THE NECESSITY OF EUDAIMONIA
Defining the Good Throughout history, many people have attempted to define what it is to be good. They have tried to explain what it is like to live a good life and what it means to be a good person. Many have tried to offer their own insights into what being good really is. Some philosophers have spent most of their lives pondering and arguing their idea of what being good really is. Some philosophers are thick headed about the subject and will refute anyone else's idea of what being good is. Other philosophers were more open minded about what being good is and would accept other's ideas and maybe even include other people's ideas in their own hypothesis. But, there really is no real answer to what being good is. The philosophers who listened to others and accepted other people's ideas might get a little closer to describing good, but even they could not fully define it. The word good is far too obscure to give one true definition to. Instead it will always live as a word with no true meaning. In order to find what the good and apply this, the primary concern of political theorists such as Aristotle whom will be the subject of this research, is to determine by what form of ordinance or law, would succeed the state. And he cla
Developing character or as Aristotle refers to it, "human excellence" is an activity of the soul, rather than the physical body. Aristotle had a strong belief that citizens should be educated in a manner that moulds their minds to suit the form of government under which he or she lives, meaning that every government developed it's own individual character and the better the character the better the government. According to Aristotle the definition of political success means the general happiness of the citizenry. The issue of government policy concerning character formation and the implications of politicians passing legislation specifically aimed at improving moral character as a means of eliminating social ills. Aristotle's view of achieving national excellence was based on establishing a constitution that would enable the polis as a whole to achieve eudaimonia. Aristotle believes that putting together the excellent character within the citizenry is the first and most important step towards solidifying the happiness of the state as a whole, which gives us the idea of "The unity of the Polis leads to Eudaimonia". Aristotle lived in Athens towards the end of the Peloponnesian wars; the vicious internal tensions within Greece revealed the inadequacies of both the radical democracy of Athens and the communal, democratic and militaristic government of Sparta. By neglecting to form character at a young age politicians miss an opportunity to emphasise the values of true virtue and the desire to live a life in pursuit of eudaimonia. The basic structure of Aristotle's philosophies are derived by gathering as much information about the history of a subject as possible taking from the good and removing the bad Aristotle thought he could develop superior political theories. Educating Hellenic youth in a manner that would impress a life of adherence to the guidelines of this "ultimate constitution" was therefore an obvious goal. Concluding the theory of Aristotles Book VII of the Politics states that each government has a unique character, which is a direct representation of the format of the constitution, therefore creation of a constitution that developed a nation in motion towards the state of eudaimonia was necessary to Aristotle. A nation as a whole has no hope to achieve eudaimonia unless its constituents have achieved this level of excellence. The "right materials" are young minds trained to pursue the virtues that comprise excellent adults. Reaching eudaimonia on an individual level is crucial from a political standpoint because a state is only as worthy as its constituents are. For this reason, Aristotle's ethics, is an ethics of character, which in judgments of moral condition focuses on the enduring pattern of personality rather than on isolated acts or intentions.
Common topics in this essay:
According Aristotle,
VIII Politics,
Defining Throughout,
Educating Hellenic,
Nicomachean Ethics,
VII Politics,
according aristotle,
character government,
habituation practice,
aristotle believes,
human excellence activity,
claim human activities,
unity polis leads,
reason aristotle,
polis leads eudaimonia,
constituents nation,
political system,
viii politics,
leads eudaimonia,
excellence activity soul,
aristotle proposes,
|
Acceptance Essays
