Philosophy: A "Happy Life" According to Aristotle

(Estimated reading time: 3 minutes)

Happiness- it is what we want in life, what we desperately seek, and badly need. For long, many great minds sought the meaning of happiness, or in particular, a happy life. There is this cliche, "Happiness is a choice," and many say that we should always choose the things that make us the happiest, though some might disagree. Some equate being happy with instant gratification, satiation of senses, and fulfillment of desires. But what is true happiness? And, most importantly, how can we achieve a happy life?

This is one of the many questions that Aristotle, a Macedonian philosopher, sought to answer. He was born in 384 BC (BC means before the common era) in Stagira, Macedonia. The great Macedonian conqueror Alexander became his pupil, and Aristotle would advise the emperor until the last years of his reign.

One of Aristotle's works is Nicomachean Ethics, named and dedicated to his son, Nicomacheus. In this work, Aristotle discussed how to live a good life or a happy life,  and he introduced the concept of eudaimonia.

Eudaimonia is loosely translated as happiness, although it can also be understood as "doing well," "success," or "flourishing." Aristotle argued that humans are rational beings. The ability to act according to reason is the function of order unique to us. Our "final cause" or purpose is ultimately the virtues we have cultivated, and the essence dictated by the choices and actions we made. Our success depends on our fulfillment of actions.

Plants grow, and animals see, hear, or smell, and we have these as common with them. But our reasons separate us from them. Rather than satiate or gratify our senses, we can perform actions that are beyond our own self-interest.

With the use of our reason, we make better decisions that will lead us to the greatest and most genuine happiness. We learn to cultivate what is best for us, and continuing that path results in a meaningful life. Happiness is, therefore, a by-product of rationality. Aristotle also argues that by being virtuous we continue to the path that leads to genuine happiness. Living a life led by virtues we continue to refine ourselves and develop our potential.

A happy life is a virtuous one and virtues are developed through choices and habits. Pleasure is deprived of reason and purpose, and will not make one happy. Acting out of self-interest often comes with guilt and shame. Also, with incontinence, we only look for what will satisfy the appetite, but not for what is truly good.

Individual choices determine disposition. Instead of acting based on appetite and incontinence, a reasonable person does the opposite. With the use of reason, she or he makes a sound decision and acts according to it. One must find the "mean" between the two most extreme choices.

But one cannot just decide to have virtues and be happy. Happiness emerges through working on ourselves and our goals over time. One must be trained in the virtues learned, as actions are as important as intentions. To summarize, we achieve eudaimonia through habit.

The real measure of a happy life is, hence, not through its ups and downs, but by the virtues painstakingly expressed and develop.

Aristotle means to say that rather than look for instant gratification and act on self-interest (as what the media constantly bombards us with every second) we should learn those virtues that should lead our actions, and, through our ability to reason, act and work on them, and continue to walk in the path towards a happy and fulfilled life.

Philosophy: A "Happy Life" According to Aristotle by Leandro Angelo Castro is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.