Aristotle on Nobility and Pleasure :: essays research papers

The lovers of what is noble find pleasurable the things that are by record pleasant and virtuous bodily functions are such Their life, therefore, has no further fill of cheer as a sort of adventitious charm, but has pleasure in itself.Ethics, I.8Aristotle was a student under Plato, and although he did not think in the metaphysical Forms that Plato so firmly believed in, he did apply an fraction of the theory behind the Forms. Instead, what Aristotle postulated was that there was some ultimate, some final ending to which we all reach, but instead of being some unattainable goal, it was really simple cheer. Happiness whileifests itself in all of our actions, whether its a conscious process or not, but when we are truly happy is when we do things that are virtuous and honorable. And instead of being some latent dower of another goal, Aristotle stated that happiness was the goal, that there was no higher salmagundi to achieve beyond.In chapter s blush of Book One, Aristotl e is almost vague as he tries and defines what happiness is, and more importantly, why happiness is crucial to the homosexual function, and in fact states that nor should we demand to know a casual rendering in all matters alike (1098b). Comparing it to simple truths that are a priori, like when dealing with fundamental principles, he admits that it cannot be defined so easily nor so quickly. He then struggles, in chapter eight, to define happiness. It is, tally to him, a kind of good life and well-being virtue precludes action as well as thought. It is also synonymous with virtue even though virtuous acts are, in general, not pleasant by character men who love what is noble derive pleasure from what is naturally pleasant (1099a).Aristotle also makes a clear separation of happiness that is god-given makarios and a happiness that is produced through human effort and virtue, eudaimon.But it seems as if there is an inhering flaw in his outlook for those who are not blesses with makarios and lack the means (political connections, wealth, stature, et cetera) to carry out an action that would make someone happy. In chapter ten, he even goes so far as to ask if a man could truly be called happy in his lifetime, because many changes and all kinds of contingencies depart befall a man in the course of his life.