography Projectthere exist over foreign terms for happiness that have no direct English translation. And, more to the point, what aristofle a philosopher who lived almost 2, years ago teach us about how to achieve happiness in the 21st century? Featured image by Ludovisi Collection on Wikimedia Commons. There is perhaps no more wondrous makew of questions for human beings than that which Aristotle addresses in Nicomachean Ethics : what is the nature of happiness? How do we achieve happiness? And why do we fail to achieve happiness? For Aristotle, happiness is not merely a subjective emotional state, something we have to define for ourselves as we feel it; rather, it is an objective state — closer to the concept of well-being or flourishing. In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle argues that, in order to be happy, we must live in accordance with the function of human nature. The function of a knife, for example, is to cut.