Aristotle s Happiness As A Central Purpose Of Human Life...

Aristotle enshrines happiness as a central purpose of human life and a goal in itself. As a result his constant work on the topic has brought light on the subject than any other philosopher in history. Aristotle was convinced that a genuinely happy life required the fulfillment of a broad range of conditions, in conjunction with physical as well as mental well-being. Aristotle believed virtues led to happiness and virtues meant the act of achieving balance and moderation. More importantly, Aristotle argues that virtue is achieved by maintaining the mean, which is the balanced between vices and virtues. Aristotle believed that happiness is the ultimate purpose of human life. Aristotle often used the word telos, in other words, the end purpose, which he uses to describe his ideas on happiness. And that health, wealth, knowledge, friendship, virtue and all other good things one might attain are just component parts of happiness. For Aristotle, however, it is more about being all that you can, fulfilling your potential, securing happiness as a final end or goal that encircles the totality of one’s life. Furthermore, in order to explain happiness, Aristotle uses a nested hierarchy of soul functions or activities to interpret human happiness. The nutritive soul, or all plants and wildlife. The sentient soul, which can be defined feelings. Lastly, the rational soul, or reason soul, which only humans are capable of. These are nested in the sense that anything that has aShow MoreRelatedThe Pursuit Of Happiness By Aristotle1156 Words   |  5 Pages The pursuit of happiness is the reason for our existence (Aristotle, 2004) The Greek word that usually gets translated as happiness is eudaimonia, and like most translations from ancient languages, there is a loss of deeper meaning in translation. 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