Aristotle

Aristotle is considered one of the most popular philosophers. He wrote some 2400 years

ago, but his writings seem everlasting, and somewhat truthful, even now. Virtue ethics are in

Book II of Nichomachean Ethics. Virtue ethics, as told by Aristotle have been the basis of ethics

and philosophy. In Nichomachean Ethics he observed what distinguishes us from animals and

the undeniable pursuit that makes us human. All of Aristotle’s ideas are pertinent to present-day

life and thought. In this paper I will explore the life and ethics of Aristotle as written in his

works.

Aristotle was born in 384 B.C. at ancient Stagira in Greek, Macedonia. His father,

Nichomachus, was a personal physician for the king of Macedon, and could very well have

transmitted a scientific, yet observational way of thinking into his son. His father died when he

was seventeen. Aristotle then went on to become a pupil of Plato. He studied under Plato for

about twenty years. That was where he broadened his interests and embraced ethics. Plato often

referred to Aristotle as, “the mind on legs” (Aristotle in 90 Minutes--pg. 13). At the age of thirty

seven he married Pythias who was eighteen at the time. In later years she died giving birth to

their daughter. He then married Herpyllis, a maidservant, who gave him his first son

Nicomachus, to, whom he dedicated Nichomachean Ethics. In 322 B.C. at the age of sixty-three,

Aristotle took his own life.

 The virtue ethics Aristotle accentuated are the importance of virtue and reason for good

moral character. He argued/believed that good is the aim of every action and every action has a

purpose. He gave two classifications of good: “Good as a means; Good as an end.” He thought

the reason other purposes were sought was to achieve the ultimate purpose in life, which was

happiness. Happiness was only to be achieved by living a virtuous life. He analyzed what virtues

lead humans to happiness and the vices that lead them the other way. He went on to define

virtue as, “…a habit or trained faculty of choice, the characteristic, which lies in moderation or

observance of the mean relatively to the persons concerned, as determined by reason…” Some

examples of virtues are: courage, loyalty, friendliness, honesty, kindness, etc.

As stated in Book II, Aristotle writes that there are two kinds of virtue: intellectual and

moral. Intellectual virtue requires teaching and careful training, but we first must have the desire

to be able to learn. Moral virtue is one that we form as a habit and is naturally implanted in us.

He then goes on to say, “For instance the stone which by nature moves downwards cannot be

habituated to move upwards, not even if he tries to train it by throwing it up ten thousand times;

nor can fire be habituated to move downwards, nor can anything else that by nature behaves in

one way be trained to behave in another. Neither by nature, then, nor contrary to nature do the

virtues arise in us; rather we are adapted by nature to receive them, and are made perfect by

habit.” So in other words we are born with these virtues inside us, but they are not useful until

we apply them.

In Book X he says, “We should probably be content if all the means that are supposed to

make us good enables us to attain some portion of goodness.” He is implying that a perfectly

happy life is hard to achieve. We should always practice good virtues, but from time to time we
must give in to our vices. Few people seldom reach that perfect state of happiness; however, that

shouldn’t discourage us from following the virtues that lead us to happiness.

An advantage of Aristotle’s virtue ethics is that he seeks to instill virtue by urging

humans to practice good or virtuous acts, which will in turn cause another person to do the same.

He also attempts to merge reason and emotion. By encouraging this, he urges humans to use

both, to decide upon a suitable median.

There are also disadvantages to Aristotle’s theory. He makes many assumptions one

being that the end of human life is happiness and that we all aim for that. It may be true that we

all aim for happiness, but is it true that all things have an end or purpose? The virtue theory is

incomplete because it does not deal with when a virtue and a vice come into conflict. An

example of this would be, if you are honest with someone and it hurts his/her feelings. The

virtue theory does not have a good way of dealing with this type of situation.

Having analyzed some facts of human nature as told by Aristotle, one could say that

virtue ethics provide a useful road map to happiness. In today’s society the road to happiness

can be long and winding. We all have our own theory how to reach ultimate happiness. For

some it is money and material possessions. For others it is religion and Christian beliefs. There

are many different roads people take trying to reach happiness, but t is just a question of what is

valuable for man and what makes for a happy human life.
 Works Cited

Ehrlich, Leonard H., Michael Ermarth, and Karl Jaspers. The Great Philosophers: Xenophanes,

Democritus, Empedocles, Bruno, Epicurus, Boehme, Schelling, Leibniz, Aristotle, Hegel

(The Great Philosophers, Volume III). New York: Harcourt, 1993. Print.

Mckeon, Ed. Aristotle;, and Richard. Basic Works of Aristotle. Ed. With an Intro. By Richard

McKeon.. New York: Random House, 1941. Print.

PeterJKing. One Hundred Philosophers Life and Work of the Worlds Greatest Thinkers. U.S.:

Barrons Educational Series Inc,2004, 2004. Print.

Strathern, Paul. Aristotle in 90 Minutes (Philosophers in 90 Minutes). Open Market Ed ed.

Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, Publisher, 1996. Print.