Julian raja Arockiaraj

Section E
Aristotle 1
Human Happiness
Aristotle begins his study on ethics by asserting that there is some ultimate good
which is both complete and self-sufficient, and defines this good as happiness. the
function of man is to live a certain kind of life, and this activity implies a rational
principle, and the function of a good man is the good and noble performance of these,
and if any action is well performed it is performed in accord with the appropriate
excellence: if this is the case, then happiness turns out to be an activity of the soul in
accordance with virtue (10).
Every human activity aims at some end that we consider good. The highest ends
are ends in themselves, while subsidiary ends may only be means to higher ends. Those
highest ends, which we pursue for their own sake, must be the ultimate Good. Everyone
agrees that the ultimate Good is happiness, but people disagree over what establishes
happiness. Common people associate happiness with sensual pleasure: this may be
sufficient for animals, but human life has higher ends. Others say that receiving honors
is the greatest good, but honors are conferred as recognition of goodness, so there
must be a greater good that these honors reward. Platos Theory of Forms suggests that
there is a single Form of Good and that all good things are good in the same way. This
theory seems flawed when we consider the diversity of things we call good and the
diversity of ways in which we consider goodness. Even if there were a single unifying
Form of Good, our interest is in the practical question of how to be good, so we should
concern ourselves not with this abstract concept but with the concrete ends we can in
reality pursue in everyday life.
Happiness is the highest good because we choose happiness as an end sufficient
in itself. Even intelligence and virtue are not good only in themselves, but good also
because they make us happy. We call people good if they accomplish their function
well. For instance, a person who plays the flute well is a good flutist. Playing the flute is
the flutists function because that is his or her distinctive activity. The distinctive activity
of humans generally what distinguishes us from plants and animals is our shrewdness.
Therefore, the ultimate good should be an activity of the coherent soul in accordance
with quality. This definition aligns with popular views of happiness, which see the happy
person as honest, coherent, and energetic.
Much misperception about Aristotles work comes not from Aristotles shortage
of clarity, but from an imprecision in translation. Ancient Greek is quite diverse from the
English language, and more important, the ancient Greeks lived in a very diverse culture
that used concepts for which there are no exact English translations. One central
concept of the Ethics is eudaimonia, which is generally translated as happiness. While
happiness is probably the best English word to translate eudaimonia, the term also
carries connotations of triumph, contentment, and thriving. A person who is eudaimon is
not merely enjoying life, but is enjoying life by living effectively. Ones success and
reputation, unlike ones emotional well-being, can be affected after death, which makes
Aristotles discussion of eudaimonia after death considerably more relevant.
Aristotle treats happiness as an activity, not as a state. He uses the word energeia,
which is the root of our word energy, to illustrate happiness. The point is that happiness
consists of a certain way of life, not of certain dispositions. In saying that happiness is an
energeia, he contrasts happiness with virtue, which he considers a state of being.
Possessing all the right qualities disposes a person to live well, while happiness is the
activity of living well, which the righteous person is inclined toward.
The very impression of living well might seem a bit odd as Aristotle formulates it.
In particular, he talks about living well as performing the function of being human well,
comparable to the good flutist performing the function of playing the flute well. It may
seem that Aristotle has confused the practical and the moral: being a good flutist is a
practical matter of study and talent, while no such analogy holds for morality. Being a
good person surely is not a skill one develops in the same manner as flute playing. But
this objection respites on a misinterpretation due to a struggle in translation. The Greek
word ethos translates as character, and the concerns of the Ethics are not with
determining what is right and wrong, but with how to live a righteous and happy life.
We should also note the importance of the concept of telos, which we might translate as
end or goal. Ethics tells us that every activity aims at a certain telos. For instance, one
might go to the gym with the telos of becoming fitter. When Aristotle identifies
happiness as the highest goal, he is claiming that happiness is the ultimate telos of any
action. We might understand this idea of an ultimate telos by imagining the child who
constantly asks why?
Every activity has a telos, which is an answer to the question, why are you doing
this? Happiness is the ultimate telos because there is no further telos beyond happiness
and because the ultimate goal of all our other accomplishments is happiness. For
Aristotle, the soul, is simply that which distinguishes living things from nonliving things.
All living things have a nutritive soul, which manages physical health and growth.
Animals and humans differ from plants in having an appetitive soul, which governs
movement and impulse. Humans differ from animals in also having a coherent soul,
which governs thought and reason. Because shrewdness is the unique achievement of
humans, Aristotle sees shrewdness as our telos: in his view, everything exists for a
purpose, and the purpose of human life is to develop and exercise our coherent soul.
Consequently, a human can be human well by developing reason in the way that a
flutist can be a good flutist by developing skill with the flute
In conclusion, according to Aristotle, Happiness is the ultimate end and purpose
of human existence, Happiness is not inclination, nor is it quality. It is the exercise of
quality, Happiness cannot be achieved until the end of ones life, hence it is a goal and
not a temporary state, Happiness is the excellence of human nature. Since man is a
coherent animal, human happiness depends on the implementation of his goal.
Bibliography

Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics. Translated by David Ross. Oxford Univ Press. Book 1 Chapter 7
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicomachean_Ethics