Aristotle
He lived in the 4th century BC (between 384 and 322 BC).
He was born in Estagira, Macedonia, a region in northern Greece.
Like Epicurus, he moved to Athens, where after learning with Plato, he founded his own philosophical school, the Lyceum, where he taught his thought.
Unlike Epicurus, whose written works have been almost entirely lost, Aristotle's works have survived to this day.
In one of his works, entitled Ética a Nicómaco, Aristotle presents his ideas on Ethics. The title names Nicómaco, son of Aristotle and to whom the work is dedicated.
The happiness
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?
We are rational animals .
We are social animals .
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.
The Aristotelian Theory of Virtue
Although understanding each virtue as one extreme, with its corresponding vice at the other extreme, may seem correct, Aristotle does not think so. In his opinion, every virtue is a middle point between two extremes .
Let's consider again the examples of sincerity and courage. It is clear that lying is not a virtue, but is it really a virtue to always tell the truth? Aristotle believes that it can be contrary to virtue to be completely sincere, as it is to be completely mendacious.
Always tell the truth < < < < < < < Virtue of sincerity > > > > > > > Always lie
And the same with courage: it is clear that cowardice is not a virtue, but to dare with any challenge is not to be brave, it is to be reckless. And recklessness is not a virtue.
Recklessness < < < < < < < < Virtue of bravery > > > > > > > > Cowardice
In general, Aristotle considers that virtue always lies between two pernicious extremes. One of the two extremes may be less pernicious than the other, but in neither of them is virtue.
It is important to understand that this midpoint is different for each person. It depends on the personal conditions of each one:
How much money will a generous person contribute ? It depends on your financial capacity.
How far should I risk and try to rescue someone in danger? It depends on my physical capacity and my training.
The middle point also depends on social customs :
How long can I be late without being late ? In some cultures, only five minutes. In others the margin is greater.
How far can I speak of my merits without appearing too modest or a braggart?
How many and what are the social virtues?
Aristotle does not give us a closed and definitive list of how many and what are the social virtues. But it does give us a general criterion to consider whether something is a virtue or on the contrary a vice: a social virtue improves our life in society. Improve our life and that of those around us. And what does a better life consist of? In a life in which we can develop all our capacities and thus achieve happiness.
What the virtues are depends to some extent on how our society is. Our society is not much like 4th century BC Athens. Some virtues remain, but others have been incorporated. Aristotle studies virtues such as the following:
Courage
Moderation
Generosity
Honesty
Patience
Industriousness
Justice
But we can add more:
Solidarity
Equality
Environmental Protection
Respect for animals
Respect for privacy
How to become virtuous?
We may agree with Aristotle that a happy life consists in developing in the most perfect way possible our rational capacities and life in common. But more than debating the objective to be achieved, it is now interesting to know how to be virtuous. Aristotle gives us several pieces of advice:
You are not born virtuous or its opposite (vicious). All people have the opportunity to become virtuous and thus achieve happiness. There are no people who by their race, their ancestors or their genes are already virtuous by birth. Nor are others that, due to these same factors, are condemned not to achieve happiness.
Virtue develops in people as a result of practice, of habit. And the same happens with its opposite vices. We get used to being virtuous by practicing small acts first, then more important ones. Through custom our moral character is formed.
Unlike other animals, humans have greater freedom to control our desires and impulses. Our intelligence, and more specifically our prudence, helps us to find our middle ground in each specific situation.
The importance of friendship
Like Epicurus, Aristotle also attaches great importance to friendship in order to lead a happy life. Why do we make friends and take care and worry about keeping the ones we already have? Aristotle considers that there are three reasons why people want to make friends:
Mutual help . Common interest. We are friends of those who can help us and who in turn we help. The common benefit is the basis of this first type of friendship.
Enjoy , mutual fun. We are friends of those who make us enjoy or like us. It may be because of her beauty, or because of her temperament, her way of being.
Good character , good habits. We are friends of those who are virtuous and reinforce in us the habit of being so as well.
Without despising the first two, the third type of friendship is for Aristotle the best and preferable of the three. One reason is that the goal pursued by people who are friends (virtue and happiness) is more important than the goals pursued in the other two (material interest and pleasure or enjoyment).
