On Happiness 1 Essay

Submitted By SaaraC
Words: 677
Pages: 3
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ethics

On Happiness
Sara, Reno, Mia

~Happiness as the Chief goal of Ethics
Is and/or should Happiness be the Chief goal of Ethics?
One may argue that other entities in life make up the top priorities of Ethics, such as Religion, Moral Code, as well as other virtues. Yet, is it not true that happiness is all derived from the aforementioned. Therefore, by being able to stand for something and have morals to believe in, humanity has the chance to obtain happiness. The real question lies in the difference between individual and mass happiness. Can one exist without the presence of the other? Individual happiness(Analysis)
The happiness of the individual is the ultimate goal of ethics. By the individual achieving happiness, a domino effect of happiness and good deeds will occur within society. In Aristotle’s “Pursuit of Happiness” he discusses the Five Steps to Happiness. In which they are:
*Friendship ”even less happy is man whose children and friends are worthless”(24); to surround oneself with people of worth will allow for Happiness:
*The Golden Mean, to use Happiness as a virtue of courage,justice,benevolence and other desirable virtues; one must develop a strong moral character:
*The Perfection of Human Nature, Happiness depends on the practice of Reason, therefore humans must exercise reason either through moral beliefs, God, a higher power, or a certain philosophy to remain holistic and within sanity:
*Intellectual Contemplation, for people to think in general, to be able to express thoughts and think and study, ultimately to be educated: * Happiness cannot be obtained until death, there for humankind must live their life as a goal and must live for something in order to achieve true Happiness, the other steps should be followed.
Ultimately, without the Happiness of the individual, Happiness of the masses cannot exist, because there would be chaos within the individual's life, not allowing them to function within the masses.

Key Quotes(Analysis Continued):
“…the function of man is to live a certain kind of life, and this activity implies a rational principle, and the function of a good man is the good and noble performance of these, and if any action is well performed it is performed in accord with the appropriate excellence: if this is the case, then happiness turns out to be an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue.” (Nicomachean Ethics,
1098a13).
“He is happy who lives in accordance with complete virtue and is sufficiently equipped with external goods, not for some chance period but throughout a complete life.”
(Nicomachean Ethics, 1101a10)”
“There is only one way to happiness
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