In Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle discusses what he believes is the ultimate telos, or end goal, for humans. For every human, Aristotle believed that the fullest function of their abilities was to be happy. To Aristotle though, happiness is not subjective to individual people, as such, a human only reaches their telos when they are doing happy things with excellence and virtue. Does our modern culture actually fulfill their telos though, or we just concerned with the temporary “happiness” of drugs, sex, and money? In our modern world, Aristotle’s teleology has been vastly ignored for most modern people, and, subsequently, human beings have become more concerned with vices instead of virtue.
To begin with, in Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle discusses the ultimate good that he believes humans should focus on. Aristotle furthers his teleology by demonstrating the functional explanation of mankind’s good. He acknowledges that there are different types of good that each person seeks, for example, a doctor seeks the best he can in medicine and health, while a teacher might seek the best in learning and knowledge. Aristotle argues that all of these ends are not final though, only the chief good, or happiness, is the final goal put in place by the prime mover, or God. Happiness is final and self- sufficient, Aristotle says, and has a function for …show more content…
This end goal he called telos, and when one chooses to live according to their telos, Aristotle firmly believed that they would find unchanging joy in their lives. Modern humans though have walked away from their own telos and have turned to vices like drinking, sex, and smoking to fulfill them when these things can never fulfill them. Only doing one’s work with excellence and living with virtue will enable one to find their true telos in
To begin with, in Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle discusses the ultimate good that he believes humans should focus on. Aristotle furthers his teleology by demonstrating the functional explanation of mankind’s good. He acknowledges that there are different types of good that each person seeks, for example, a doctor seeks the best he can in medicine and health, while a teacher might seek the best in learning and knowledge. Aristotle argues that all of these ends are not final though, only the chief good, or happiness, is the final goal put in place by the prime mover, or God. Happiness is final and self- sufficient, Aristotle says, and has a function for …show more content…
This end goal he called telos, and when one chooses to live according to their telos, Aristotle firmly believed that they would find unchanging joy in their lives. Modern humans though have walked away from their own telos and have turned to vices like drinking, sex, and smoking to fulfill them when these things can never fulfill them. Only doing one’s work with excellence and living with virtue will enable one to find their true telos in