The Life Of Contemplation Is The Best One? - Essay Sample

Aristotle is among the Greek ancient philosophers who made the most significant contributions to criticism, logic, physics, psychology, metaphysics, politics, rhetoric, ethics, and biology. Being one of Plato's students, he developed arguments about the philosophical meaning of life. In this article, the primary objective is to reflect on his arguments about the contemplations of life critically.

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According to Aristotle, happiness is the primary goal of life. He believes that happiness is among the most thoughtful things that individuals should consider in aspirations of living a better life. For instance, he argues that making choices to the various instrumental goods does not occur reasonably that many people may consider it. Still, there must be a motive-like reason for making the selection. This is pointed out when he questions his thinking, "Shall we not, like archers who have a mark to aim at, be more likely to hit upon what is right?" For an individual of conscience, choosing depends on things that are intrinsically good compared to the specific things. He argues that a person can effectively act provided he is having a clear conception about the ultimate goals (which he significantly links with happiness).

There is a clear difference between Aristotle’s “happiness” and how we refer to our term happiness. From his argument regarding the relationship between happiness and “good life,” it is clear that he is more interested in an individual’s “wellbeing.” His argument may seemingly become unsound when he thinks that the descendants’ fortune may have some effect on their ancestors’ happiness. This is argument considers ancestors as living-dead people who can be aware of today's happening despite their deaths. In an average lifetime, we believe there is no way our ancestors are aware of our daily happenings and that linking our success to whether these ancestors had fortune life or not because we believe that pure psychological happiness is achieved based on one's effort in the projects he undertook during his lifetime.

In his argument on discovering the goodness ("happiness") of human beings, he believes that we must consider human beings' function as crucial and identify it. Aristotle considers human function to be so rational and that they perform well following more significant virtues that need to be applied. Many criticisms have been associated with this argument almost at every point. Although the argument sounds more practical, it should, however, be remembered that in his Metaphysics, Aristotle terms “function” as a way of performing (how a thing or person does what he does) and not to mean purpose as he puts it across in this argument. Therefore, individuals do things based on their rational choices, and that human happiness or good is not mere results of these, but they constitute the choices.

Happiness is a soul's activity by virtue, and it requires complementary external goods like wealth, friends, and power. Making a precise analysis of the claims is quite intuitively plausible to agree with the arguments supported by Aristotle's compelling evidence. Contrary to what Epicureans, Stoics, and Socrates argued (external goods are not relevant to determining whether one has a useful life or not), Aristotle believes that doing noble acts requires a multitude of great things like family, wealth, power, or property which when they turn out well, they make life happier. If they turn ill, they crush one's happiness.

In his argument, Aristotle believes that happiness, not a pleasure, but it is the exercise of practicing or engaging in pleasures that are considered pleasant by nature. This is quite contrary to Epicurus's claims because he considers pleasure being commensurable among rational persons who are interested in maximizing pleasure's total quantity in their life. What brings the contrast between the two are aspects of quality or kind of pleasure being maximized. Aristotle's argument provides a sound claim to what happens in our daily lives. There is conflict in our pleasures because, in most cases, we find "happiness" in things that are not pleasant by nature. Dealing with this conflict to find true happiness, as Aristotle claims, is merely finding pleasure only in pleasant things. His argument can be related to those made by Nozick when he refers to particular lives as entirely of reject consideration despite how that life promises more pleasures than ours.

Aristotle has argued the relationship between happiness and virtue based on the activities of the soul. He believes that virtue alone is not enough in ensuring the goodness of life. This is emphasized when Aristotle claims that an individual state of mind may exist, but good results may be hard to find. It implies that there is no possibility of acting virtuously without being virtuous, but we can be virtuous and not act virtuously. His theory is useful in the application of living godly life; for instance, Aristotle believes that if virtue is crucial for virtuous practice, then a good practice is vital for happiness, thus getting a clear conception of what is meant by virtues, one can easily understand how to live a happy life. Nonetheless, the philosopher takes his argument deeper to clarify on importance of virtues of the soul other than those of the body. Understanding the clear concept of the soul (appetitive, reasoning, and vegetative soul) is significant in understanding the kinds of virtues our soul should practice (whether intellectual or moral).

Besides happiness being an activity of virtue, Aristotle further argues that it should be per the highest virtue. This argument leaves us landing at the conclusion that "life of reason and contemplation" is the highest virtue. He believes that living a purposeful life full of reasoning and contemplation requires external equipment with high accreditation of success. It is loved because of its own sake and that it has the most long-lasting and durable pleasures. He considers this the most desirable life because of its greatest happiness. According to him, living a godlike life is what he considers happiness being found through the life of reason and contemplation. This argument may seemingly be sound to many who practice Gods life, but others may consider it ineffective based on their way of finding happiness in life.

Living a contemplated life is the happiest thing. Finding happiness in such life requires intellectual contemplation to ensure our rational capacities are realized. However, Aristotle arguments can be put into bulleting that; happiness is neither a pleasure nor a virtue, but an exercise of virtue; it is an ultimate purpose and end of the existence of humans; happiness is simply the perfection of human nature and cannot be achieved until one’s life comes to an end; and lastly, happiness is built on acquisition of moral character that incorporates “mean” balance striking between a deficiency and an excess.