FIRST PHILOSOPHY PAPER ON ARISTOTLE’S ETHICS
ALEX FEIGHERY
PHILOSOPHY 201-13, FALL 2017
1 NOVEMBER 2017
The Nicomachean Ethics is a book that is considered to be the philosopher Aristotle’s best-known. The Ethics details Aristotle’s thoughts on essentially how one should be a human and how one should achieve happiness. This paper will focus on a specific argument of Aristotle’s Ethics. This argument is expressed in Chapter 7 of his first Book, being that of “man’s function.” Using the preceding chapters from Book I, this paper will focus on determining why the argument of man’s function is so important to Aristotle, and what he feels he will achieve from discovering it. To reach this conclusion, it is vital to first understand …show more content…
The telos is something that is specific to man and nature. Telos is something that all natural things have. For instance, things that are manmade and artificial do not have a telos. Therefore, Aristotle points out that all of man’s choices in some way support that there must be something that we base our choices off of and aim towards to fulfill our telos. This target for our choices is known as the chief good. Without a telos, our choices would be infinite and unrewarding, giving humans no reason to begin to act due to the lack of meaningful return for our actions. However, because the telos exists, a chief good is necessary, for it is the end. Without a chief good, Aristotle explains, all of man’s choices would be in vain. Man seeks the chief good to bring us closer to our perfected …show more content…
Aristotle sees this as a rough sketch on happiness and life, and it’s clear to see why he was looking so hard for man’s function: because it contained the outline of what you should do in order to be happy.
Although he didn’t necessarily answer this, because each individual’s function is unique and would have to search themselves to find what they’re good at and develop the correct morality and reasoning to make their actions virtuous, it truly is a great spot to start. Moreover, by at least knowing the bare minimum about man’s function, Aristotle is not only able to move closer to his personal end, but he feels that he may be able to achieve something much greater: the absolute meaning of life.
The first book of The Nicomachean Ethics by the philosopher Aristotle discusses how one should not only live, but find the means to enter a state of maturity and perfection through man’s personal, unique function and achieve the chief good at happiness. With 9 additional books in the Ethics detailing how to essentially be a human, the topic of happiness is sure to be revisited and grow extensively more complicated. After all, the first book’s job is to really only begin his investigation into what makes a good
ALEX FEIGHERY
PHILOSOPHY 201-13, FALL 2017
1 NOVEMBER 2017
The Nicomachean Ethics is a book that is considered to be the philosopher Aristotle’s best-known. The Ethics details Aristotle’s thoughts on essentially how one should be a human and how one should achieve happiness. This paper will focus on a specific argument of Aristotle’s Ethics. This argument is expressed in Chapter 7 of his first Book, being that of “man’s function.” Using the preceding chapters from Book I, this paper will focus on determining why the argument of man’s function is so important to Aristotle, and what he feels he will achieve from discovering it. To reach this conclusion, it is vital to first understand …show more content…
The telos is something that is specific to man and nature. Telos is something that all natural things have. For instance, things that are manmade and artificial do not have a telos. Therefore, Aristotle points out that all of man’s choices in some way support that there must be something that we base our choices off of and aim towards to fulfill our telos. This target for our choices is known as the chief good. Without a telos, our choices would be infinite and unrewarding, giving humans no reason to begin to act due to the lack of meaningful return for our actions. However, because the telos exists, a chief good is necessary, for it is the end. Without a chief good, Aristotle explains, all of man’s choices would be in vain. Man seeks the chief good to bring us closer to our perfected …show more content…
Aristotle sees this as a rough sketch on happiness and life, and it’s clear to see why he was looking so hard for man’s function: because it contained the outline of what you should do in order to be happy.
Although he didn’t necessarily answer this, because each individual’s function is unique and would have to search themselves to find what they’re good at and develop the correct morality and reasoning to make their actions virtuous, it truly is a great spot to start. Moreover, by at least knowing the bare minimum about man’s function, Aristotle is not only able to move closer to his personal end, but he feels that he may be able to achieve something much greater: the absolute meaning of life.
The first book of The Nicomachean Ethics by the philosopher Aristotle discusses how one should not only live, but find the means to enter a state of maturity and perfection through man’s personal, unique function and achieve the chief good at happiness. With 9 additional books in the Ethics detailing how to essentially be a human, the topic of happiness is sure to be revisited and grow extensively more complicated. After all, the first book’s job is to really only begin his investigation into what makes a good