In this paper, Aristotle’s ethics of happiness and how happiness and reason relate to one another from Nicomachean Ethics will be discussed. Aristotle, in making self-sufficiency a requirement of happiness, defines the self-sufficient (to autarkes) as ‘that which on its own makes life worthy of choice and lacking in nothing’. Virtue for the Greeks is equivalent to excellence. Show More . He does not see it, properly speaking, as a human good. A virtuous person is someone who performs the distinctive activity of being human well.

A virtuous person who does not exercise virtue is like an athlete who sits on the sideline and watches. Aristotle develops a theory of how to live the good life and reach eudaimonia (happiness). In the dualistic reading I will propose, Aristotle views contem-plation, which he calls "complete ( teleia ) happiness," as the divine good. Aristotle’s take . Humans, or

Eudaimonia has been translated into, living a happy and virtuous life. When I asked my family what they thought the word pleasure meant, I received several answers all of which connected pleasure to happiness or joy, but that’s not what pleasure truly is; not to Aristotle at least. Nicomachean Ethics that is neither monistic nor inclusivistic, but rather dualistic. Aristotle's Theory of Happiness and the Good Life Aristotle is one of the greatest thinkers in the history of western philosophy, and is most notably known for expressing his view of happiness in Nicomachean Ethics.

Aristotle's Definition Of Happiness In The Nicomachean Ethics. Nicomachean Ethics provides the means in which are best determined to achieve the ultimate goal of an individual’s life which according to Aristotle is happiness.

A man has virtue as a flautist, for instance, if he plays the flute well, since playing the flute is the distinctive activity of a flautist. Aristotle in his work Nicomachean Ethics said that human actions are necessary to realize the ultimate good — happiness or eudaimonia. Aristotle 's Ethics Of Happiness 1282 Words | 6 Pages. Aristotle was speaking of lasting happiness, that which does not dissipate easily with time.

Aristotle defines the supreme good as an activity of the rational soul in accordance with virtue.

Aristotle has a proactive conception of the good life: happiness waits only for those who go out and seize it.

The Nicomachean Ethics (/ ˌ n ɪ k oʊ ˈ m æ k i ə n /; Ancient Greek: Ἠθικὰ Νικομάχεια, Ēthika Nikomacheia) is the name normally given to Aristotle's best-known work on ethics.The work, which plays a pre-eminent role in defining Aristotelian ethics, consists of ten books, originally separate scrolls, and is understood to be based on notes from his lectures at the Lyceum. The definition of happiness is determined differently based on an individual’s perspective of the concept which the philosopher states in the beginning of Chapter Four in Book One of Nicomachean Ethics. Aristotle illustrates this distinction between happiness and virtue by saying that the best athletes only win at the Olympic Games if they compete.

For one to understand Aristotle’s point of view, one must first understand the meaning of good and happiness. 970 Words 4 Pages.