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Happiness and Virtue: Aristotle

Book Title: Contemporary Moral Problems
Seventh Edition

Author: James E. White

Amazon Link:

Library Reference:

Quote:  ”Wealth is evidently not the good we are seeking”

Learning Expectation:

In this essay is expect to learn Aristotle’s view on happiness and virtue, because I believe that I have different idea on happiness and virtue. What can be the assumptions of Aristotle while doing this? This is one of the questions that I want to be answered after this essay.

Review:

In this chapter the author talked about Happiness and Virtue, Aristotle the most famous philosopher of all time. He made important contributions to all areas of philosophy, including the formulation of traditional logic. Along with his teacher Plato, he is regarded as one of the founders of Western Philosophy.

In a general view of his concept, Aristotle argues that human being seek happiness and that happiness is not pleasure, honor, or wealth but an activity of the soul accordance with virtue.
There are two kinds of virtue: moral and intellectual. Moral virtue comes from training and habit, and generally is a state of character that is a mean between vices of excess and deficiency. While intellectual virtue produces the most perfect happiness is found in the activity of reason or contemplation.

According to Aristotle pleasure, honor, or wealth differs from one another,  and I think it is true. Well these three are really different and depends who that person is, what he/ thinks of it. People usually identify good or happiness with pleasure, which is the reason why they love the life of enjoyment. This assumption of people is not true, well for me I agree with Aristotle that people usually identify good of happiness with pleasure. It is not right to identify good with pleasure, for good and pleasure differ from each other.  Good is the welfare of people, or a way doing something that can affect the welfare of others, while pleasure is a feeling of enjoyment. Technically it is not the same, and it can’t be happiness. I am to judge which of these two is classified as happiness, I will choose good. Why Good? Because whenever think of the welfare of other people or do something for the sake of other people’s welfare I can say that it makes me happy. Helping other people makes me happy, rather than choosing pleasure for myself.

What I have learned:

I learned that happiness is not about pleasure, honor or wealth but rather an activitiy according to what is right.  The concept of doing what is right makes the people happy, may be for some other people they are happy because of money and pleasure. That is extremely wrong. People in this world can’t define happiness as money, it make people more immoral.

Integrative Questions:
Who is Aristotle?
What are the types of virtue?
What do you mean by happiness?
Can people identify happiness with wealth, pleasure, or honor? Why or why not?
What is moral virtue?