In this paperwork I am going to explicate and criticize the following book-Nicomachean ethics (Aristotle’s Ethics).
The Nicomachean ethics work start with a discussion of eudaimonia that means happiness, and turn to an assessment of the scenery of good quality, thus, bringing out clearly the character traits that people need in order to live life at its preeminent. It is important to note that at the end of each task, a brief discussion is included about the correct connection between the people and the divine.
Through a literature review, it has been depicted that the Nicomachean Ethics is recognized as the most significant books in the world of ethics and undoubtedly the most prominent work of Aristotle. According to the book, it I important to note that Aristotle deals with approximately all ideas and concepts communities take for granted when they converse about good value and the good life. As depicted through a literature review, Aristotle is alleged to have provided an explanation of what represents the good life and how the community should be structured so as to make such a life feasible. According to Aristotle, he claims that what is more significant in establishing a healthy living is being in a position of identifying the aspirations to create good living- not only a thought concerning high-quality living as depicted by Socrates. Aristotle, therefore, provides a practical approach on how people should best live. As depicted through a literature review, Aristotle proposes the best approaches or methods that can be used so as to have a clear and vivid knowledge concerning the following subjects; Ethics and Politics. According to him, Aristotle, we should start handling these subjects by first recognizing what the people of superior up-bringing and knowledge in existence thought and agreed to be factual. From that opening stage, identifying what the honorable people perceived as factual, we can, at the present, step forward to an advanced understanding of both ethics and politics. According to Aristotle, he argues that the uppermost of all being sensible thinking and the good for humans is best recognized as eudaimonia. It is important to note that eudaimonia is a Greek term translated to mean happiness or comfort- wellbeing. According to Aristotle, he makes it clear that the uppermost good in which all human activity is intended for is happiness- defined as the continuous thought of everlasting and worldwide precision. The development of reason, a righteous life, and the faculty of hypothetical understanding are said to help a person achieves happiness (David, 2000). Ethical living is thus the only way that leads to someone achieving true happiness. It is important to note that pleasure by itself cannot be categorized as being good, since it is by its nature incomplete and valuable activities are often associated with their own idiosyncratic pleasures, thereby, resulting to people being attracted to pleasant activities rather than in unpleasant ones. That kind of happiness, where you engage yourself with pleasant activities, is not genuine, since genuine happiness is said to lie in acts that will result to virtue. It is depicted that virtue, alone, provides true value and not just amusement. It is now clear that happiness is the highest good and the end at which all our activities ultimately aim. People are willing to work so that they can achieve this objective- happiness.
It is depicted through a literature review that Aristotle played a significant role in developing the term ethics in his work- Aristotelian Ethics. Aristotle’s acknowledges significant steps that can help one live a happy and an ethical life such as implementing the righteous measures, and being in a position of allowing the growth of only the exact behaviors. According to Aristotle, he argues that an individual can acquire righteous behaviors by going to school, whereby, he or she becomes in a position of differentiating between what is righteous and what is not righteous- through the help of teachers. It is important to note that the development of the righteous behaviors, according to Aristotle, helps an individual to undergo a good steady character growth, whereby, the behaviors become voluntary, hence establishing an excellent opportunity of attaining eudaimonia.
It is important to note that Aristotle does not treat character and habit as one thing, but he believes that they both have dissimilar meaning, for example; Aristotle believes that character entails watchful choice, which is not the case when it comes to habit, since habit and to be precise good habit are described as a prerequisite for good character. Character is explained further as a stable temperament, whereby, effort must be applied so as to be upheld and followed. It is, therefore, clear that a man has individual ethical responsibility for his actions- virtuous acts. For a virtuous act to happen; the presence of a conscious choice, motivation, and a moral purpose is no optional- it must be present.
