Aristotles Ethics

Aristotle's Ethics

Aristotle was an ancient Greek philosopher educated by Plato in Athens during the golden age of Greek Civilization. He would later become a renowned teacher himself. Many of his works, in fact, are actually lecture notes written by his students. It was said that he knew everything there was to know in the world at the time. He wrote extensively on practically every field of study known to man at the time. He wrote with such expertise and logic in each field, most considered these fields of study settled and there were no serious inquires in such areas for over 2,00 years, during the Enlightenment.

During those 2,000 years, Aristotle's works were considered as good as fact and they were and still are hugely influential in Western Civilization. This is why it is important to study Aristotle. He is arguably the most influential philosopher ever. It is important to understand Aristotle's Ethics because it is from Aristotle which our society takes its notions of what is "good "and what is not "good." Aristotle defined ethics as how people should best live. In all of our actions, we are all, in a sense, striving the ideal set forth in the Ethics. Thus, if success in life is about imitating Aristotle's ideal, we should actually know what it we are imitating and why.

Ethics

In Ethics, Aristotle is concerned with the question of what is good. He thinks this question is important because every choice and action humans take is aimed at some good. (Ethics, Book 1). Aristotle defined happiness as the ultimate good. Thus, the question "what is the good life?" is asking "how do we achieve happiness?"

Can we have the good life by seeking public recognition and renown? No, because happiness in this life, the "life of honor," depends on something else: the opinions of others. (Book)

Can we have the good life by seeking pleasure? No, because happiness in this life, the "life of pleasure," depends on something else: pleasure.

These types of life cannot achieve our ultimate end, happiness, because they require us to seek something outside ourselves as a means to achieve our true, ultimate end, which is happiness. We do not seek honor because it is valuable in itself, we seek honor to make us feel good, to achieve happiness. Aristotle believed that a true, ultimate must be sought for its own sake, that the end goal be self-sufficient and final.

For Aristotle, the good life is the "life of contemplation." Contemplation, the activity of the intellect, is loved for its own sake. It is not done in order to achieve something else. Thus, it is a true, ultimate end. Furthermore, contemplation, being an activity of the mind, is self-sufficient, meaning it does not require other people or places for its existence.

Contemplation, the activity of the intellect, is the highest form of activity because it corresponds to the best part of the soul, the rational part. The rational part of the soul is superior to the irrational part. The rational part of the soul

There are two kinds of virtue, intellectual virtue and moral virtue. The soul has two parts, one rational, the other irrational. The rational part is concerned with intellectual virtue, which is created by teaching. The irrational part produces moral virtue, which is created by habit.