Aristotle believes that eudemonia is the final goal in life. He notes that pleasure is related to happiness, but it is not the highest good. He feels that pleasure is good if it is for the right reason, and not done in excess. For example excellent activity is inherently pleasurable to the virtuous person. Happiness is the central idea, and bodily and rational pleasures are a detail needed to be happy. I will outline the idea of happiness, and how pleasure is related to it.
             Aristotle believes that eudemonia is the highest good, and it is the final end. This means that there is no other end. There cannot be a means to another end; it is final. Eudemonia is happiness. It is not a feeling of any sort. It is not a fleeting moment; it is permanent in Aristotle's view. Aristotle means that if one succeeds in leading the good life, it will be an overall good life. A man will not have lived a good life if he has recently won the lottery, or had any type of fortune bestowed upon him. If a man receives bad fortune it could impede his happiness. We cannot reason and say that he has lived a good life because before the tragedy he was living a good life, or on the way to living the good life. "The happy man will have the attribute of permanence." (Aristotle 25).
             There are many components to understand how to achieve eudemonia. We must now determine what the human function is. What makes humans different from animals? The soul differentiates us from animals. There are two parts of the soul: The Rational and Irrational part. Animals have the irrational part of the soul, but they do not have the rational part of the soul. There are two components to the purely irrational soul. One is the vegetative soul. It functions are growth, reproduction, taking in nutrients, etc. The other half is the desiring soul, which is also known as the animal soul. It can perceive, have desires, and pursue desires. The rational part of the soul is...