Paper Summary:

The paper explains Aristotle's belief that happiness is an ultimate end and each individual achieves that universal goal in a different way. The paper explores Aristotle's methods for seeking out happiness, that are the life of pleasure, the life in society and the life of contemplation, with happiness through sensual pleasure as the most unstable method. The paper also discusses how according to Aristotle, there are three levels of friendship which can be attained by men. Finally, the paper addresses Aristotle's ideas on friendship and justice being intertwined.

From the Paper:

"Life represents the pursuit of happiness. One of the most significant minds within Western philosophy, Aristotle believed that Happiness is an ultimate end, meaning that we do not use Happiness to reach another end, and therefore what we all seek out Happiness. According to his Nicomachean Ethics, this acquisition then results in the satisfaction of the human mind; thus proving its significance as an end, "So then Happiness is manifestly something final and self-sufficient, being the end of all things which are and may be done," (Aristotle, 8). This means that all other goods, such as Virtue, Friendship, and Contemplation, serve as means to the final end. However, how each individual achieves that universal goal is specifically different. Within this quest for Happiness, men must be individually responsible for the virtue or dishonor of their own actions. When one rationalizes over a decision, it then becomes voluntary and subsequent to following praise or criticism. It is then this rational intellect which helps guide us to moral decisions; ultimately towards moderation which represents a high moral sense of avoiding both situational extremes."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Aristotle. Nichomachean Ethics. Dover Publications. 1998.

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