Aristotle uses the term eudaimonia to talk about happiness in the Ethics. While the word often translates as "happiness," it really means something closer to "flourishing" or "thriving" as human beings. In order to thrive, we must pursue (and achieve) the greatest human good, which Aristotle defines as something "complete."
This means that no other good can ever make it any better; we chase this greatest good for itself and nothing else.
Aristotle tells us that humans can only achieve happiness through the exercise of virtue. By behaving ourselves as good girls and boys and contributing positively to our communities, we gain many goods: honor, friendship—even money, if we play our cards right. But there are things that can mar our happiness: moral corruption, injustice, compulsion, ignorance, lack of self-restraint. It's a delicate balance to achieve the Best Thing.
That ultimate thing—the activity that makes human happiness possible—is, ironically, the thing that makes the gods blissful: contemplation. By living a life of the mind, we exercise the virtues and capacities that are uniquely human and that allow us the leisure to think about how happy we are.
And that is a win-win situation.
Questions About Happiness
- What is eudaimonia and why is it so important for human existence?
- Why does Aristotle say that the contemplative life is the best for humans?
- How do the virtues help us to live a happy life?
- Who (if anyone) is excluded from Aristotle's scheme of happiness?
Chew on This
On the most basic level, simply acknowledging the pleasure of being alive is the best thing that we can do as humans.
Aristotle's definition of happiness and his suggestions concerning how to achieve it are hugely elitist and exclusionary.