Aristotle and Plato's philosophical differences

Philosophy

Aristotle and the Good Life

Many philosophers have considered the nature of a good human life. Aristotle is one of these philosophers. The following analysis will describe Aristotle's account of the good human life, while also showing how he arrived at his ideas. To critically consider Aristotle's ideas, Plato's account of the good human life will also be presented and compared to Aristotle. By this comparison, the weaknesses in Aristotle's ideas will be clearly seen.

Aristotle defines a good person as someone who successfully fulfils his or her function. Aristotle also notes that by fulfilling his or her function, the person also fulfils themselves. This is based on Aristotle's overall view that living a good life is about striving to achieve the most a person is capable of. According to Aristotle, this is what brings a sense of well-being and this is what equals success. This includes the idea that it does not matter how successful a person is perceived as being. Instead, it only matters how successful a person considers themselves to be, with this determined by whether the person considers that they have achieved the most that they are capable of. With this viewpoint, the good life is not measured in concrete terms. For example, a person is not considered as living a good life because they have gained a certain amount of money, fame, friendships, knowledge or respect. Instead, a person is considered as living a good life if they have the gained the most that they are capable of. One of the most important concepts of Aristotle's view is that living a good life is an individual process, with the level of success depending on how a person considers themselves.

Another key aspect of Aristotle's view on the good life is based on his belief that people achieve a good life when they fulfill their function. In turn, this idea of fulfilling one's function is based on Aristotle's assumption that every living thing has been created for a specific purpose. To determine the purpose of human beings, Aristotle compared them to other living things, namely the plants and animals. From this comparison, Aristotle identified that it is the ability to reason that sets human beings apart from all other plants and animals. This observation was used to conclude that the purpose of human beings must be to reason. This sets up a view of human life where the focus is on inner thought processes. In turn, this leads to a view where an individual's inner perceptions are the measure of that person's life.

Aristotle also considered further the state of mind that determines inner success. In short, Aristotle wanted to know the state of mind that people are ultimately trying to achieve. In considering this point, Aristotle concluded that happiness is the ultimate aim that people are seeking. In saying this, Aristotle noted that happiness is not the same as joy or pleasure, because joy and pleasure are both short-term. Instead, happiness is a long-lasting sense of well-being. In addition, happiness cannot be quickly created, but must be slowly gained and built upon. This links back to the idea of people fulfilling their function and striving to achieve the most they are capable of. Happiness is not specifically what people actively seek to achieve. Instead, happiness is the end result when people do achieve the most they are capable of. This is true because a real sense of happiness can only be created when people feel that they reached their potential. In this way, an individual's state of happiness is a measure of how well they are fulfilling their potential and whether or not they are living a good life.

Aristotle also noted though, that a good life is not just about inner thoughts. Instead, there must be a link between thoughts and actions. Aristotle linked the two by considering how people determine their actions and the inner thought processes that accompany them. In particular, Aristotle focused on moral virtues and subsequent actions. Aristotle believed that people choose good actions because it helps them to achieve inner happiness. In addition, Aristotle believed that choosing good actions was something acquired by habit. A person might initially act in a virtuous or good way. This action will result in an inner reward where the person feels happiness because they have acted in the best way possible. This inner reward then motivates the individual to act in a good way again. By repeating this process, people learn to live a good life. This view of the good life creates the link between living a good life and the inner thought processes. This view of the good life also links to the idea of people fulfilling their purposes. Since the purpose of people is linked to reason and inner processes, it makes sense that living a good life is determined by how a person feels. The idea that happiness is a measure of whether a person lives a good life is also relevant, because it is what motivates a person to continue to live a good life. At the same time, as long as a person continues to live a good life, they also increase their levels of happiness. This explains how living a good life becomes a habit and also explains how happiness continues to grow.

One of the important points about Aristotle's argument is that it includes the idea that people are neither good nor bad to begin with. According to Aristotle, people have to learn to be good, with this occurring via the process of acquiring a habit of being good. According to Aristotle, the habit will eventually become strong enough that people will live a good life naturally. However, even though the actions are now good, this does not mean that the person has become inherently good. In fact, Aristotle also argues that the soul is not even capable of being impacted by reason, and therefore cannot be either good or bad. However, the soul can be impacted by emotion and feeling. It is the emotion and feeling that accompanies being good that makes an individual learn the habit of being good. In this way, a person lives the good life even though this does not mean that have become a good person. This concludes the consideration of the ideas of Aristotle. The ideas of Plato will now be considered.

Plato's ideas on the good life share many similarities with Aristotle. This includes that Plato also believed that the good life occurs when a person is fulfilling their function and that a person's function is based on the special task that they have. However, Plato went further than considering the person as a whole and focused specifically on the soul. According to Plato, the purpose of the soul is to live justly, and the end result is that the soul has virtue. Plato also agreed with Aristotle's ideas about people ultimately seeking happiness. However, he added to this by stating that only a morally good person is capable of achieving happiness. One of the main points that differs significantly from Aristotle's view is that Plato considers the soul as having virtue. In contrast, Aristotle did not believe that the soul could be impacted by reason, and therefore could not have virtue. Plato did not agree with this point and argued that the soul does have virtue and that living a good life gives the soul virtue.