Aristotle and happiness

They emphasize on different responsibilities played by person’s character and also virtues that measure his/her conduct. Such attributes serve as the foundation for normative ethics “which is the opposite of deontology. ” According to his definition, “happiness is an activity, hence referring it a way of life and it is depicted on how we act and not how or whom we are” (Blocker). Considering his definition, it is clear that his view does not support the idea of thinking that ethics might have a general character that applies to everyone, different places and at different times. The ideology of ethics is that it considers what people should decide to become instead of depending on external factors that transform their traits.

” There are different situations where people can argue that one is living happily, but we cannot assume that he has happiness as per the Aristotle’s views. His view of happiness is too narrow considering the way it rules out the probability of a wicked individual being happy. His view will disregard it if the activity that is morally virtuous is incorporated into the virtuous activity that involves happiness. Philosophers such as Kant and Plato have put a lot of effort to prove that virtue is an essential requirement of human happiness. Further, it is noted that Kant, regardless of his argument that we ought to ignore effects of ethics, he postulates existence and presence of Almighty God to make sure that virtuous people live happily (Chekola 15).