Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics

In Aristotle’s “Nichomachean Ethics,” he provides insight on how one achieves eudaimonia, which is Greek for happiness. In other words, achieving happiness is the end goal for every human being, but how one achieves it is different. Aristotle does not list out a set of rules on how one should behave, but rather focuses on what type of a person one would like to be. The highest good is described as, but are not limited to, to being temperate and successful, and also self-fulfillment. A virtuous person naturally behaves in a right way for the right reason and also feels satisfied in doing what is right.
There are three prominent types of life—the one that identifies good with pleasure, good with the political life, and good with the contemplative …show more content…
In Book I, he mentions many concepts in order for one to understand how virtue and happiness go hand in hand. There are two kinds of virtue—intellectual virtue and moral virtue. Intellectual virtue deals with the “birth and its growth to teaching” (Aristotle, Book II), which its reasons require experience and patience. Moral virtue “arises in us by nature; for nothing that exists by nature can form a habit contrary to its nature” (Aristotle, Book II), which means that the way one’s behavior is derived from nature cannot be trained to behave against nature. Therefore, moral virtue is a result of …show more content…
It lies in a mean state between extreme excess and extreme deficiency. We generally tend to aim between these two vices in order to help us to find a general path to being a virtuous person, which is not easy task. According to Aristotle, being a virtuous person is quite difficult and takes commitment in order to give in at the “right time, to the right people, to the right extent, with the right motive” and eventually reach that state. With that being said, he closes with, “goodness is both rare and laudable and noble” (Aristotle, Book