Aristotle Virtue Is The Highest Good For Man Essay

Great Essays
Malik Reyna-Mclemore
Paper Two; Aristotle’s Virtue as the highest good for man
Phil 2310: Meaning of Life
Professor LaMendola
Fall 2017
Virtue as the Highest Good for Man
Explain Aristotle’s argument for the exercise of virtue as the highest good for man. Finally, and from your argument, explain whether Aristotle presents us with a compelling framework for happiness and meaning. Give examples.
Aristotle’s purpose of the Nicomachean Ethics is to recognize the highest good for man and how we ought to live in aim of this good. In Fact, I sure that more than 90% of the world believe that the highest good for man is the allegations of wealth, honor, or sexual satisfaction. Aristotle claims that all of these goods are insufficient to the pursuit
…show more content…
We must realize that the laws that are set are for the good of man in order to understand that doing what is right in time becomes a habit and in harmony with these kinds of good behaviors. Correspondingly, the legislator who creates these laws must possess the intellectual virtue of Phronesis; the Greek word for a type of wisdom or intelligence, A virtue of practical reasoning. This can be connected to the understanding of virtuous and vicious behavior in knowing how to direct people to do what is …show more content…
Ross, and Lesley Brown. “The Nicomachean Ethics”. Book 2. Chapter
1. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print.
Kraut, Richard, "Aristotle's Ethics", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
(Summer 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = (-- removed HTML --) .
Moschella, Melissa. "Aristotle: Nicomachean Ethics Summary". GradeSaver,
3 February 2000 Web. 27 October 2017.
Hursthouse, Rosalind and Pettigrove, Glen, "Virtue Ethics", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2016 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = (-- removed HTML --) .
Aristotle, W D. Ross, and Lesley Brown. “The Nicomachean Ethics”. Book 2. Chapter
5. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print.
Schroeder, Tim, "Desire", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
(Summer 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = (-- removed HTML --) . Homiak, Marcia, "Moral Character", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
(Fall 2016 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = (-- removed HTML --)

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Aristotle decided to take on the subject of the good in his Nicomachean Ethics. Aristotle argues that every person must make a choice to act good. Within his ideas of the good it is imperative that men take responsibility for their own actions and that they understand what their own intentions are doing in relation to the good. However, there are some oppositions that believe this is not the case. They would argue that men have no control over how something appears to them or how they perceive it, and that for every man the final end/good/happiness looks differently.…

    • 1319 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    To conclude, Aristotle is a strong believer that in order to live a truly good life, a virtuous person is someone who performs the distinctive activity of being a human. Rationality is our unique activity, that is, the activity that characterizes us differently from animals. Since our rationality is our distinctive activity, its exercise is the supreme good. Moral virtue is simply a matter of performing well in the function of being human. In order to be virtuous, the end of human life could be called happiness (or living well).…

    • 185 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The book defines virtues as “good character traits that persons can have” (24.) In my opinion, just because a person does not sponsor a child in another country does NOT mean that the person lacks virtues. There are many virtues, not only the giving one. There is honesty, loyalty, kindness, compassion, etc. My family doesn’t donate money or sponsor a child in a foreign country, but we value honesty, love, and kindness which are all examples of virtues.…

    • 226 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    To Aristotle, character is defined by what outcomes or results use desire, the different types of actions we are enjoined to or prohibited from taking, and the habits we may be advised to cultivate within ourselves. For instance, we may feel obligated to pursue a life of duty through some sort of service, or we may feel concern for the public. The Greek ethical proposes, “What is good for man?”. Aristotle believes that ‘eudaimonia’, or happiness, is good for man.…

    • 132 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Apology In the Apology, Socrates intent at his trial was not to prove his innocence, but to unveil philosophical truths to the citizens of Athens, as well as exposing the true motives of his confronters. Socrates is known as one of the most influential philosophers of all time, but he never actually wrote any of his thoughts down on paper. Most of what we know about him comes from the writings of Plato, who was one of his students/followers. And attended the trail. Plato s Apology is the principal text on which Kierke-gaard relies in arguing for the idea that Socrates is fundamentally an ironist.…

    • 2079 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    31). According to the philosopher, virtue is a ‘characteristic’ rather than as opposed to a ‘passion’ or ‘capacity’. This characteristic is determined by an individual’s choice. These choices must be determined in mean of wisdom and rationale, which is the implication in which it is labeled a virtue. In justification, an individual is permitted to act in accordance to a particular virtue that is most appropriate for the circumstances.…

