Man Who Knew Everything Aristotle

An ethical issue that is debated in our society is the concern of driving while intoxicated. Although this was naturally not the case during Aristotle’s time, many of his ethical beliefs can be applied to refute this dilemma. I will prove the standing issue to be unethical through Aristotle’s discussion of virtue and his concept of voluntary/involuntary actions in the Nicomachean Ethics.

Many people try to define and consider different definitions of what happiness is, and I think that Plato and Aristotle offer interesting views of happiness and what it means for one to live a good life. Both philosophers agree that happiness is an important factor in one’s life and essentially the essence of how to live a good life. Plato offers many theories and definitions of justice leading to happiness, while Aristotle argues that happiness is the main goal that all humans aim for in their entire life. Plato offers a philosophical view of a happy life for an individual by explaining a just state and what it would entail and also the theory of the forms that one must understand to achieve happiness. After learning about both

Both Plato and Aristotle were prominent philosophers during their time and even today remain some of the most well-known philosophers ever. Aristotle was a student of Plato’s and Plato’s influence was noticeable throughout Aristotle’s work. Though Aristotle believed and would later teach a lot of Platonic philosophy, that did not mean that he agreed with everything that Plato taught. One thing that Aristotle would critique about Plato’s teaching was his idea of what he called “Forms” and their role in the world. Although both Aristotle and Plato believed that something 's "form" helped classify what it is, I found Aristotle’s understanding of form to be more convincing because he believed that Forms consisted within the one world in which we all already live as opposed to Plato who thought that the world of Forms was separate from the world of everything else. Both men make very compelling points to back up their beliefs, but I just felt Aristotle’s theory was more believable.

What is happiness? There are many theories surrounding happiness, and the pursuit of happiness. Some believe that an external force must be present to bring about happiness, while others argue that happiness is individualized, and is completely up to a person's internal mindset of whether he or she is able to achieve and maintain happiness. Aristotle, a significant ancient Greek philosopher, believes that happiness requires an action. He affirms that there are many factors that play into someone's happiness; including materialistic things, which help support this state of being. His claim is that happiness is a holistic approach to life and must be achieved by living virtuously with moral character. Aristotle also indicates that happiness is not a moment in time, but rather a journey of exploration by way of living harmoniously, through a pursuit of achieving life’s goals and desires. He adds that a life of happiness is driven by virtue and emotions, which all play a role in achieving optimum happiness.

In 469 B.C. a man by the name of Socrates was born. Socrates was a very wise man that cared about doing the right thing. He believed that the best ways to develop ideas was in the give and take of conversation, and that the best way to educate people was to ask them a series of questions leading in a particular direction (now named “Socrates method). Socrates had been quick to identify the drawbacks of democracy, and he had also been the teacher of two men who in different ways harmed Athens: Alcibiades and Critias. Which made the parents of the children that Socrates had taught very upset and angry. Granting all this, it lead to the Trial of Socrates 399 B.C. During this trial Socrates expressed his view of death by using his question-and-answer method, for which he was famous for and what seemed to have gotten him in trouble. Socrates did not write so we have to depend on on what others wrote, and by doing that we now get to see the diverse ways people read and understand what was written about his speech. My chosen primary source, Socrates View on Death, is important, because it gives one view of Socrates speech while my outside source, Ancient Greece, gives a slightly more in depth view.

According to Aristotle, happiness depends on the individual more than anyone else. (IEP) Aristotle defines happiness as the primary purpose of human life, and a goal in itself. He believed happiness depended on the development of virtue and was convinced that to have a happy life, a range of conditions needed to be met.

Aristotle’s characteristics of a Great-Souled man have been around for thousands of years and its aspects have been greatly altered as time passes. That virtue of a Great-Souled man seems applicable to modern world as it was in time of Aristotle. However, some of Aristotle ethics are not particularly applicable today. In modern world, things like accumulating wealth and writing million dollars worth of checks for donations, are more characteristic of a Great Souled-man. Though Jesus did not carry the traits of today’s Great-Souled man as described above, he remains in the hearts of millions today for his miraculous works.

