Aristotle 's Impact On Today 's Society Essay

The most influential person in the pre-modern age in World History is Aristotle. Aristotle was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. He wrote on many different subjects, including physics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, government, ethics, biology and even zoology. Aristotle was one of the most important philosophers in Western thought, and was one of the first to systematize philosophy and science. Aristotle questioned the nature of the world and of human belief, knowledge, and thought. He invented a method for arguing according to rules of logic, but later applied his method to problems in the fields of psychology, biology, and physics. His thinking on physics and science had a

Mankind has been searching for existential reasoning since our earliest beginnings. One of the biggest questions, the one that keeps me up at night, “How ought we to live?” will be explained from the viewpoints of Epictetus in his Enchiridion and Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics. In this paper, I will discuss both philosophies in principle and practice, while giving insight to how to they may function in a modern world situation. Although both theories have useful guidance for navigating the human condition, Aristotle’s theory of virtue encompasses more of a real world schematic of how to interpret oneself in relation to our surroundings through compassion rather than apathy.

Aristotle’s work, The Nicomachean Ethics, consists of numerous books pertaining to Aristotle’s Ethics—the ethics of the good life. The first book discloses Aristotle’s belief on moral philosophy and the correlation between virtue and happiness.

Aristotle was one of the greatest minds to have lived in Ancient Greece and consequently the world. He has influenced most areas of study of the present world. These include ethics, biology, psychology, chemistry and philosophy. Aristotle’s writing has also, helped historians discover beliefs and rhetoric used in Ancient Greece. Aristotle was born in 384 B.C in Stagira a small town in northern Greece.

In the Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle poses a key question: What is the ultimate purpose of human existence? To understand the function or purpose we must first determine the human nature. Aristotle’s inquiry begins with exploring the life of a human being in connection with the central idea of being-at-work. He finds that the ends of our actions aim towards the “highest good”. Each action can only be done with some form of thought behind it and choice. Aristotle states that if we had an awareness of this ultimate good, we would have better aim to reach our targets. Aristotle will find that happiness is the “highest good” and the ultimate end and purpose of human existence. This paper sets out to determine what happiness is according to Aristotle.

In the book Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle, one of the most important figures in the philosophical world, makes a claim about the “chief good” (Aristotle 4). In order to inform the reader of what life the “chief good” resides in, Aristotle first attempts to describe why the “chief good” is not found in certain lives. Throughout chapter five Aristotle claims that the “chief good” cannot be attained in the lives of enjoyment, honor, and wealth. This is evident through the consistent examples of he uses throughout the text. One the “chief good” cannot be equal to those lives. Although a virtuous life does attain the “chief good”.

According to Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, there is a direct connection between morality and happiness. Aristotle states that happiness is the main goal of human existence. He follows this idea by saying the only way to achieve happiness is through his account of morality. Aristotle’s “happiness” is a translation of the Greek word Eudaimonia. A definition of Eudaimonia could be “the highest human good” or “well-being”, but it is not simply a word with a definition but a concept that needs to be broken down and understood. In connection with happiness is morality. According to Aristotle, only certain actions have genuine moral worth, which is heavily based upon reason. To live a moral life and achieve happiness one must achieve human excellence through moral and intellectual virtue. To make the connection between morality and happiness, we must understand these concepts in accordance with Aristotle.

Aristotle was Philosopher of classical Greece, including with Plato and Socrates. When Aristotle passed away, he left behind a corpus of his work that was in Arab and European worlds of the middle ages and also Renaissance. Aristotle wrote a book for his son Nicomachus which is “Nicomachean ethics.” But Aristotle argues that the supreme goal of any human life is to be happy. Aristotle also describes the necessity of the conditions for a living of a happy life. Aristotle talks about all human activities aim at some good, the science of the good for man is politics, generally agreed to happiness, Good is pleasure, Honour and wealth, and the good must be something final and self-sufficient.

An ethical issue that is debated in our society is the concern of driving while intoxicated. Although this was naturally not the case during Aristotle’s time, many of his ethical beliefs can be applied to refute this dilemma. I will prove the standing issue to be unethical through Aristotle’s discussion of virtue and his concept of voluntary/involuntary actions in the Nicomachean Ethics.

The government has faced many issues since the beginning. Power was determined by the amount of money or land. The wealthiest people had the most say and control, while the majority of the population, that being the poor, had none. Aristotle, however, did not agree with this. He believed everyone should be seen as equal and have the same opportunities in government, regardless of social status or wealth. Aristotle's opinion also differed from most in the fact that he believed law is supreme rather than a god. He believed in the idea of happiness on earth, not just in heaven, which caused his way of thinking to differ from others having to do with government. He pushed for a government that caused the happiness of the people. This, in my opinion,

Actuality and potentiality are important aspects of a polis and its people to create the political environment that humans need to thrive in according Aristotle. When the right circumstances, virtue, and nature of a person come together, then the potentiality can convert into actuality. Aristotle establishes his belief that every person in the polis has potential in Nicomachean Ethics and continues to build upon potential of character Politics. He believes that the potentiality can be achieved through movement and habitual practice to reach the actuality of purpose in one’s life: happiness. His belief of such is presented in many forms, from the acorn’s potential to become an oak tree to a human’s potential to become happy in their polis. Happiness

Essentially, all philosophers including Kant and Aristotle approached ethics from a specific conception of human nature. While some saw the good life as the realization or actualization of the potential we possess by the mere virtue of being human beings, others thought that man needs a formal standard of moral judgment that can steer them away from moral inclinations. In this paper, I will talk about Kant’s and Aristotle’s views on the matter and how it impacted their respective ethical and moral theories.

It is well known that Aristotle attaches importance to friendship within his ethical reflections. It suffices to recall that the Nicomachean Ethics, the most representative of the ethical works of Aristotle, contains two complete books, books VIII and IX, dedicated to friendship. This means that the theme of friendship is given a much wider space than other fundamental ethical issues.

The term nature signifies a set of characteristic that distinguishes humans, as a species, from all other beings (Wiles). A set of characteristics distinctive of a species is known as the Greek term, Phusis. According to both Plato and Aristotle, human nature is unchanging. On the contrary, Sarte has a different belief on the topic of essence that do not accord with classical philosophical tradition.

When we first started learning about Aristotles’ theory, I did not understand the importance. Aristotle wrote, Nicomachean Ethics many years ago. It did not seem like any of it would pertain to my life. After reading into his theory, I found it to be quite interesting. It was a lot more relatable than I originally thought. When we know what we are looking for, we can find aspects of his theory everywhere.