ON WHAT GROUNDS DOES ARISTOTLE CLAIM THAT POLITICS MAKES US TRULY Essay

ON WHAT GROUNDS DOES ARISTOTLE CLAIM THAT POLITICS MAKES US TRULY HAPPY' - Essay Example Hence according to Aristotle happiness consists of a certain way of life, not of certain dispositions. Every activity has a ultimate cause, the good at which it aspires, and Aristotle argues that since there cannot be an never-ending regress of merely extrinsic goods, there must be a highest good at which all individual activity ultimately aims. (Nic. Ethics I 2) This ultimate aim of human life could be called happiness or eudaimonia. While happiness is possibly the best English word to translate eudaimonia, the term eudaimonia also carries implications of success, fulfillment, and prosperity. A person who is eudaimon is not simply enjoying life, but is enjoying life by living successfully Aristotle describes the happy life anticipated for man by nature as one lived in harmony with virtue. By virtues, Aristotle meant the act of achieving balance and moderation. According to Aristotle, The good for human beings, must essentially involve the entire proper function of human life as a whole, and this must be an activity of the soul that expresses authentic virtue or excellence. (Nic. Ethics I 7) Thus, human beings should aspire at a life in full compliance with their rational temperament; for this, the fulfillment of desires and the acquisition of material goods are less significant than the attainment of virtue. A happy person will reveal a personality suitably balanced between reasons and desires, with temperance characterizing all. True happiness or eudaimonia can therefore be achieved only through the fostering of the virtues that make a human life whole. Aristotle is famous for his proclamation that "man is by nature a political animal.† By politics he refers to the communal nature of man. Aristotle does not view politics as a separate science from moral values, but as the successor, and almost a verification of it. Aristotle envisioned politics as an organism, a collection of parts that cannot exist without the other. He describes the