Nicomachean Ethics

According to Aristotle, persuaders use proof to persuade audiences. There are two categories of proof which is artistic and inartistic. Inartistic proof is controlled by the situation and simply used by the persuader while artistic proof is proof that is created or invented by the persuader. There are three types of artistic proof which are ethos, pathos and logos. Ethos is about the persuader’s credibility and is composed of three qualities: practical wisdom, virtue and goodwill. Logos is a…

2.1 Life Is Good Not life, but good life, is to be chiefly valued. – Socrates (469 BC – 399 BC), the classical Greek philosopher. Life is good. It has been and it will be. Don't let anyone fool you it's not. Life, for and itself is good; and furthermore, you choose a good life. Choose to feel good not bad -- it’s a choice. When you feel good the world feels good with you. Life is beautiful. Don’t ever ignore the ‘feel good’ factor. Everyone is responsible for their share of joy. Feeling good…

through habit. Habit refers to, learning by doing – ‘Anything that we have to learn to do we learn by the actual doing of it… We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate ones, brave by doing brave ones.’ (Aristotle Niconachean Ethics, Book II, p.91). Aristotle believed human nature, habit, and reason to all be equally important forces that must be polished in education. Unlike Socrates who placed emphasis on questioning his listeners to bring out their own ideas in the…

Most would argue that there is such a thing as having or doing too little or too much of one thing. Unbeknownst to the majority of these people, they have adopted Aristotle’s philosophy, specifically that of the principle of the mean. The mean is the average between two extreme vices (Soccio 178-182). Aristotle sees a morally virtuous life as one of moderation and habit. This philosophical idea can apply to people from all walks of life and it would benefit many today to put this idea into…

Aristotle once said “Each man judges well the things that he knows, and of these he is the best judge. Thus the man who had been educated in a certain area is the best judge in that area, while the man who has a general education is a good judge in general.” The quote states how an individual is able to effectively judge the things that they know the best. Someone who has been educated in a certain area is the best judge for that area. The nature of the quote is taking what you know to make a…

EUDAIMONIA: Happiness In Ancient Greece “The ultimate end of human acts is Eudaimonia, happiness in the sense of living well, which all men desire; all acts are but different means chosen to arrive at it.” – Hannah Arendt When you hear someone say they want to be happy, what do they mean? Rather than the colloquial use of the word, true happiness is regarded as something much higher and respected universally as one of the few goals in life we should strive for. This desire for self-satisfaction…

What is happiness? According to Dictionary.com, happiness is defined as, “the state of being happy”. That brings the immediate follow up question, what does happy mean. Once again, according to Dictionary.com, the word happy is defined as, “delighted, pleased, or glad over a particular thing; it is characterized by or indicative of pleasure, contentment, or joy; favored by fortune; fortunate or lucky.” While one first looks at this question it may seem simple enough to figure out what exactly…

BOOK ASSIGNMENT 1: HEDONISM 1 Book Assignment 1: Hedonism Dwight Ong AG 401.07 Dr. Nancy Merlino September 30, 2017 BOOK ASSIGNMENT 1: HEDONISM 2 Happiness can be found through things that have intrinsic value and instrumental value. Things have intrinsic value when they are good in its own right even if it is self-contained and does not bring anything out (Shafer-Landau, 2015). An example of something that is intrinsically valuable would be love and happiness. According to Shafer-Landau (2015)…

The idea of an “ideal life” fluctuates depending on the person. Personally, an ideal life to me is simply being happy with everything that I decide to do. According to a study, most young adolescents, that were asked, said their life goals were “having supportive and caring relationships, having material comforts, helping others, doing things that make them happy, and achieving personal goals” (Bronk). As was previously stated, each person on this earth can have a different meaning of the “ideal…

“Every art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and pursuit, is thought to aim at some good” (Aristotle, 350 BC). Aristotle believes that all activities within these areas strive to attain what we see as good. Our actions as humans are not random or purposeless; we do everything with the rational decision to pursue and achieve happiness and virtue. We strive for the supreme good and are rational enough to seek appropriate resources to attain our goals. Aristotle says that what separates…