Aristotelian Philosophy
Aristotle argues that happiness, function
and morality are closely connected and
that virtue is dependent upon all of
them. To fully comprehend Aristotle’s
theory, we must first examine each of
these qualities and then determine how
they are related to one another. The
deliberation process will show that all of
these qualities can be strongly
connected, but not exclusively. Happiness,
function, morality and virtue can
exist independent of one another. The first
deliberation is to define
happiness. Happiness is the highest of all practical
goods identified with "
living well of doing well"(100). According to
Aristotle, Every art and
every inquiry, and similarly every action and pursuit,
is thought to aim at
some good; and for this reason the good has rightly been
declared to be that
at which all things aim. But a certain difference is found
among ends (99).
An example of this reflection would be the final product
created by an
architect. This individual completed building a structure from
start to
finish and has reached the end of the project. The architect is pleased
by
the results of what she created. The architect achieved the desired
outcome
and is therefore happy. A difference between the actual end and the
desired
outcome is what makes happiness different for each individual. All
ends do not
lead to happiness. For example, finishing a painting makes the
artist happy but
not the autoworker whose preferred end is making vehicles.
The fact that not all
human beings share the same ends proves that happiness
is found at different
ends. Aristotle illustrates happiness as being the
"chief good". In the
following quote he explains that rational human beings
take happiness for itself
and never for any other reasons: Since there are
evidently more than one end,
and we choose some of these...for the sake of
something else, clearly not all
ends are final ends; but the chief good is
evidently something final. (103). By
this definition, happiness must be only
the final end, which is the "chief
good" (103). This means that happiness is
the pursuit of all that which is
desired, and the desire is to reach the
final end. If the end is final it
becomes the "chief good" (103). In
Aristotle’s own words he says,
"Happiness, then, is something final and
self-sufficient, and is the end of
action"(103). To say that happiness is the
only chief good is not completely
true. If happiness is the only chief good
than what is our function as human
beings? Aristotle associates functioning
well with happiness and happiness is
the final result. He says that the
function of human being is, "...an activity
of soul which follows or implies
a rational principle..."(103). Human beings
must have the ability to exercise
their capacity to reason in order to function
well. Reasoning is the key
factor in making decisions. Human beings use
reasoning to decide what choices
to make in life. The outcome of the choices
humans make is what creates
desire. As a result, desires are what determine the"chief good" (103). If the
chief good is happiness, than the function of
human beings and reasoning must
also be happiness. One will stay on the path
towards happiness if reasoning
is used as a function of life. Having virtue is
an essential part of the
equation that sustains happiness and the ability to
function well. Rather
than taking detours down paths of deficiency and
excessiveness, one may use
reasoning to become a virtuous person. By staying
committed to the path
toward happiness, one is considered virtuous. Aristotle
claims that the,
"virtue of man also will be the state of character which
makes a man good and
which makes him do his own work well"(111). If the above
statement is true
than only virtuous human beings are happy and if they are
happy than they
must also be functioning well. Aristotle then divides virtue
into two
separate areas: intellectual virtue and moral virtue. He says that
moral
virtue is the result of "habit"(108). If moral virtue is"habit"(108), it cannot
be "nature"(109). Let us bring this to a deeper
level. Gravity by nature
pulls everything to the earth’s surface at a fixed
rate. This rate can never
be changed by the habit of something else. For
example, no matter how many
times running water is diverted from its original
path to the lowest point,
the laws of physics will always prevail. The running
water will once again
find its path to the lowest point. This proves that any
sort of habit cannot
change nature. However, intellectual virtue comes from what
is taught and
learned throughout life by habit. Aristotle’s example of
intellectual virtue
is made clear when he says, "...legislators make the
citizens good by forming
habits in them, and this is the wish of every
legislator, and those who do
not effect it miss their mark, and it is in this
that a good constitution
differs from a bad one" (109). If virtue is the state
of character, than the
state of character defined by Aristotle is, "what makes
a man good and which
makes him do his own work well" (111). If it is true that
virtue gives people
a choice, than Aristotle is correct when he states without
doubt that we as
human beings could, "...take more, less, or an equal
amount"(112). If a
person chooses to stay within the mean than they are"intermediate" or equal. If
they choose to "take more" than they are
excessive. Finally, if they choose
to take "less" then they are deficient
(112). Therefore, happiness and virtue
are in-between excess and deficiency. For
example, if one is excessive in the
characteristic of courage than others might
view them as being afraid of
nothing. If an individual is afraid of nothing than
they cannot be happy.
People do not always admire absolute courage. There is a
time and place for
courage. The same can be said for those people who are
deficient or lacking
courage. In other words, happiness is being intermediate.
Aristotle has
some good points when he speaks about the concepts of happiness,
but his
thoughts also imply that happiness, function, morality and virtue are
all
tied together as if they are inseparable. He states that happiness is the
aim
of the "chief good". Function is the ability to reason, morality is
knowledge
gained through habit of what is right or wrong and virtue is a state
of mind
of that which is intermediate. The way Aristotle ties these separate
elements
together is remarkable and in a perfect world his theory would probably
be
true. The only down fall to his hypothesis is that this world in which
we
live is not a perfect one. Even Aristotle says that the "chief good" is
the"final end"(100). If this is so, than life cannot be considered happy
until
it ceases to exist. The ability to reason is not the only purpose of
human
existence. The main function of human beings is instead the ability to
survive
with the advantage of being able to reason. Morality is the
distinction between
what is right and wrong and this distinction is dependent
on the individual and
the situation. Virtue includes all characteristics that
have merit and that are
held in high regard. This deliberation with
Aristotle’s theory has proven that
happiness, function, morality and virtue
are tied to one another in a perfect
world. These four elements are also
inter-mingled in our non-perfect world, but
only under certain circumstances.
This is because every human being has their
own perception of what represents
happiness, function, morality and virtue.
Finally, Aristotle says that
virtue is being intermediate, but how realistic is
it to believe that virtue
can only exist for those who always stay with-in the
mean? Just as we don’t
have a perfect world, there is no perfect human
being
either.
Bibliography
Newberry, Paul A. Theories of
Ethics. Mayfield Publishing Company:
California, 1999. Nicomachean
Ethics. 2000. Online. Internet. 22 Feb.1994-1998.
Available:
http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen.1.i.html