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Aristotle's view
Essay submitted by Patty Smith
Is life really about the 'money', the 'cash', the 'hoes', who has the biggest gold chain or who drives the
shiniest or fastest car, who sells the most albums or who has the most respect? Aristotle challenges
views, which are similar to the ones held and shown by rap artists such as Jay-Z and the Notorious
B.I.G., by observing that everything in the universe, including humans, has a telos, or goal in life. He
states that the goal of a human life is to achieve happiness or eudaimonia. I believe that Aristotle is
completely correct in his reasoning of the purpose of human nature. He even explains how happiness
is different for every person, and each different type of person has a different idea of eudaimonia. He
then goes on to talk about how a person must do all things in moderation, not doing the excess but
at the same time doing just enough. This idea, called the golden mean of moderation was the
backbone support to Aristotle's idea of human telos because it concluded that living a virtuous life
must be the same for all people because of the way human beings are built.
Aristotle argued that the goal of human beings is happiness, and that we achieve happiness when we
fulfill our function. Therefore, it is necessary to determine what our function is. The function of a thing,
or its telos, is what it alone can do, or what it can do best. Like the function of the eye is to see,
Aristotle declared the human being as the rational animal whose function is to reason. Thus,
according to Aristotle, a happy life for human beings is a life governed by reason.
Aristotle believed that a person who has difficulty behaving ethically is morally imperfect. His ideal
person practices the golden mean of moderation. He believed that this moral virtue, of which
happiness comes from, is a matter of avoiding extremes in behavior and finding the mean between
them. Aristotle conceives happiness not primarily as an exercise of virtue in private or with friends, but
as the exercise of virtue in governing an ideal state. Hence, a person who acts for his or her own well
must also act for the good of all fellow citizens.
Aristotle points out that honor, pleasure, and wealth are the things believed to make people happy.
He stated that honor is superficial because it can be taken away at any moment. He said pleasure
was enjoyable but that it is more an animal quality than human, and that wealth is merely a means to
towards a greater good. He taught moderation, and that these three vices could be pursued but not as
an all encompassing goal. Aristotle felt that through the four qualities of wisdom, courage,
temperance, and justice, could a person be led to happiness.
I agree with Aristotle's reasoning on how happiness is achieved and why it is the goal of human life,
as we know it. He supports his point with so many examples that you realize that he is completely
right. His stressing of the importance of moral virtues as the key to happiness and a successful
government is brilliant. His messages of virtue and moderation transcend time and still are a great
influence on modern western thought.
Word Count: 557
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