In this week’s class we discussed
the theories of Aristotle and his views on the nature of virtues and ethics. In
Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics which
he dedicated to his son Nicomachus, we see his view on how virtue should be.
Aristotle is also one of the most famous philosophers of all time. He was a
student of Plato and a teacher of one of the most powerful and dominate rulers
of the ancient world Alexander the Great. Aristotle believed that the only way
to possess a trait is to learn it from others and practice that trait
repeatedly.
I
agree with most of Aristotle’s points. I feel that you have to learn from
others and practice being a certain way to form a habit. Aristotle believed
virtues where not hereditary in nature and that people must continuously do a certain
action for it to become an ingrain part of their identity. We discussed many
topics in our class this week like what defines a person’s happiness and according
to the Aristotle every person’s goal is to reach a state of Eudaimonia a state of blissful
happiness. A state of happiness for no other sake then to be happy. In our struggle to define what real happiness
in our class this week we talked about those who are poor can truly be happy
with their life. We also struggled to define what poor is which lead us to a
concrete definition that poor is someone who does not know where there next
meal is and is not able to support themselves.
I
agree with this opinion to a certain point. However, I feel that if a person is
truly struggling they cannot fully appreciate life because they are so focused
on trying to find their next meal or continuing to live life. However, I feel
that is different from individuals like the Catholic brothers who are at
Christian Brothers University who take a vow of poverty in order to pursue
their goal of serving others and living like Saint John Baptist de LaSalle. I
also feel that happiness can be defined in many different ways for each person.
Each person has their own wants, goals and desires for life. Because of this, I
feel like one person’s version of happiness may be others feeling of sadness.
Even though we all have different motivating factors and desires, I hope that
we all are able to achieve our own version of Eudaimonia in our own life.
When we first discussed the poverty situation in class, the case of the Brothers who dedicate their lives to education, chastity, and most importantly poverty popped up in my head as well. However, the poverty they experience is one of choice. They have enough just to get by. They do not choose to starve themselves or risk their health in any way. True poverty to me is not those like Mother Teresa or those people that live in the mountains. True poverty is being poor and NEEDING more. Their desires are surely not met, but more importantly their needs are not met. That is why I see what Aristotle is saying; in order for someone to experience satisfaction in their desires (happiness), they must first have their immediate needs met.
ReplyDeleteReally only the necessities need to be met in order to experience Aristotle's version of happiness. Some people who dedicate their lives to service don't tend to have to worry about where their next meal is, thus fulfilling the qualifications
DeleteThe end really stuck with me. The statement you said, "I hope that we all are able to achieve our own version of Eudaimonia in our own life." This is so true, because there are many rich people out there that are unhappy. For reasons like, they have a lot of money now and no one wants to be around them. Maybe, they isolate themselves because people keep asking for handouts. Then there are poor people who enjoy life. Most do not know if they will be able to feed themselves for the night, but they just keep living, happy that their alive. Only you can choose to be happy, no matter what type of life that your are living. In conclusion, I really like the statements you made and they have meaning to what we learned in class.
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