Our Well-Being: Aristotle and Human Happiness What is the purpose of a human being? “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence” (Nicomachean Ethics). When one thinks about happiness, these words said by Aristotle allow us to understand its significance. Through Aristotle’s

Aristotle is a dichotomist, which means that he believes that human beings consist of two major elements, the body and the soul. The body is the physical matter that one can see, where the soul is the feelings and desires one has; the things you cannot touch. Aristotle believes that we have three major elements of the soul which are pleasures, desires, and feelings. These elements are where we find our virtues. In book one of The Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle discusses that virtue is the highest human good. This being said, there are two qualifications that the highest good must have, “The good must be something final and self-sufficient,” (Aristotle, 10). By final Aristotle means that which is in desirable in itself, and not sought for the sake of something else. By self-sufficient Aristotle means something that does not depend on other’s bestowing it. Aristotle gives us the sense that he believes that politics is about the human good and one cannot begin to practice politics or political science well; unless one has the idea of what the good actually is. In book one; with many arguments to support his theory, he tells the reader that the good is intellectual and moral virtue. One of his arguments is he believes that you need a moderate amount of both health and wealth to be able to fully develop the virtue. He sees these two aspects as a form of equipment because if one is constantly ill or does not have a sufficient amount of money there will be many obstacles in reaching

Out of all the great philosophers who have lived and taught, none can match the genius that is Aristotle. He provided the foundations for medicine, mathematics, astronomy, and even came up with a scientific vocabulary that is still being used to this day. Furthermore, because of Aristotle’s influence on the western world, it’s not surprising that Europe had arguably some of the brightest minds of the time; minds like Strato of Lampsacus, Archimedes, and Peter Abelard. Without Aristotle’s tutelage, none of these men would’ve reached their full potential. Consequently, this could have thrown the very fabric of history and the world into an intellectual dark age much sooner and, which would’ve lasted much longer. Even the Platonic philosophers would not have been able to fill the void the absence of Aristotelian

Aristotle was Philosopher of classical Greece, including with Plato and Socrates. When Aristotle passed away, he left behind a corpus of his work that was in Arab and European worlds of the middle ages and also Renaissance. Aristotle wrote a book for his son Nicomachus which is “Nicomachean ethics.” But

When you think of a tragedy, what comes to mind? A sad story? A terrible fate? Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, is a Greek play that Aristotle regards as “the perfect example of tragedy”. The play follows the fall of a man running from a terrible destiny. However, despite his intentions, he fulfills the very destiny he tries so hard to avoid. As the town discovers what happened, everyone, including Oedipus, struggles to come to terms with what has passed. Oedipus’ self-blinding is an attention-seeking act, because of how, like Oedipus himself, it was dramatic, and was a result of his pride.

Aristotle’s understanding of virtues is what he describes as a kind of “mean”. This “mean” is the pivotal influence for any and all outcomes when it comes to moral judgment; the “ends”. The structure of this concept revolves around the philosophical idea of Telos, For every class of things that exist they all have their own aim end or goal. Aristotle acknowledges the soul of a human being and even more so analyzes the characteristics of it. The rational, appetitive and irrational each of these chunks, for lack of a better word, defines an action whether it be virtuous or unvirtuous. This “mean” for aristotle would land somewhere between the rational and appetitive characteristics because not all means are realized without some kind of selfish

Who is Aristotle one may ask? Aristotle was a Greek philosopher who dates back to the year 384 BC. Aristotle was a philosopher who studied numerous subjects and ideas ranging from geology, epistemology, biology, and of course happiness (Aristotle, 2009). Aristotle has a very unique view on happiness that is still looked at the same today, as it was when he first came up with it. Aristotle states that one does not simply become happy after doing a small task or playing with friend for the day. He states that one does not just become happy, but they strive for happiness throughout their entire lives and then have finally achieved it once they have passed (Aristotle, 2009). The main reasoning behind this is that one cannot always be happy by doing one thing, but they must do a number of things in order to strive and reach for that certain level of happiness. For instance, while doing research I came across a great analogy that I thought summed up Aristotle’s view perfectly. The article stated that we cannot claim children are truly happy, any more than we can say an acorn in a tree (Cohen, 2008). That being said, there is so much more to happiness then some think. Sure we may seem happy after hanging out with friends for one day, but there is simply just so much more beyond that when talking about happiness in our lives. Happiness is

Aristotle felt that through the four qualities of wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice, could a person be led to happiness. I agree with Aristotle's reasoning on how happiness is achieved and why it is the goal of human life, as we know it. He supports his point with so many examples that you realize that he is completely right. His stressing of the importance of moral virtues as the key to happiness and a successful government is brilliant. His messages of virtue and moderation transcend time and