After reading Aristotle’s view on The Object of Life, I reflected on what his idea of a good life was, and if I found his understanding of this view to be accurate. Aristotle believes that leading a good life means fulfilling one’s purpose in a way that is good by balancing life’s pleasures. He was convinced that living a happy life required various conditions, including one’s physical and mental being. Aristotle argues that virtue is achieved by upholding the “mean”, which is the balance between two excesses. He then tells us the most important factor in achieving happiness is to have good moral character, in which he refers to as “complete virtue.” There were some aspects I agreed with regarding Aristotle’s view towards happiness, and others that had me questioning certain things.
According to Aristotle, we all have a goal or end to life—which is our primary function as a human being. He pursued multiple “ends” in life, including honor, virtue, and pleasure. He concluded that only happiness can be the only universal goal for humans. However, what does happiness entail? Aristotle’s definition state’s that happiness is an exercise of the vital faculties in accordance with perfect virtue or excellence.” This essentially means that happiness is used by our abilities in the best possible way. It includes other means to the end such as pleasure, honor, virtue, reason, and amusement—all of which create the true happiness we feel. This perspective had me questioning a few different things. First being, if this definition is true, then how do poor people and slaves participate in this happiness when their lives are full of trials and trouble? I then concluded that happiness is not about what you do for sport, but it’s about how you live virtuously and with reason, which was how Aristotle viewed it as well.
Aristotle argued that as we mature, we act less aimlessly and live more purposefully. We try to create a plan for living that brings all our various purposes together. Without a plan for living, we simply don’t know what we are trying to do or our purpose behind it. Aristotle claims that the final end of human life is to flourish, to live well, and to have a good life. In other words, all actions should aim towards this end. He believes that this is obvious considering very few people choose to live poorly. This concept brings up another question: don’t different people have different viewpoints about what a good life is? For some, it may revolve around wealth or power. For others, some experience pleasures from fame. If people live the good life differently—if they have different desires, how can there be one right plan for living well? Or how can there be one final end that we must all seek? Aristotle answers these questions by explaining that not all desires are of the same sort. He states that “the good life consists in the possession, over the course of a lifetime, of all those things that are really good for us.”
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What I found the most interesting out of this reading, was how much Aristotle’s view is still applied to modern day era. Aristotle believes that happiness is not defined as a feeling based on pleasure, money, security or fame. He explains that it is defined as an activity of the soul based on virtue and right choices. Nowadays especially, young people often follow their impulses and feelings to seek happiness. Aristotle describes pleasure as a bad thing—unless it is tied with virtuous activity itself. In other words, pleasure tends to lead us towards poor choices and a lack of self-control. To be happy, we must control our vices no matter how much pain or discomfort it causes us. This is the only way to desire a life filled with long-term happiness, as opposed to one filled with temporal pleasures from our vices. There are many philosophers who have interesting views, but are not as applicable as times have changed. However, these viewpoints are more relevant than ever today.
Today, we are constantly surrounded by the suffering of others. Per Aristotle, to be happy, we should take pleasure in charity work and acts of kindness. Typically, a good person has good character traits, such as generosity, kindness, and friendship. They will then use these traits in making moral judgements and decisions. They will take pleasure in giving up their own comfort for the good of another. Aristotle emphasizes the importance of valuing what material goods we have within reason. He suggests that one must have a suitable level of material comfort to be able to be moral. In modern times, this might mean having shelter, food, and funds to be able to live a good and happy live without idolizing any materialistic pleasures.
Towards the end of this chapter, Aristotle quotes “but not every action or feeling admits of a mean; because some have names that directly connote depravity, such as malice, shamelessness, and envy, and among actions adultery, theft and murder. All these, and morel like them, are so called as being evil in themselves.” What I understood from this, was that he believes one cannot be spiteful, shameless, or envious in a good way. Therefore, you cannot commit acts like adultery, theft, or murder in a way that is right. This had me questioning, are these actions considered right to some if they make a person happy? For instance, if someone receives happiness by being with another person—but has to commit adultery to do so, is that right?
Aristotle states that one should live in accordance with virtues to obtain happiness. He also states that the actions listed above are bad, making it never possible to be right in doing them. With that being said, I think these actions would only be performed in a situation when it would make one happy. Only in a rare situation would one ever act in a way that is adulterous if it did not make them happy. Consequently, if one commits adultery, they are obtaining happiness as an end goal. Although adultery may lead to happiness for those who commit it, Aristotle would state that living by this virtue would be correct if it were any other act. Since he made it clear that adultery is never right, I would assume he would also state adultery is still an act that cannot be performed in a right way, and one who acts this way is wrong.
As mentioned above, Aristotle teaches us to pursue happiness and not pleasure—which are both feelings that many of us confuse together. He shows us how to take satisfaction in good deeds and to value what material goods we have. No matter what we do in our lives, if we complete our duties and are morally virtuous, there are always situations that have the likelihood of steering us away from achieving happiness.
Therefore, one must never lead their life with the assumption of others and what paths must be taken to achieve happiness or a good life. It’s important to lead our lives to the best of our abilities. Aristotle’s teachings have pointed out that happiness as an end result is the ultimate end and function of human beings. The only method of reaching this happiness is through reason. A life that doesn’t practice the role to reason will result in being incomplete and never reach perfection. Therefore, reason is not only good for us, but is also needed to reach a complete existence.
Despite the passage of many centuries, Aristotle’s work still seems to be the most influential theory of what it means to live a good life. His ideas and insights still dictate essential features of our world right now, making it as relevant and meaningful today as they were 2,500 years ago. Philosophy may be complex, but if there was one thing I took away from this chapter, it was the importance and worthwhile it is for us humans to strive for wellbeing and “true happiness.”
References
- Plato.stanford.edu – This source is a comprehensive article on Aristotle’s ethics and provides a thorough analysis of his views on happiness.
- Britannica.com – This article from Britannica provides an overview of Aristotelianism, including Aristotle’s views on happiness and the good life.
- Philosophybasics.com – Philosophy Basics offers an explanation of ethics as a branch of philosophy and explores Aristotle’s ethical theories, including his concept of eudaimonia (happiness).
- Plato.stanford.edu – This article from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy explores Aquinas’ moral philosophy, which was heavily influenced by Aristotle, including his understanding of the good life and happiness.
- Pursuit-of-happiness.org – The Pursuit of Happiness organization provides an article on Aristotle’s concept of happiness, discussing his ideas on virtue and the pursuit of a good life.
- Ancient.eu – Ancient History Encyclopedia provides an article on Aristotle’s life and works, including his views on ethics and the good life.
