Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book X, Chapter 6 1177a2-a10

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Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, book X, chapter 6 (1177a2-a10):

Eudoxus, who is a member of academy of Plato, states that pleasure is rather an absolute

good since we often desire it as an end in itself and play a significant role in increasing

desirability of other good things. Such thus play a crucial role in showing that pleasure is

associated with good. Plato further posits that other things that include intelligence tend to play a

major role in increasing the desirability of pleasure hence the inability to consider it as a supreme

right. However, there exists some flaw in the opinion that all or even some of the pleasures are

not good. These claims tend to depend on the mistaken idea that pleasures are rather a process of

replenishment that is incomplete.

The consideration of pleasure as attractive without qualification is unacceptable. For

example, individuals may not decide on living with the mentality of children despite the fact that

that life is pleasant. Moreover, there exist other hoods that include good eyesight or intelligence

that are often desirable without being enjoyable. There is thus clarity on the fact that not all the

pleasures are rather attractive and that delight is not the supreme good.

Additionally, there is the necessity for noting that pleasure is not a process since it does

not refer to the movement from the incomplete state to a state of completeness and neither does it

occur over an extended period. Instead, pleasure often accompanies the activities of our faculties

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that include the mind or senses when their operations are at optimum. Moreover, there is the

necessity for noting that pleasure often plays a significant role in perfecting our activities and

because life is an activity, satisfaction remains necessary for life. Only the pleasure enjoyed by

good people for the right reasons is considered good.

Happiness as an activity often serves as an end in itself which is the highest goal in life.

There is the need for ensuring that individuals avoid confusing happiness with pleasant

amusement. The maximum form of happiness entails contemplation. Contemplation is an

activity in our highest rational faculties, and it is regarded as an end in itself, unlike numerous

other practical activities that often characterize our lives. Therefore, only a god is capable of

spending an entire lifetime occupied with nothing but contemplation. However, there is the need

for individuals attempting to emulate the godlike activities in the best way possible. All the

moral virtues often deal with the human aspects of life that are often necessary but secondary to

the divine activity of contemplation.

Observation shows that both the rational and non-rational animals aim at pleasure. An

object that is choice worthy in the greatest sense is often selected for its sake and pleasure seems

to exist in such an object. However, there is the need for noting that pleasure is not yet the

highest good since it is preferable with rather without prudence as evident in the assertion

presented by Plato. Not all the pleasures are worth choosing but only those that arise from the

noble actions.

The considerably appropriate activity of every faculty of sensation include those which is

the best disposed towards the best object with which that faculty is concerned. There is always a

pleasure concerning the different faculties of consciousness and with thought and contemplation.

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The most pleasant activity is often that which is considered perfect. Pleasure often plays a

significant role in making the activities perfect but not in the same way as a sensible object or

sensation. The activities often appear more pleasant when the faculty is at its best and is

channeled towards the best corresponding object. The impossibility for ensuring continuous

pleasure arises from the fact that the human activities cannot always be continued indefinitely

and thus neither can pleasure. The attainment of pleasure without activity is often impossible,

and fun often plays a crucial role in perfecting every activity.

The discussion thus asserts that happiness is rather an action of some sort that is often

chosen for its sake and is always self-sufficient. Actions according to virtue are often selected for

their sake. Happiness is not found in amusement as it would be absurd to argue that the objective

of an individual’s life and work is often amusement. Instead, amusement is usually selected for

relaxation that is necessary for enabling an individual to engage in some serious work.

Everything is generally chosen for the sake of something else except for happiness. A happy life

is a life lived per a virtue.

If learning about happiness were sufficient to lead a good one, the discourses in

philosophy would rather be far more valuable that they are present. Words alone are incapable of

convincing people to be good as this usually require practice and habituation which only

develops in individuals of real characters. The Aristotelian theory considered in this case thus

posits that to be happy, there is the necessity for ensuring availability of sufficient external

prosperity which includes good birth, good health and freedom from suffering.

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Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, book X, chapter 6 1177a2-a10

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