What is the highest good according to Aristotle explain?

For Aristotle, eudaimonia is the highest human good, the only human good that is desirable for its own sake (as an end in itself) rather than for the sake of something else (as a means toward some other end).

What is the highest form of happiness according to Aristotle?

Aristotle concludes the Ethics with a discussion of the highest form of happiness: a life of intellectual contemplation. Since reason is what separates humanity from animals, its exercise leads man to the highest virtue.

What did Aristotle believe about happiness?

According to Aristotle, happiness consists in achieving, through the course of a whole lifetime, all the goods — health, wealth, knowledge, friends, etc. — that lead to the perfection of human nature and to the enrichment of human life. This requires us to make choices, some of which may be very difficult.

How does Aristotle acquire happiness?

The Pursuit of Happiness as the Exercise of Virtue. According to Aristotle, happiness consists in achieving, through the course of a whole lifetime, all the goods — health, wealth, knowledge, friends, etc. — that lead to the perfection of human nature and to the enrichment of human life.

How would Aristotle describe the good?

Aristotle defines the supreme good as an activity of the rational soul in accordance with virtue. Virtue for the Greeks is equivalent to excellence. Aristotle defines moral virtue as a disposition to behave in the right manner and as a mean between extremes of deficiency and excess, which are vices.

What are two aspects of happiness according to Aristotle?

Virtue ethics can be broken into two parts: eudaimonia (the highest good a human can achieve), and the actual virtues (arête) with which we attain eudaimonia. In book one of The Nicomacheon Ethics, Aristotle talks about how happiness seems to be the ultimate goal towards which all of us are acting.

How does Aristotle define pleasure?

As Aristotle expresses it, pleasure is the natural accompaniment of unimpeded activity. Pleasure, as such, is neither good nor bad, but is something positive because the effect of pleasure perfects the exercise of that activity.

Why Aristotle does not consider honor as happiness?

He gives two reasons why honor cannot be the ultimate human good. First, honor depends on other people, and therefore it is not truly our own; it exists more in those who honor and not in those who are honored. Certainly our greatest good should be something that is our very own (oikeion ti) and not easily taken away.

What did Aristotle say about happiness?

Aristotle examined the behaviour of many people in everyday life. He noticed that some people had good lives and others had bad lives. Then he noticed that all these many people do different things to make themselves happy. But whatever they do, the end result they wish to achieve is always the same: namely happiness.

What is Aristotle’s definition of the highest good?

Furthermore, Aristotle later includes that the highest good must be acted upon because if one does not act to achieve any aim then they will never achieve it. In other words, the highest good is a solitary nucleus, which all other goods are acted upon for; for Aristotle this highest good is happiness or eudaimonia (which translates to living well).

Why is happiness the greatest good?

Happiness is the greatest good, because it is at the bottom of every pursuit in which we engage. No-one goes out looking for unhappiness. But this does not mean that we can be always and constantly happy. The pursuit of happiness may be accompanied sometimes by pain and disappointment, but we accept those mishaps for the greater good we strive for.

What is the concept of virtue for Aristotle?

The concept of virtue for Aristotle was anything that makes something good. The good is the result of what someone rationally aims for. If someone performs a job or a task that it is meant to be done and does it well, then it has good virtue.