Like Epicurus, Aristotle is also interested in happiness. We all agree that happiness is what we pursue, what we desire the most.
But what is happiness? If we ask different people we will get different answers, Aristotle studies several:
The riches , money, give happiness. Aristotle agrees that without a certain degree of wealth, happiness cannot be achieved. He who has nothing and cannot even eat cannot be happy. But how much money do you need to be happy? Furthermore, it is not wealth that makes us happy, but what we achieve with it. That is, money by itself does not make us happy, what makes us happy is what we get with it. And it depends on what we buy, we will be happy or unhappy. Therefore, Aristotle concludes, the answer happiness = wealth is insufficient, we need to continue researching to know how to use our wealth to be happy.
The pleasure is happiness. Aristotle agrees that a happy life is a pleasant life, but like Epicurus the problem arises when we have to choose which pleasures to seek and which to avoid. In addition, pleasure is the result, the product of what we do, so we must investigate what we should do to be happy. The answer happiness = pleasure is, as in the case of wealth, an insufficient answer; further research is necessary.
Fame, affection and admiration are what make us happy. This is often true, but Aristotle points out that the affection and admiration of loved ones is something that they give us, and therefore does not depend entirely on us. In addition, although it is true that others give us their affection and admiration in response to our actions, it remains to be resolved what we must do to achieve them, since there are different ways to achieve affection and admiration. Fame does not always lead to happiness, many times it can lead to the opposite.
After this analysis of the most common responses to the question, what is happiness? Aristotle draws some conclusions:
Happiness is related to a certain degree of wealth , or put the other way around: complete poverty makes us unhappy.
Pleasure is also related to happiness, a happy life is not possible if we are constantly suffering .
The affection and admiration of others are also related to happiness: we are happier if others love or admire us than if they hate or despise us.
In these conclusions we see important points in common with Epicurus:
The need to satisfy certain natural and necessary desires for life. And hence the need for a certain material well-being (wealth) as the first condition to be happy.
The importance of pleasure in a happy life. Although Aristotle does not make pleasure the center of happiness, he does consider that a happy life entails, as a result, pleasure and enjoyment.
Self-reliance is an important ingredient of happiness. A happy life has to be fundamentally the result of our own decisions and not of what others do.
If we cannot identify happiness with wealth, with pleasure, or with fame, admiration, or affection, what is happiness for Aristotle?
Aristotle understands happiness as the culmination , as the perfection of life. A happy life is a perfect life.
If happiness is the culmination of life, happiness has to be something closely related to our nature , to who we are.
What are we human beings? What characterizes us and differentiates us from other species?
Therefore, human life reaches its culmination (happiness) when two conditions are met:
We live by using reason , rather than following instincts.
We live in society , instead of living in isolation.
What do we need to be happy? Social virtues
The union of both conditions occurs when men achieve virtue : when we are virtuous we are both rational and live together with other human beings. And being virtuous, we will be happy, because we will lead a life according to our nature. Practicing the virtues brings us closer to happiness.