Aristotle also makes it clear that the things that are beautiful and just investigated by politics will always entail vast discrepancy and disagreement, in an attempt to prove that they are contemplations belonging to conference, alone, and not to nature. As a result of this claim, Aristotle does not advocate for too much accuracy as it is the case in other subjects, such as mathematics that demands for accuracy. According to Aristotle, he claims that people have the ability to differentiate from what is good and not good, therefore, we should take care of the beautiful and the just, since people are depicted as good judges of what they are familiar with, thereby leaving out the young generation who are not in a position of comprehending this type of political subject. According to my stand, Aristotle should have come up with a more firm argument in supporting his claim- an argument that could have incorporated all people regardless of their age. Through a literature review, it is depicted that the children will have to undergo a process so as to acquire the moral virtue (David, 2000). The moral virtue are said to be acquired by a permutation of training, knowledge, and self-discipline. Aristotle, therefore, argues that a person desires cannot be classified as bad as long as they are controlled by reason according to a moral principle. It is now clear that the children will have to pass through these sages so as to be in a position of comprehending this political subject.
According to Aristotle, he defines the highest good as a movement of the logical soul in agreement with virtue. It is important to note that virtue, among the Greek society, is equated to fineness. A person who lacks virtue ethics cannot achieve the highest good, happiness, as depicted in the text. It is now clear that Nicomachean Ethics has played a vital role in the advancements and understanding of ethics which is depicted as virtue ethics- there is a heavy reliance on the concept of virtue as depicted in the text. The objective of the text is to describe the qualities that are essential in the creation of an excellent character. The creation of a society that is free from unethical behaviors, whereby, everybody is accountable of his or her own deeds. According to Aristotle’s, he argues that a truly virtuous individual will in nature be disposed to act appropriately, thereby, excluding the need of rules. According to my stand, I do not agree with this claim- behaving appropriately without the need of rules. Rules play a significant role in shaping the behaviors of human being, therefore, in the absence of rules we would end up with a society that does to present a good environment for the survival of a truly virtuous person. It is also important to note that people may be forced to act appropriately as a result of the already available rules, thereby, becoming truly virtuous person. In case an attempt was made to ban the rules, then it would mean that these lots would comfortable adopt their past lives-unethical way of living. Aristotle, also, claims that it is easier to mold a virtuous youths by instilling the appropriate characters and habits in them, the youths, from a young age, than it is to pattern a vicious adults. According to my stand, an adult has a clear understanding of what the society expects of him or her, therefore, an adult too can easily learn from the society he or she is living. It is, also, a fact that the intellectual of an adult is much high than that of a child meaning that the adult can learn faster than a child. Aristotle, therefore, should have treated both the children and adults with importance- instilling the proper characters and habits. According to the reading depicted in the text, Aristotle claims of observing what is righteous so as to achieve happiness, but the text fails in providing the guidance that will lead to the creation of a good life (David, 2000). What is expected of me so as to be recognized by others as a truly virtuous person? Aristotle should have implemented specified ways to be followed by virtues- rules and principles to be followed. It is also important to note that a situation may arise, whereby, an individual may poses the best characters and his motives admirable, but the person may have unpleasant plans with him or her, thus not qualifying as a truly virtuous person as depicted by the text. It is now clear that the notion of a truly virtuous person may end up giving the wrong information, since the conceptual scheme, virtue ethics, cannot be used in to evaluate properly the infrequent tragic outcomes of human deeds.
It is important to note that ethics and politics are closely related, since politics is depicted, through a literature review, as the science of constructing a society in which the people can live the good life and be in a position of developing their complete prospective. Ethics, as depicted by Aristotle’s, brings out the characters that are deemed to be appropriate in the existence of a healthy society; for example, moral virtue that are intended to help a person act in the right way. According to Aristotle’s, he claims that an individual learn moral virtue first and foremost through practice and custom rather than through interpretation and training. To him, Aristotle’s, the best gauge of moral ruling is choice, since choices are forever made willingly by means of lucid reflection. It is, therefore, important to note that individuals cannot be held answerable for cases concerning physical impulse or inescapable lack of knowledge, but how can you differentiate between the two when it comes to making moral judgments, since it is more likely that the majority of people would tend to fake their characters so as to avoid the judgments. As depicted in the paperwork, Aristotle failed to provide answers to various sensitive issues in his work, thereby, creating a good environment for critics; for example, failing to provide guidelines of what is expected of a truly virtuous person. It is also important to note that Aristotle’s work has played a vital role in helping the world be a better place, whereby, parents are willing to pass the appropriate characters and behaviors to their children (David, 2000).
Works Cited
Bostock, David. Aristotle’s Ethics. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2000.Print.
