Tag: Aristotle

Topic: Aristotle

Aristotle’s understanding of happiness and its relation to the active life

Aristotle’s starting point of his discussion of happiness can be found in Book One, Chapters 1-10 of Nicomachean Ethics, where he discusses the relation between the good of an action/decision, for instance, and its goal or purpose. Aristotle argues that all human activity aims or attains at least some good associated with it. It is not so difficult, therefore, to connect happiness with what most people consider to be good. This point is central because it constitutes one of the supporting arguments for Aristotle’s discussion that the goal or purpose of human life is reaching happiness. Although people can observe …

Vocation series – Impact of Greek philosophy on the Christian theology view of work

The Greeks’ attitude towards work in general terms was mainly negative. Because work seems to belong to the order of necessity, the Greeks associated it with animal nature. That is, work was understood in an instrumental sense where human beings had to work to live and satisfy their daily needs. This, in part, led the Greeks to overemphasize the contemplative life, a product of thinking and reflection, instead of labor work. Contemplative life, then, would be superior to the active life because it would allow human beings to achieve happiness and because it is precisely reason that distinguishes us from …