Aristotle\'s Central Argument Resolves Around

Aristotle's central argument resolves around attaining the highest good by various means. He also acknowledges that the "highest good" is not quantifiable in terms of only one single thing. The fact that the philosopher, even in ancient times, could acknowledge that different things might be important to different people directy relates to the applicability of his thoughts even today. Because it is so difficult to define what is important, Aristotle then disignates the general concepts of "happiness" and "living well" as the ultimate goals of human life. These concepts have in common that they are desirable for themselves as opposed to being vehicles to other desired goals.

Aristotle then goes on to relate happiness to more concrete concepts in order to demonstrate how to achieve these goals. This is where Aristotle distinguishes among various types of human life, relates them to virtue, and to the success of attaining the ultimate goal of happiness and living well. For Aristotle, it is important to distinguish between the psychological and the biological in human works. The soul's capacities for example related to it snutritive capacity, beign responsible for growth and reproduction, the locomotive for motion, the perceptive for perception, and all other biological functions of human life. According to the philosopher, these capacities can then be used in service of seeking happiness. In addition, the human being also has the rational soul. Aristotle holds that the rational soul, by using reason, has the capacity to guide the other capacities in the service of happiness. Well-used reason ultimately leads to happiness and good living, while poorly reasoned actions lead to the opposite of this.

Aristotle's central argument is then to use reason well throughout life in order to attain happiness. Reason is to be used in accordance to the requirements of what Aristotle regards as virtue in order to be successful in its quest. The soul is happy when it engages in "viruous"

action and lives according to its reasoning capacity.

Happiness also requires other goods, according to Aristotle, who is more than willing to admint that friends, wealth and power contribute significantly to the well-being of the reasoning soul. In order for the biological functions to be optimal, as well as for the opportunity for happiness to be fulfilled, the human being is in need of friends, wealth, power and other goods of the kind.

In this regard, I believe that Aristotle adequately addresses all the connections between the ultimate good in various lives and abilities that construct these lives. In short, Aristotle addresses both the biological, the mental and the spiritual in pursuing the good life. In this, he attempts to find a balance among the human ability to aim for and reach goals, and what these goals migh mean to a person.

Furthermore, as mentioned, Aristotle acknowledges that the exact meaning and manifestation of happiness differs for different people. For some it may indeed be the contemplation of how to achieve greater virtue, greater intelligence or more knowledge. For others, however, such happiness lies in things such as money. Indeed, I believe that all the faculties can be engaged in the pursuit of money.

A person in pursuit of money may for example engage his reasoning by contemplating how more money can be accumulated. He may furthermore exercise his sense of virtue or friendship by means of contemplating how he can help others by the profit he has made, or how to teach others to make their own money. Money can also be applied in enhancing all the capacities of the person. In this way, whatever is pursued, according to Aristotle, if it is pursued in a certain way, for its connection to the ultimate goal of happiness, all of the faculties are exercised.

On the other hand, I do not think that the person who pursues virtuous action as representative of ultimate happiness does not engage theoretical reason to do so. Indeed, such a person would first need to investigate what virtue means and how representative examples of virtue can then be pursued. Virtue is almost as vague a concept as happiness itself, and requires considerable contemplation to quantify into something to which action can be applied.

Virtue may for example mean helping people who are less fortunate. In such a case, the person who pursues virtue may work in non-profit organizations. Theoretical reasoning is used to obtain the location and contemplate the nature of these organizations, and whether they are desirabe objects of the person's goals.

In other cases, virtue may mean helping and nursing the sick back to health. In such a case, a person would need to qualify him- or herself in the medical sciences or the art of nursing. This in itself requires considerable prowess in theoretical reasoning.