What Did Aristotle Believe People Should Use To Govern Their Lives?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

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Aristotle believed that moderation was based on reason, or clear and ordered thinking. He thought that people should use

reason

to govern their lives. In other words, people should think about their actions and how they will affect others.

What did Aristotle believe about well being?

Aristotle’s best insight, I believe, is that we should

think biologically about what is beneficial for living things

. Living well—living to one’s best advantage—is the flourishing of one’s inherent powers.

How did Aristotle say we should live?

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.

What are the three lives according to Aristotle?

Aristotle specifically mentions the

life of gratification (pleasure, comfort, etc), the life of money-making, the life of (political) action

, and the philosophical life, i.e., the life of contemplation or study.

What is a good life for Aristotle?

Aristotle argues that what separates human beings from the other animals is the human reason. So the good life is

one in which a person cultivates and exercises their rational faculties

by, for instance, engaging in scientific inquiry, philosophical discussion, artistic creation, or legislation.

What is the greatest good according to Aristotle?

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 is the aim of human life according to Aristotle?

To summarise from Pursuit of Happiness (2018), according to Aristotle, the purpose and ultimate goal in life is

to achieve eudaimonia (‘happiness’)

. He believed that eudaimonia was not simply virtue, nor pleasure, but rather it was the exercise of virtue.

How did Aristotle view virtue?

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. We learn moral virtue primarily through habit and practice rather than through reasoning and instruction.

What is a virtuous person according to Aristotle?

More explicitly, an action counts as virtuous, according to Aristotle,

when one holds oneself in a stable equilibrium of the soul

, in order to choose the action knowingly and for its own sake. This stable equilibrium of the soul is what constitutes character.

What are the main points of Aristotle’s ethics?

  • The highest good and the end toward which all human activity is directed is happiness, which can be defined as continuous contemplation of eternal and universal truth.
  • One attains happiness by a virtuous life and the development of reason and the faculty of theoretical wisdom.

What is a good life according to Aristotle essay?

The good life, according to Aristotle,

is an end in itself

. Similar to wealth, honour is not happiness because honour emphases on the individuals who honour in comparison to the honouree. Honour is external, but happiness is not. It has to do with how people perceive one another; the good life is intrinsic to the…

What is the relationship between the good life and science?


Good life is related to Science

. It is science that provides good life for everyone and at the same time, it is the quest for good life that fuels science. In this vast world where number of inventions are rapidly growing, science made the lives of many convenient.

What is Aristotle known for?

Aristotle was one of the greatest philosophers who ever lived and

the first genuine scientist in history

. He made pioneering contributions to all fields of philosophy and science, he invented the field of formal logic, and he identified the various scientific disciplines and explored their relationships to each other.

What are the 12 virtues of Aristotle?

  • Courage – bravery.
  • Temperance – moderation.
  • Liberality – spending.
  • Magnificence – charisma, style.
  • Magnanimity – generosity.
  • Ambition – pride.
  • Patience – temper, calm.
  • Friendliness – social IQ.

What does Aristotle think happiness is the highest good?

Happiness is according to Aristotle the highest good

because it is something final,end of the action and self-sufficient

. We choose it for itself, not for the sake of something else.

Amira Khan
Author
Amira Khan
Amira Khan is a philosopher and scholar of religion with a Ph.D. in philosophy and theology. Amira's expertise includes the history of philosophy and religion, ethics, and the philosophy of science. She is passionate about helping readers navigate complex philosophical and religious concepts in a clear and accessible way.