Preview

Summary: the Rational Life-Aristotle

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
564 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Summary: the Rational Life-Aristotle
Summary: The Rational Life-Aristotle

Everything done is meant to be for only good reasons. Everything we do is to cause a better outcome for another purpose which leads to pleasure for something else. There must be some end. There is an ultimate point to life. Living well and doing well are both linked to happiness although the definition of happiness is different to many people. The unwise people think that happiness is plain and simple things like pleasure, wealth, and honor. Some people identify happiness as becoming healthy when they’re ill or getting money when they’re poor. There are three types of life; life of enjoyment, political life, and contemplative life. People look to be honored which is superficial because honor should be given to you by others, not by yourself. You only get honored by dealing with some sort of suffering or misfortune which causes you to do well.
People who are considered “good” are always good at different things. People are good at the functions they perform.
People do things based on the happiness it will bring them. One who lives a solitary life has self-sufficiency. Happiness is final. The end of living judges the happiness of your entire life. It takes an entire lifetime for a man to be blessed and happy.
Virtue is split into two categories: moral and intellectual. Moral virtues make someone ethical. Intellectual virtues make someone smart. You have to learn intellect. Moral virtues are habitual. We have these virtues always but they only become evident when practiced and when they eventually become something we do without even thinking about it, i.e. a habit. Even when practiced, people can still be bad at something. You can destroy your virtues. By forming good habits at a very young age, you will be a more virtuous person. It’s also important to always be brave. Where there is pleasure, there’s always pain. We measure our actions by the amount of pleasure or pain they will cause. Virtuous acts are only

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Though Aristotle does not explicitly speak of meaning, he surely considered the reality of impartial values and meaning. While his primary concern was on the happiness gained by accounting for these values, he does not say that the happy life means the meaningful. However, we can infer that he thought that the good life and the meaningful life are equals. Therefore, Aristotle’s plan in order to live a good life is understandable, and is a guide to a meaningful life.…

    • 933 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rutgers Essay

    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The ultimate goal in life that we thrive to attain is happiness. Happiness is that state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one’s values. It is the meaning and purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence. Materialism can lead to happiness but it is only temporarily. True happiness stems from struggling, enduring, and ultimately accomplishing the goals one sets out.…

    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Response To The Meno

    • 594 Words
    • 3 Pages

    "Is virtue something that can be taught? Or does it come by practice? Or is it neither teaching…

    • 594 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Smith offers data from the Center of Disease Control, the Gallop, and Journal of Positive Sociology to back her ideas. The Gallop says that sixty percent of Americans say they are happy, however four out of ten Americans say they are not discovered a satisfying life purpose. The Journal of Positive Sociology provides a survey a happy life is a result of “taking” while a meaningful one is a result of “giving.” She is saying a happy life means you preform acts that benefit a person’s wants and needs. But the more important aspect of life is finding meaning in it.…

    • 482 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In “Nicomachean Ethics,” Aristotle defines moral virtue as a disposition to behave in the right manner and as a mean between extremes of deficiency and excess, which are vices. Moral virtue is learned through habit and practice rather than through reasoning and instruction. Virtue is defined as having the proper attitude toward pain and pleasure. Aristotle lists the principle virtues along with their corresponding vices and believes that a virtuous person exhibits all of the virtues, not as distinct qualities but as different aspects of a virtuous…

    • 1307 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Phi 160

    • 998 Words
    • 4 Pages

    For Aristotle, virtue are those characteristics that allows an individual to live well. There are two kinds of virtues, the moral virtues and the intellectual virtues. Aristotle clarifies that moral virtues are different than intellectual virtues, because in order to have moral virtues one must live to learn them. On the other hand intellectual virtues are taught directly from someone else. For instance, one must practice how to play an instrument in order to be good at playing it. We can not teach an individual to be good at playing an instrument without practice. Aristotle agrees that “moral virtues, then, are engendered in us neither by nor contrary to nature; we are constituted by nature receive them, but their full development in us is due to habit (Rachels and Rachels, 2012).” Moral virtues must be practiced daily, it is not a one day thing. By practice, one can be a very virtuous human being.…

    • 998 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to Aristotle every activity aims at some good, which is happiness, and that we should do so by aiming for excellence through rational activities. Happiness is being able to do well in life and live well; however, he argues that many believe happiness has to do with your wealth, pleasure, or honor. People who are wealthy are not aiming for the good they are simply seeking it for another purpose. For example, when you have a lot of money and you want the new iPhone. Well now that you purchased the phone you have to purchase a new case and a new charger and then the next best iPhone becomes available for purchase and repeat. There is no end to the cycle of wealth because people are always seeking other means, which happiness is the…

    • 678 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    "We acquire virtues by doing virtuous acts. We acquire a skill by practising the activities involved in the skill. For example, we become builders by building and we learn to play the harp by playing the harp. In the same way, we become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts and courageous by doing acts of…

    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    and to an extent the point of our existence is to find total and true happiness. However most…

    • 511 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Platos View on Virtue

    • 706 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Virtue is the conformation of one's life and conduct to moral and ethical principles. Virtue is a trait that many people would see as good. This word means many different things to many different people as described in this paper. I will be describing The Sophists, Socrates, and my own view on virtue and what it is means in all of our minds.…

    • 706 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are many other goals apart from happiness in life that are worth pursuing. Although Jeremy Bentham (inventor of first type of utilitarianism, act utilitarianism) famously said “nature has placed humanity under the rule of two sovereign masters, pleasure and pain”, it seems pleasure is not the only goal people strive for.…

    • 323 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Virtue Ethics

    • 296 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Virtue ethics is grounded in “character traits”. We all have by nature the potential to be moral persons, but we need to practice the virtues, to cultivate them.…

    • 296 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Virtue is defined as "the quality of moral excellence, righteousness, and responsibility" (Pg.73) While studying what makes a virtuous person their character rather than actions are studied. Honesty, courage, moderation, compassion, wisdom and loyalty are a few examples of the characteristics of a virtuous person. (pg.82) Virtue is the moderate option. For example a person can be greedy or a person can give everything they have away, but the person who takes care of themselves and others in virtuous because they are being responsible for themselves and others.…

    • 732 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay On Virtue Ethics

    • 503 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Virtue is the moral character of a person. A virtuous person will try to live up to a high moral standard. A person of virtue is who thought to be kind they we would expect this person to be kind in all different situations. This ethical theory is different from other theories because virtue does not focus on duties and rules or the consequences of an action of helping…

    • 503 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When someone looks at life they should be looking at it with meaning. A life with no meaning is about as sad as something can be. A person going through life without seeing a purpose is like a stagnate puddle of water evaporating slowly through life. When finding meaning in life it is possible to find a false sense of happiness. People…

    • 705 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays