Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics And The Definition Of Happiness

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“Presumably, however, to say that happiness is the chief good seems a platitude, and a clearer account of what it is is still desired.” (Pojman) This quote is from Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, he is at this trying to find the definition of happiness and what it means to be happy. He starts by suggesting that to find the definition of happiness we must first find the function of man. By this he is urging the reader to consider the thought of “the good and the ‘well’ is thought to reside in the function”(Pojman) Aristotle is implying that for a carpenter, tanner or anyone who has to complete a task that surely the task is not worth doing if it is not done well. Aristotle then changes his thinking from completing a task similar to an artist or a carpenter, which is the function that will bring happiness, to the question of what is the function of man? “Is he naturally functionless?”…show more content…
You can control how you feel because it’s a choice you have, the only person that can control your happiness is you. This would be things similar to choosing to do a task well or even the bigger picture of living well is being happy. If you do every task or everything well you live a happy life and this ties back to the habit of happiness and the end of the last paragraph. The habit refers to doing something that makes you happy and living happy over and over, the repetition of happiness as time goes on, you don’t have to rationally think about being happy or doing something that makes you happy or that is selfless. If you do something well over the course of a complete life this will bring happiness. Therefore the activity of the soul you are practicing becomes easier and over time you will get better at it. Aristotle also brings up the topic of virtue and extreme excess and extreme deficiency, you have to have find a balance between both and you should always keep your focus on finding the

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