Aristotle was one of the great thinkers of the ancient world, so much so, that he has influenced the way people think throughout time. One of the fields in which he wrote extensively about was that of ethics. His book the “Nicomachean Ethics” outlines that happiness is the ultimate goal a human being should strive for and that it is the main purpose of one’s life. In his lectures, he states that happiness can be achieved with the cultivation of...
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Aristotle was born around 384 BC in the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia where his father was the royal doctor. He grew up to reach a state where one could say that he is indeed the most influential philosopher to have ever lived with nicknames like the philosopher or the master. Aristotle worked with Plato for a period then he ventured on his own and established a little school called the Lyceum. Many of his books are actually lecture notes...
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At the very beginning of Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle starts from goodness and states one of his main ethical ideas, “Every art and inquiry, and similarly every action and pursuit, is thought to aim at some good.”[footnoteRef:1] The good here refers to something that is morally right, or in other words, righteousness. The he distinguishes between two kinds of practical activities, one of them aims to themselves, and the other one aims to the products apart from the activities that produce...
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“All laws are a social construct”. How would Aristotle respond to this statement? Aristotle would argue that all laws are a social construct due to providing a guideline for society to follow and benefit from, he expresses his judgement on social construct through his types of laws in his book called “Nicomachean Ethics”, the connection and influence the justice system has on the political community in his second book “Politics”, and that without a community of citizens to govern in...
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Aristotle was a Greek philosopher that lived in the fourth century BC of Ancient Greece. He spent his life analyzing different philosophical texts; which led to his work on a good human life and happiness. Aristotle believed that in order to achieve a good human life we must be a good human being through our actions. In the film, Groundhog Day, we meet a weatherman, Phil Connors, who repeats the weather countless times on February 2nd. As Phil continues to...
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Video Summary: Altruism and Empathy Natural Selection can put certain facts or guides in our brains to allow for our survival. This has to do with kindness and being nice to others. Our ancestors were nice to people so they could stay alive in hard times. While at life and death situations they fought and showed no mercy to protect themselves. This is seen today around the world. We are all taught to be nice to everyone and many people...
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The word happiness in the Ethics is a translation of the Greek term eudaimonia, which carries connotations of success and fulfillment. For Aristotle, this happiness is our highest goal. However, Aristotle does not say that we should aim at happiness, but rather that we do aim at happiness. His goal in the Ethics is not to tell us that we ought to live happy, successful lives, but to tell us what this life consists of. Most people think of happiness...
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All human activities aim at some end that we consider good. Most activities are a means to a higher end. The highest human good, then, is that activity that is an end in itself. That good is happiness. When we aim at happiness, we do so for its own sake, not because happiness helps us realize some other end. The goal of the Ethics is to determine how best to achieve happiness. This study is necessarily imprecise, since so much...
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It is extremely hard to avoid the attractions of worldly pleasures in today’s world. There are many distractions that can deviate us from our goal of happiness. According to Aristotle, temperance is necessary for happiness because balance indulgence and insensibility. I intend to explain why temperance is problematic, and extremely hard to achieve in terms of Aristotle’s definition. Throughout the course of this paper, I will analyze some of the key concepts Aristotle believes are necessary for temperance. Furthermore, there...
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Throughout the history of humankind, the ethical question of whether or not humans should pursue ultimate happiness without boundaries is often a source of philosophical discourse. Such a question has resulted in many interpretations and theories that have led to extreme violence, oppression, and affliction. Defining what ultimate happiness is and examining if it is possible to achieve such a concept will aid in comprehending such a perplexing question. This investigation will lead to a discussion about whether it is...
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