Aristotle and Plato on the Good Life: A Comparative Analysis

Introduction

Many philosophers have considered the nature of a good human life. Aristotle is one of the most influential among them. The following analysis describes Aristotle's account of the good human life and shows how he arrived at his ideas. To critically examine those ideas, Plato's account of the good human life is also presented and compared with Aristotle's. Through this comparison, several weaknesses in Aristotle's framework become clearly apparent.

Aristotle's Account of the Good Life

Aristotle defines a good person as someone who successfully fulfills his or her function. He also notes that by fulfilling one's function, a person simultaneously fulfills themselves. This is based on Aristotle's broader view that living a good life means striving to achieve the most that one is capable of. According to Aristotle, this striving is what produces a sense of well-being and constitutes genuine success. Importantly, this does not depend on how successful a person appears to others; it depends entirely on whether the person considers that they have achieved the most they are capable of achieving. Under this view, the good life is not measured in concrete external terms. A person is not considered to be living well simply because they have acquired a certain amount of money, fame, friendship, knowledge, or respect. Instead, a person lives well if they have gained the most that their individual capacities allow. Living a good life is therefore a deeply individual process, and the measure of success depends on how a person evaluates themselves.

Another key aspect of Aristotle's view rests on his belief 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 — plants and animals. From this comparison, he identified that the ability to reason is what sets human beings apart from all other living things. This observation led him to conclude that the purpose of human beings must be to reason. Such a view places the focus of a good human life on inner thought processes, and it leads naturally to the position that an individual's inner perceptions are the ultimate measure of that person's life.

Happiness, Virtue, and Habit in Aristotle

Aristotle further considered the state of mind that determines inner success — specifically, what ultimate state of mind people are seeking. He concluded that happiness is the ultimate aim. However, he was careful to distinguish happiness from joy or pleasure, since both joy and pleasure are short-term. Happiness, by contrast, is a long-lasting sense of well-being that cannot be quickly created but must be slowly built. This links directly to the idea of fulfilling one's function and striving to achieve one's potential. Happiness is not something people actively seek as an end in itself; rather, it is the end result that emerges when people do achieve the most they are capable of. A genuine sense of happiness can only arise when people feel they have reached their potential. An individual's state of happiness thus serves as a measure of how well they are fulfilling their potential and whether they are living a good life. This concept is closely related to what Aristotle called eudaimonia — a flourishing or well-lived life rather than a merely pleasant one.

Aristotle also maintained that a good life is not purely a matter of inner thought. There must be a link between thoughts and actions. He established this link by examining how people determine their actions and the inner thought processes that accompany them, focusing particularly on moral virtues. Aristotle believed that people choose good actions because doing so helps them achieve inner happiness. He also believed that choosing good actions is something acquired through habit. A person might initially act in a virtuous way; this action produces an inner reward — a feeling of happiness arising from having acted in the best way possible. That inner reward then motivates the individual to act well again. By repeating this process, people learn to live a good life. This account of habit also connects to the idea of fulfilling one's purpose: since the purpose of human beings is tied to reason and inner processes, it follows that a good life is determined by how a person feels about their own conduct. Happiness motivates the continued pursuit of the good life, and as long as a person continues to live well, happiness continues to grow.