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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 to some extent. This is why Aristotle still has so much influence in the Western world today. The pursuit of goals such as happiness, friendship, wealth and power remain as important human endeavors today. The problem is when an imbalance arises among the various lives; where virtue for example takes precedence over financial well-being or where money becomes the goal rather than the happiness it represents. In such cases, the application of Aristotle can bring balance back into view.
In conclusion, in Aristotle's account, some ends may be worth choosing for their own sakes and for the sake of happiness. Friends, honor, pleasure, and moral virtue may be worth choosing for two reasons: for their intrinsic value and for their contribution to happiness. Aristotle's ethics is eudaimonistic, meaning that every action is ultimately to be justified by reference to the person's own happiness. For Aristotle, anything that fulfills its essential
Reason vs Passion: Comparing Aristotle and Plato Introduction It must be well known among all students and scholars of philosophy that both Plato and Aristotle have a high regard for reason. But what is their view on passion? It might be surprising to learn that neither philosopher holds a negative view of passion in and of itself—what both do, however, point out is that passion should be subservient to reason. Passion that
Saint Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas lived and died between 1225-74. He was an Italian philosopher and theologian. He was the Doctor of the Church, also acknowledged as the Angelic Doctor. He is the supreme stature of scholasticism, one of the most important saints of the Roman Catholic Church, as well as, originator of the system acknowledged by Pope Leo XIII to be the legitimate Catholic philosophy (1). This article argues that Thomas
Please see "Stake Holder: The Taliban" for more information regarding virtue ethics. The farmers who are growing poppy plants have a logical stake in this moral dilemma as well. If their crops are destroyed they will have no alternative but to join the Taliban to help settle their debts. They are in a precarious position where they are often forced to grow poppies because they are a very lucrative and
Sergeant In Lady Gregory's The Rising of the Moon, the character of the Sergeant begins the action as an already transformed man. He was once loyal to his home country, Ireland. As he grew older, however, the lure of money and good living brought him to his profession of Sergeant and his loyalty to England. It is with the Sergeant in this position that the play begins. The central conflict
exist between alcoholism as a learned behavior (rather than as a condition arising from any genetic predisposition) and self-esteem. This research is based upon the assumption that there is a direct connection between self-esteem and learned behaviors: While a person's self-esteem may of course be affected by inherited conditions (such as a birth defect) it is much more likely to be affected by conditions that the person believes that