What Does It Mean to Be Human

Although, as Aristotle believes, everything we do in our life leads to some good, he makes it clear that some goods are subordinate to others, and that the greatest good is happiness. He believes that the knowledge of this good carries weight for our way of life, and makes us better able, like archers who have a target to aim at, to hit the right mark (Aristotle 2). To possess the ability to achieve this ultimate end; however, we must first have some sort of understanding as to what happiness is. The definition of happiness typically varies from person to person, some think it’s pleasure or something found in someone you love, others believe it lies in wealth and success, but Aristotle defines it as

What does it mean to be a human? Is it anything significant in this? Or we are simply just a bunch of nerve impulses enclosed in biological mass of our bodies? Certainly, there should be something that constitutes a person, something that discern humans from the life of plant, or even other living organism. No surprise that we feel that we are superior and special above all other species.

At some point in time we have all wondered what it means to human, and what we are supposed to do with our lives. Throughout the centuries, there have been gradual changes in what it means to be human. Through Pico della Mirandola we will how man became the measure and took the place of God, through Charles Darwin we will see how nature and science began to take the place of man, and through the art of Friedrich we can visually see all of these changes.

To get a sense of what it is to be human, at least in the evolutionary world, we need only to compare our modern selves to our ancestors such as the Neanderthals. The Neanderthals were our closest hominin relative and died out thousands of years ago. Like us, they walked on two legs, hunted , made fire and tools, and lived in shelters (caves). They were more advanced than many of us imagine they were thanks to the way they are portrayed in the media. They had brains similar in size to ours, they stood fully upright (not hunched over), and had a surprisingly complex culture. When asked what it means to be human, you can compare many different aspects of our lives, such as biology, culture, and even religious beliefs. We obviously have

“Happiness depends on ourselves,” according to Aristotle. Aristotle preserves happiness as a central purpose of human life and a goal in itself. He dedicated most of his work to the topic of happiness, more than any philosopher prior to the modern era. 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. In this way he introduced the idea of a science of happiness in the classical sense, in terms of a new field of knowledge.

What does it mean to be human? Is it in a curve of a mother’s back, a single bead of sweat tracing the contours of her face as she hums to sooth her tiny child on her back? Is it the fires of a furnace, as a star-like metal is poured into a elongated mold? Is it in the halls of lecture halls, as she scribbles out the code to space travel to an audience of enthused students? There are so many ways to classify ‘humanity’, be it by the biological material, or the compassion of one to another, or simply by our ‘superior intellect.’ However, a fruit--a banana--shares more of our genetic information that nearly any other organism. Other animals have been proven to show compassion--elephants staying behind to help their

By failing to discover personal and realistic dreams, one cannot be happy with their life. Aristotle perceived happiness as a final end goal that encompasses the totality of a life. It is the ultimate value of a life, measuring how well a person lived up to their full potential as a human being. A person cannot gain or lose happiness in a short

For my To Be human assignment the central theme of my drawing is “what does it mean to be human.” I chose to do a comic/drawing that visually/creatively represents four distinct things that I believe sets us humans apart from other animals. These are four different aspects of the human condition that people, as well as myself personally, see as the things that make us human.

To be human means acquiring all gifts and innate qualities that were given to us from birth. As humans, we're able to breathe, speak and govern ourselves

Aristotle defines happiness as an ultimate good, and is pursued by every individual, not because it is a means to an end to another state but rather for its sake. It is this qualification that makes a distinction between happiness and pleasure seeking (LaFollette, 370).

In the book The Bicentennial Man by Isaac Asimov a robot shows the readers what is important about being human. Andrew the robot shows us that one of the things that separates humans from machines and makes humans special is that human lives don’t last forever. What makes our life valuable is that humans have a limited time on this earth, which is why living and dying is better than living forever.

Happiness is often thought to be an emotional state that results from anything a person does or observes that they approve of or consider positive or pleasant. In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle argues that true human happiness is much more than a temporary state of wellbeing, as humans are not satisfied by the pleasantries or conditions that satisfy other animals. Through virtuous activity and virtuous friendships, people are constantly trying to perfect themselves in order to achieve some greater good. This good, Aristotle reasons, must be an end within itself, and the ultimate end of human activity. Therefore, happiness for Aristotle is the final goal and the perfection of human existence, and it depends on a lifetime of virtuous activity.

A) In the movie there are two themes that I am going to be talking about is “Humans are able to sin” and “Humans are moral beings”. Humans are able to sin which states that as intelligent and free creatures, we can either choose good or evil. And when we fail to love the Lord and neighbour, this causes a breach in our relationship with God. There are many parts of such shown in the movie, but the part I am going to talk about is near the end where the bullies abuse one of Trevor’s friend and then Trevor steps into stop it but gets stabbed and dies. This trait is shown by the bullies because the are abusing another human being and unfortunately ended Trevor’s life which is a sin. Humans are moral beings which means that we are different from animals because of our freedom. Humans can act with freedom; animals cannot. Because we intend to do certain things, our actions are moral: they are either good or evil. There are many examples in this movie that we see this but I am going to talk about Trevor’s idea and in the movie Trevor intended to make a change in the world and created a moral action that benefited humanity. In conclusion I believe that humans is to be a person who does morally right actions that benefits not only

The age old question of what it means to be human can be answered through many viewpoints. There are several specie specific qualities that differentiate humans from any other creature, but with that being said, humans are often compared and contrasted with animals and machines. Some of these specific qualities are the ability to interpret, free will, and the use of language, but what does it really mean to be human?

According to the philosophy of happiness (14, 15, 16 & 17), Aristotle stated the factors that make happiness as good health, money, relationships and good moral behavior. Aristotle pointed out that happiness was the ultimate desire for human being leaving nothing more to be desired. The happiness is sought for its own sake unlike other things which are sought in order to achieve happiness. Aristotle understood that for an individual to be happy one must be of good morals and can suffer to achieve the greater happiness later in the long run. Many individuals believe that