ARISTOTLE THEORY OF HAPPINESS AND VIRTUE

Aristotle Theory of Happiness And Virtue

Aristotle was a Greek philosopher of the fourth century B.C. belonging to the upper class. His father was a doctor in the courts of Macedonia, which became the major power in the Greek world with the power of Alexander. The Greek polis became part of the Hellenistic empire. The followers of Aristotle were known as "Peripatetics" and he was their "Estariga."

This paper presents and discusses the Aristotle Theory of happiness and virtue and its impact and influence on the society today. The important moral problems that reflects on the experience of social philosophers such as Aristotle were abortion, euthanasia, the duty to die, capital punishment, drug, animals, consumption, war, and terrorism that continue to be topics of vital interest even today.

According to Marshall, Happiness is the end or final cause of man's being; it consists in his doing the work which he was specially intended by nature to do (Marshall T. 2004 p 563).Aristotle argues that all human actions tend or are intended to achieve happiness. All actions have an end, which is identified with good. Happiness is the supreme. For Aristotle, happiness is to achieve the perfection of human nature, so if you want to know which is the happiness we have to do an analysis of human nature. A being is happy when it acts according to its nature, achieving the highest perfection about it. Man is characterized by reason and be happy when you live according to it, i.e., when engaged in intellectual activities. For Aristotle, the contemplative life would be the ideal life is the only way of life for which man is self-sufficient. But as the man are not just right, other things necessary for happiness: some economic goods, certain tangible property and possession of certain virtues.

Virtue is the disposition of the soul which is a capacity and a permanent attitude and preferred to behave in a certain way. Virtue is achieved through exercise and smoking. For example, to be fair, we must practice justice. No one is virtuous by nature, nor vast teaching. Aristotle makes a distinction between two kinds of virtues, according to the two distinctive features of the rational soul:

Dianoetic virtues (understanding) are the intellectual virtues that consist in the perfection of the understanding of reason, science, wisdom, art, prudence, and so on.

Ethical virtues (will) are related to the dominance of reason over impulse sensitive, that perfect character. Fortitude, temperance, justice, friendship, etc are examples.

Aristotle gives another definition of virtue, defined as the mean. Is an attitude or a habit of choosing the right way appropriate to our nature as determined by fair and wise man. Virtue would be the right balance or equilibrium between two vicious extremes (one end and a default cycle up). Examples: cowardice - strength - recklessness, insensitivity - temperance -

Virtue theory offers an important alternative to the theories that dwell on rightness and duty. The classical source of virtue theory is ...