Nicomachean Ethics

In The Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle did the most important study of personal morality and the various potential paths one can make in life. Through this essay I will discuss his conception of the highest good. What exactly is the “highest good”? Why does he think that the highest good exists? Why does he think that happiness—and not something else—is the highest good? How does he ultimately define happiness, and how is it related to moral virtue? Why do I think his point of view of happiness is…

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…

Throughout Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle expands on what are the requirements for people to be considered good, or virtuous. He explains how political science is the ultimate science, since it deals not only with individual good, but with a societal good, which involves leadership in the most significant manner. For him, being virtuous is a necessary component of good life, which is one that is lived well, and may be perceived as “happy.” For practical purposes, however, in a world where one…

In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle discusses human life and identifies happiness to be its ultimate goal. To achieve Eudaimonia, person has to be occupied by rational activity and at the same time, lead a virtuous life. Eudaimonia will be defined shortly and it should be noted that it will be used interchangeably with the word happiness. The ensuing paragraphs will explain Aristotle’s theory, followed by its discussion. The essay will identify ethical theory’s main strength and its weaknesses,…

Throughout the immortal work Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle profusely argues that Eudaimonia, happiness, is the ultimate good. This inspiring claim, which insists that the status quo is one where mankind is striving to attain the pinnacle of excellence through the utilization/ actions of virtues and righteousness, posit that human beings can live a more satisfying life by pondering, and eventually understanding, their surrounding world, and along with it, the purpose of their existence. This…

An Analytical Validation to Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics makes the claim that if there lie preliminary ambitions in an individual’s life then they exist as simple means to an ultimate and specific objective in order to serve a purpose for the individual’s life. Morality, virtue, and ethics are further examined to assert that the root of the underlying objective is something that can neither be disposed or deposed by another man; but that a man must find…

Aristotle argues, in his book Nicomachean Ethics, that the good every action, art, pursuit, and question leads to is ultimately happiness. This paper is going to detail Aristotle’s reasoning behind that claim. Then an argument will be made for the objection of one of Aristotle’s reasons that happiness is the end goal for humans. At the beginning, Aristotle first argues that there is an end to everything. There's an end to activities, subjects, actions, and more. That end is desired for its own…

In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle states that the ultimate goal for a human being is happiness and throughout his book, he provides a series of stepping stones that aid in the achievement of such goal. These stepping stones are what Aristotle calls ‘virtues’. He defines virtue as “a mean between two vices, one of excess and one of deficiency” (1107a). He provides many examples of virtues that shape the way for us to achieve that ultimate goal we all look for called ‘happiness’. Within the…

In Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle gives his viewpoints on what he believes happiness is, how one is able to achieve happiness, and why doing so is so difficult. One of Aristotle’s main concept is his comparison of virtue as a mean, with the vice of excess on one hand and the vice of deficiency on the other. I agree with Aristotle’s take, and I argue that, in my own experiences, to be truly happy one must pull away from material pleasures, but there has to be a balance in doing so. Too…

In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle argues that happiness is the ultimate good that we strive to attain. He begins by reasoning that either we desire each good for the sake of another, that is, every good is but means to achieve another good, or that we desire at least one good for its own sake and for this good alone we desire others. He refutes the first claim of the premise by stating that, ‘if we choose everything for the sake of something else”, consequently, “the result will lead to a…