This essay examines Aristotle's interrelated concepts of happiness and virtue as presented in the Nicomachean Ethics. Drawing on introductory scholarship by Browne and Smith, the paper outlines Aristotle's argument that happiness is the ultimate purpose of all human action and that virtue — developed through knowledge, habit, and deliberate practice — is the primary vehicle for achieving it. The essay also distinguishes among Aristotle's four paradigms of happiness (vulgar, active, contemplative, and money-getting) and evaluates how well his ethical framework maps onto contemporary society, noting both enduring parallels and significant divergences shaped by modernity, individualism, and technological change.
Aristotle's ideals of happiness and virtue have been drawn to a large extent from his mentor and teacher, Plato. The context of his ideas rests on two foundations. First, ethics and politics are closely intertwined, together forming the concept of Political Science. Second, virtue, according to Aristotle, is an innate human quality that can be enhanced and developed through practice. Since it is innately human to be virtuous, this quality is also closely associated with what Aristotle views as the ultimate good: to be happy.
According to Aristotle, happiness is the purpose of all action (Smith viii). This purpose is understood within the social and political context of his time. Happiness, therefore, is a collective effort of both individual and state, rather than of the individual alone. While the ideal of happiness is to a large extent personal, the state plays a prominent role in making that happiness possible.
To emphasize the importance of happiness as the ultimate human pursuit, Aristotle addresses this concept first. Virtue, while laudable, is the vehicle by which ultimate happiness is attained. Happiness is then divided into various paradigms according to which human beings live their lives. Aristotle identifies happiness as adhering to four views: vulgar, active, contemplative, and money-getting. He proceeds to demonstrate that the vulgar, active, and money-getting conceptions of happiness are inferior to the contemplative, in which virtue and knowledge play a prominent role. His treatise is also aimed at the intellectually engaged reader with a general education and a foundation of good habits — precisely the kind of person who would derive the maximum benefit from Aristotle's words (Smith xi).
Aristotle further argues that, by whatever means happiness is sought, it is sought for its own sake alone and is thus completely self-sufficient. This is the reason for his earlier claim that happiness is the ultimate purpose of everything. However, the path to happiness can be wrongly chosen. A person who pursues money in order to attain happiness, for example, will not succeed as well as one who seeks happiness through virtue.
The basis of this claim also lies in Aristotle's view of human nature. A human being has an innate capacity for virtue. He explains vice by emphasizing that the seed of virtue is always present, but it must be consciously nurtured and cultivated. If vice is pursued instead, it — rather than virtue — will grow and mature. Aristotle places virtue in two categories: the first is intellectual, and the second is moral. The pursuit of virtue on an intellectual level leads to the growth of morality and the eventual attainment of happiness (Browne xviii).
The pursuit of happiness and the growth of virtue as a vehicle toward such happiness thus require effort, or what Aristotle refers to as "energizing." This is the principle according to which virtue must be actively pursued in order to attain the highest degree of happiness. It is therefore possible to attain this degree of happiness — otherwise, according to Aristotle, its pursuit would be pointless. It is thus reassuring that every person possesses an innate sense of virtue.
"Three prerequisites for genuine moral action"
"Parallels and divergences in modern life"
In conclusion, Aristotle's concepts of happiness and virtue share more similarities than differences with contemporary understandings of the good life. The basic belief that all human beings carry a seed of good within them, and that happiness lies in helping rather than harming others, represents the key parallel that can be drawn across the centuries. While the state plays a less collective role in the individual pursuit of happiness today, it is equally clear that the nature of a country's government can greatly hinder individual happiness. The modern world also appears more materialistic than it was in Aristotle's time; on the other hand, there is a notable revival of spirituality and a widespread ethos of basic human caring. When all of this is taken into account, it becomes clear that Aristotle's ethics can still be studied profitably in today's schools and institutions.
Browne, R.W. Introduction to The Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle. London: Bell & Daldy, 1867.
Smith, J.A. Introduction to The Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle. Trans. D.P. Chase. London: Everyman's Library, 1947.
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