    • 848 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Let us start off by examining the question of “What is the highest good that people aim at?” According to Aristotle, “every art and every inquiry, and likewise every action and choice, seems to aim at some good” (1). However, at first there may seem to be many answers since it would depend on the activity. For instance, “of medical knowledge the end is health, of shipbuilding skill it is a boat, of strategic art it is victory” (1), and so on. Nonetheless, Aristotle points to a higher end, one which would be common to all good.…

    • 1649 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Kant's Moral Explanations

    • 2003 Words
    • 9 Pages

    a person’s standards of behavior or beliefs concerning what is and is not acceptable for them to do. This essay intends point out the relevant aspects of moral theologians, Kant, Mill, Aristotle and Held and to answer the question of the best suited approach in resolving ethical problems and dilemmas. Kant I have found that Kant’s theory is the most complicated and confusing of the four. It was only made somewhat clear by the explanation in O’Neill’s reading.…

    • 2003 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The ethical theories of both Aristotle and Epictetus, laid out in their books the Nicomachean Ethics and the Enchiridion, respectively, offer humanity insight into the most effective ways to achieve happiness and to exhibit virtue. Aristotle’s approach to happiness is that it must be looked at as the end to a means not as a means to an end. He feels that happiness should be viewed as the highest good within life. Although Epictetus agrees that happiness is the highest attainable good, he believes that the source of humanity’s misery is people’s inability to differentiate between what they can control and what they cannot. While both philosopher’s theories emphasize the importance of happiness and virtue in a person’s life, Epictetus’ view…

    • 1309 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Rachels believes some virtues will be needed by all people at all time: courage, generosity, benevolence, self-discipline, and loyalty. As Aristotle, virtues are valuable in that the virtuous person will fare better in life. Virtue Ethics is incomplete so we regard it as part of our total theory of ethics. Lastly, in chapter thirteen, Rachels presents her idea of what a satisfactory moral theory would be like. It should be sensitive to how human beings fit in the grand scheme of things and must include: the virtues, the motives, and a strategy about when to consider making…

    • 1430 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Every art and every inquiry, and likewise every action and choice, seems to aim at some good, and hence it has been beautifully said that the good is that at which all things aim.” As Aristotle makes inquires and deliberates over what is the highest end for the human life, he debates over what constitutes the highest good. Throughout the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle argues that we aim at some end through our pursuits of action, and that those ends are in some way connected at achieving the highest good. Aristotle suggests the possibility of happiness, translated from the Greek word eudaimonia, which refers to a “state of having a good indwelling spirit or being in a contented state of being healthy, happy and prosperous.” For the one who…

    • 1453 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    1. What, according to Aristotle, is the relationship between happiness and virtue? Working to possess and exercise virtue is essential to achieve the highest degree of happiness. Virtuousness is a unique element of happiness in the sense that we can work to control it through our own habituation. This can be compared to the plethora of components that our disposition creates a predetermined outcome for, including the external and physical goods we desire. Aristotle expands on this idea, stating that when happiness, “...comes as a result of virtue and some process of learning or training, [it is] among the most god-like things; for that which is the prize and end of virtue seems to be the best thing in the world, and something godlike and blessed” (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, 947).…

    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Introduction Throughout the history of man the question has always come into play regarding how one should behave or conduct themselves during the course of their lives. As a result of this arduous quest, for centuries, several theories have made their way into the hearts and minds of men. Ethics or Moral Philosophy addresses these concerns. The focus of this paper as it relates to ethics will be The Theory of Virtue Ethics.…

    • 1420 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Contrasting Plato’s theory of Dualism , Aristotle explains that the body and mind are one thing that cannot be separated. Aristotle claims that motion is eternal. Introducing us the idea of happiness, Aristotle questions what we do to make our life good or something that makes us be alive. He states that the psyche or soul part of our life like happiness consists a good life for humans.…

    • 797 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    I will be comparing and contrasting Aristotle’s and the Stoics’ view of human happiness, and using these theories and views, examining if bodily and external goods are necessary to happiness, and to be able to back up why it either is or is not necessary. The two had many similarities, and differences that can be expanded. The Stoics believed our happiness was based off one thing entirely, and that is virtues. Aristotle breaks down how happiness is the highest possible good.…

    • 2002 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Superior Essays