Escleto, Jericko C.

STS February 2, 2020

In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle suggested that humans be social, moral beings
trying to "do well." To that end, he introduced a system of ethics designed to help us achieve
eudaimonia, a life that means living well or flourishing. Through living virtuously and building
up your character traits, Eudaimonia is achieved before you don't even have to worry about
your decisions before making the right one. A person like that will be happy, but not in the
same way as a hedonic person. They will strive to improve themselves and live their lives to
the fullest. You are going to be the type of person that others want to be. They'll thrive, above
all else.

Aristotle sees ethics as more an art than a theory, and he intentionally ignores details
in his descriptions. He doesn't mean we can't break the rules, either. Just because, for
example, a person is truthful, does not mean that they cannot lie when they need to. This
makes virtue ethics more flexible than ethical deontological systems but also more challenging
to use as we have to determine when we can lie, get angry, or be proud of ourselves — Greek
men with a decent education and quite a lot of luck. For example, the virtue of magnificence
would not be practical for a person with limited means.

As the philosopher Martha Nusbaum explains, "What [ Aristotle ] does, in each case,
is to isolate a sphere of human experience that figures in more or less every human life, and
in which more or less every human being will have to make choices rather than choices." At
some point, we all have to face danger, so we have to ask how to be courageous. We all have
to deal with others, so we have to ask how we can be friendly. We're all getting angry, so
we've got to ask how to be patient. The Aristotle virtues lists remain relevant, although the
world for which they were created has long vanished. While the exact nature of what the good
life is and how to reach it is subject to endless debate, great minds ' ideas are always relevant.
Although some of the views of Aristotle may not be as important now as they were 2,000
years ago, they can still guide our attempts to lead better lives. While in any case, not every
person who tries to live up to the virtues will succeed, wouldn't we be better at trying?

Reference:
Hendricks, S. (2018, October 5). How to be happy: Aristotle's 11 guidelines for a good
life. Retrieved February 2, 2020, from https://bigthink.com/scotty-hendricks/aristotles-11-
guidelines-for-living-a-good-life