Aristotle happiness
The introduction part of this paper is about definition of happiness and eudaimonia according to Aristotle and the body of the paper is an argument in support or against whether Aristotle arguments have been supportive or failed to satisfy human way of life. Aristotle is a philosopher who argues that human beings have a complicated way of life and they have set goals that must be fulfilled. It is true that a human being wants to have money to use for purchasing basic commodities and the surplus is used to lead a luxurious life. For human being to be happy he or she must do something that will make him famous, look good and to be educated. These are some aspects that a human being wants to do. However, there is a final goal that Aristotle argues a human being must observe in order to be happy. This goal is what Aristotle refers to as eudaimonia a phrase which was traditionally mistaken for happiness. Aristotle argues that the word Eudaimonia has a deeper meaning than happiness and it means objective success or well living.
Eudaimonia consists of a well life lived from material satisfaction to moral, physical, psychological well being of an individual. Fulfillment of these elements means that a person is successful in life to his or her family and descendants. This is one of the major goals in the life of an individual and a successful person must put into practice such aspects. According to Aristotle, eudaimonia is achieved through observation of moral laws and doing what is right at the right time and place. A person becomes very happy when he or she fulfills moral values as is required by life. Humans need not to seek for eudaimonia but it is only a goal attained in life when one does things in the right manner(Gurtler, 480). Observation of lives requirements such as obeying legal laws and following ones conscience will lead to fulfillment of self desire thus a person becomes happy. Happiness is only observed in the life of a person who has strived towards achievement of certain set goals such as accumulation of wealth, fame and good education. It only comes when one arranges his or her priorities according to priorities and works towards achievement of the goals. This may not happen to those who do not value the importance of setting priorities and working towards the success of set goals.
Failure of Aristotle concepts about eudaimonia
Aristotle argues that the concept of eudemonia cannot work alone to support the efficiency of human behavior. For one to have well living he or she must combine various aspects as are required by law. Every individual has specific function to fulfill and failure to work to the fulfillment of such function will mean unhappy life. Some areas such as poor results, wastage of time, failure to observe moral obligations and going against ones conscience will result to unhappy live. Aristotle argues human soul is a very important element in ones life. Human being acts as per the requirement of his or her soul and failure to follow what the soul wants has led to failure in individuals life. Human beings have high expectations for better life that they hope will come automatically but they fail to understand that hard work and observation of moral and legal laws is the key to successful happy live. The poor are not poor because they wanted to be poor but failing to observe common elements of life has led many to this situation.
Arguments of Aristotle have failed to enlighten individuals on the common basics of life. This is because it says that observation of various virtues of life will lead to happy life but it does not explain on how to put these elements into practice. Those who are not happy have been trying these practices but it does not work properly. The satisfaction of human physical body is considered as the most important thing in ones life and there is need for individual fulfillment of personal desire(Gurtler, 484). Accumulation of wealth is another area which Aristotle considers as a way of satisfying humans but the means and ways of accumulating wealth leads to unhappiness. For instance a person may decide to steal so as to get enough money as a way of accumulating wealth but this will lead to his or her conviction. This eventually makes a person unhappy and Aristotle arguments at the end fail to bring out clearly the concept of eudemonia.
Success of Aristotle on eudaimonia
Aristotle arguments about happiness have been applied successfully by some individuals for self benefit. Those individuals who are happy in life had already set goals. Working hard towards achievement of these goals has led to success in ones individual life. Striving is the word commonly used by Aristotle and those who have tried to strive have something to be proud of. In real life the rich are happy because they have worked hard to accumulate wealth which they use in doing various activities and at the end of time they have every thing they need within their vicinity(Gurtler, 488). A happy person has no stress and he or she implements laid down plans efficiently.
Aristotle believes in the virtue of action and hard work for successful and happy life. Those who follow these sentiments have a successful life and are ever happy. Belonging to a social group of ones status will also lead to a happy life because there is exchange of ideas on how to lead a good life.
In conclusion, the paper has argued on the positive and negative side of Aristotle arguments and it is important for an individual to follow ones conscience so as to be happy. Individuals should live well for them to be happy and work hard towards achievement of ones goals.
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