Aristotle's Ethics Essay

In Poetics, he offers his definition of tragedy as, “is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament. in the form of action, not of narrative; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish its catharsis of such emotions"(Lucas, p. By describing the action as being of a certain magnitude, he is essentially describing the reach or depth of the action. There must be a persuasive sequence of events to alter a circumstance from good to bad. In his definition, he also states that the best way to convey tragedy is in the form of poetry such that the words are not only read but acted.

Eudaimonia is a word associated with Aristotle to mean happiness. According to Aristotle, no action is meaningless as they all usually have an aim. The objective of every action, according to Aristotle, is usually good. For instance, a doctor treats a patient so that the latter has good health. Teachers pass on knowledge to children so that they can learn new information and in turn pass the information to other people. The function of man is to apply reason to every aspect. A good human being is, therefore, the one who reasons. This is what characterizes a life of Eudaimonia. Aristotle associates happiness with a life of virtue and action. Virtuous tendencies are only acquired through learning as no one is virtuous by nature.

Misfortunes such as deformity or vicious children present situations in which one has little to no control over. One cannot change their deformity nor can they change their children hence become powerless in such situations. This state of powerlessness puts one in a position where they are no longer in control of their happiness according to Aristotle. I agree and disagree with Aristotle. I agree with him on his assertion that happiness is something we are in control of. He states that the best friendships are not characterized by people simply trying to gain from the other individual but stimulating each other to grow and become better. He goes on to add that the best kinds of friendships are those that develop between two people who are good.